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The Mobile Phone

  • SCR-194 / SCR-195 Radio

    SCR-194 / SCR-195 Radio
    The original 'walkie talkie' was developed by the U.S. Army Signal Corps Engineering Laboratories. They were bulky and heavy to carry during the War, but they began a development in telecomuncations.
  • SCR-300 Radio Transceiver

    SCR-300 Radio Transceiver
    Motorola developed an updated 'walkie talkie' that allowed communication between officials during WWII. At the time it was a portable version of an FM Radio Transmitter.
  • Radio Set SCR - 536

    Radio Set SCR - 536
    Motorola continued to develop a more portable and lighter style of a radio trasmitter. This technology was very similar to the creations of FM radio. Its predominant use was during the War for communication purposes as the Second World War came to an end.
  • Mobile Telephone System

    Mobile Telephone System
    The Bell System introduced the first commercial telephone service. It was a very large and heavy system and it wasn't cheap either. It would cost around $30 a month with additional fees per call, which averaged out to nearly $330 a day. It was intended for use by reporters, utilities and fleet operators.
  • Mobile System A

    Mobile System A
    Ericsson's Mobile System A (MTA) was an automatic mobile system for cars. It weighed around 40 kilograms and was quite costly to purchase.
  • Motorola Unit

    Motorola Unit
    Due to the development of a new service for mobile communication (Improved Mobile Telephone Service) thise who owned cars began to purchase mobile phones with buttons that were noticably lighter than the original technology units. Although the service was limited and the technology was quote expensive to purchase.
  • DynaTAC Portable Phone

    DynaTAC Portable Phone
    The development of Dynamic Adaptive Total Area COverage (DynaTAC) gave rise to a prototype of the first, light weight, hand-held telephone. It was developed by the Motorola Vice President Dr. Martin Cooper.
  • Mobira Senator

    Mobira Senator
    Nokia developed the world's first fully-automated telephone service. The phone was stylist for its time, with a briefcase style drive attatched to it. However, it was a heavy tool and it was viewed as a step back in design, compared to the phototype before it.
  • Motorola's DynaTAC cellular phone for Public

    Motorola's DynaTAC cellular phone for Public
    It was the world's first commercial hand-held telephone and it was available to the public. However, the phone was very expensive to purchase and to use. The phone cost approximately $4000 at the time, which would be around $9000 today.
  • Mobira Talkman

    Mobira Talkman
    It was a more affordable option with longer talk time for consumers. It was still a large, bulky item, making it unsuitable for everyday use.
  • Motorola MicroTAC

    Motorola MicroTAC
    Motorola designed a sleak, slimline flip phone that was more portable than ever. The flip accessory was a fashion statement and folded up to condense the size of the phone, meaning that it would be the first pocket phone.
  • Motorola International 3200

    Motorola International 3200
    It was the first digital hand-size mobile telephone. It used 2G technology and recieved signals via an antenna piece that extended out of the top of the telephone.
  • IBM Simon Smartphone

    IBM Simon Smartphone
    The world's first smartphone was introduced. IBM Simon was a phone, pager, fax machine and PDA all in one device. It included various functions: calendar, address book, clock, calculator, email, notepad, games and a touchscreen with a QWERTY keyboard. It sold for around $899, which would be approximately $1,300 now.
  • Motorolla StarTAC

    Motorolla StarTAC
    In collaroration with StarTAC, Motorola released the first clamshell mobile phone. It got it's name because the phone folded in half like a clam shell opening and closing. It was originally released using the 1G network and then moved on to the 2G network.
  • Nokia 9000 Communicator

    Nokia 9000 Communicator
    It was the next step forward in smartphone technology. It was a mini-computer with limited internet access avaliable. It had a full QWERTY keyboard and LCD Screen
  • Nokia 8810

    Nokia 8810
    The Nokia 8810 had a slide keypad cover, which pleased consumers. It has no attachments that extended from the top, including no antenna which made it much more functional.
  • GeoSentric

    GeoSentric
    It was the first mobile phone to feature GPS navigation. It produced directions as well as allowing tracking and positional movement.
  • Kyocera's Visual Phone (VP-201)

