Cellphones are one of the important items for modern humans today. Not just for communication, mobile phones are also used to support people's activities and lifestyle.
Along with the times, today's cellphone models are also growing more sophisticated. If two decades ago feature phones were the mainstay, now smartphones or smartphones are commonly used.
In fact, the shape of a smartphone is also no longer monotonous, rectangular in size with only a curved or flat screen. In recent years, smartphones have also evolved into foldable or foldable smartphones.
So, how is the history of mobile phone development from time to time?
A little flashback, the first wireless cell phone was invented in 1917. Making the cell phone was carried out to test the communication system on the military train between the cities of Berlin and Zossen.
As a result, in 1926, a special wireless cellphone service for railroads began to be distributed by a German company called Zugtelephone AG.
Then, entering the era of World War II, the allies began deploying more than 130,000 units of SCR-536 handie-talkies, which resemble cell phones in shape.
Indeed, this communication tool cannot be fully referred to as a handheld cell phone. However, the similarity in function and form of the handie talkie is often compared to a handheld cell phone.
However, the SCR-536 handie-talkie still has many drawbacks. Starting from the short battery life and the device is still dependent on radio frequency. If the range is more than one mill, the device cannot be used to communicate.
The first cell phone in 1946
After the world war was over, the United States company Bell Labs developed a hand-held cell phone connected to the car. So, users can make voice calls via car. It was the first Mobile Telephone Service (MTS) product in 1946.
This first generation wireless phone made by Bell Labs weighs around 36 kilograms, very heavy compared to today's smartphones which have an average weight of “only” 150 to 250 grams.
The device was quite popular among the US at that time. The popularity of Bell Labs' wireless cell phones increased from the 1950s to the 1960s.
Then, in 1973, Martin Cooper, who was working as a Motorola engineer at that time, managed to find a portable telephone and managed to make voice calls.
Due to facing a number of obstacles, Motorola's first cell phone was only introduced a decade later. The cellphone is called Motorla DynaTAC 8000X, has a large body and weighs 1 kilogram. The price tag is around 3,900 US dollars.
However, because these handheld phones still rely on pure analog networks, the DynaTAC 8000X has a weakness in the signal department.
Since the emergence of Motorola, several other technology companies are also competing to do the same thing. Nokia, for example, started marketing their cell phone, the Mobira Cityman 900 in 1987. The cell phone weighed less, namely 760 grams.
One year later, Samsung also introduced its hand-held mobile phone in 1988, called the SH-100.
The beginning of the GSM era on cell phones
Entering the 1990s, it could be said to be an era in which the mobile phone industry developed very rapidly. In 1991, GSM (Global System for Mobile Communication) technology had begun to appear.
Launching from Android