    Kyocera's Visual Phone (VP-201)
    The Japanese developed a mobile that had a camera on it in order to create face to face video chats. It was the starting point for images being processed on mobile phone devices.
  • Nokia 7110

    Nokia 7110
    The Nokia 7110 was the first prototype of a mobile designed to incorporate Wireless Application Protocol (WAP). It brought the internet to a new level in the hands of the public.
  • Nokia 3210

    Nokia 3210
    It quickly became one of the most popular mobile phones, with sales recording almost 160 million devices being sold. It allowed picture messages that were pre-developed on the device with specialised greetings. However, it was also the first phone to appeal to a young demographic.
  • J-SH04 Mobile

    J-SH04 Mobile
    It was the first of its kind to have a fully functional camera. It was developed by Sharp in Japan marking the start of a new century in technology.
  • Sanyo SCP-5300

    Sanyo SCP-5300
    Developed by Sprint, this mobile wa the first camera flip phone sold in North America. It allowed images to be taken and processed via mobile devices, from consumer to consumer.
  • Pocket PC Phone Edition

    Pocket PC Phone Edition
    Microsoft tapped into the phone industry by developing a mini-computer as a mobile phone. It ran a version of Windows XP, upstaging the previously designed blackberry.
  • Danger Hiptop

    Danger Hiptop
    It was complete with fully functioning internet and brought instant messaging to life. It was later named a T-Mobile Sidekick, and appealled to youth because of its design. It consisted of a QWERTY keyboard, for ease of texting, and an LED screen for visibility.
  • BlackBerry 5810

    BlackBerry 5810
    It wasn't the first blackberry device, however it was the first that incorporated varies applications for its users. It was aimed at business professionals who wanted to check and send emails as well as internet use and regular updates.
  • Motorola RAZR

    Motorola RAZR
    The extremely popular device, the Motorola RAZR generated a lot of attention with its thin cut design and it was named the fashion phone. It sold over 50 million copies by 2006 (only 2 years after its release).
  • Treo 700w

    Treo 700w
    It gave all Microsoft users access to programs on the go. It was a small hand-held device that developed functionality with ease of access.
  • Motorola ROKR E1

    Motorola ROKR E1
    This device was the first mobile to intergrate itunes with a mobile device, although it was only able to hold 100 songs at a time.
  • Apple iPhone

    Apple iPhone
    The first ever iPhone was released. It was created by Steve Jobs and prompted what would soon be the most popular mobile phone. It utilised 3G technology and had a touch screen with various applications, but it wasn't the first developed smartphone.
  • HTC Dream Slider Smartphone

    HTC Dream Slider Smartphone
    It was the first smart mobile phone to utilise Google's Android OS. Its various features included a QWERTY keyboard, full HTML web browser, Gmail, YouTube and much more.
  • HTC EVO 4G

    HTC EVO 4G
    Sprint developed a mobile device that met 4G standards, and it ran with the WiMAX network. It had a large touchscreen display as well as a 8MP camera, HD video capture, HDMI output, Mobile Hotspot capability and HTC Sense. It was sold through Android.
  • iPhone 4S

    iPhone 4S
    Apple dominated the market with its fully functioning iPhone 4S. Following the iPhone 3, 3G and 4 before it the new device featured a computerised assistant, Suri. It allowed access to photography, social media, youtube and many more applications, as well as personalised apple software.
  • Samsung Galaxy III

    Samsung Galaxy III
    Following the previous releases of the Samsung Galaxy 1 and 2 the 3 offered more functionality and applications in an update notebook form. It appealled to many audiences on the PC and andriod network and those in the business industry.
  • Samsung Galaxy S4

    Samsung Galaxy S4
    The Samsung S4 was released that appealled to those with children, o rthose who were tough with their phones, because it was claimed to be dust proof, water resistant and shock resistant. It was suitable for children's use, which made it quite popular in comparison to the fragile iPhone developments.
  • iPhone 5

    iPhone 5
    Apple fought back against andriod with yet another development in apple technology. It consisted of updated applications and more functions for 'Suri'. Again, it was a largely popular phone throughout all generations and had a slightly larger screen with a clearer HD camera and longer design than the previous versions of the iPhone.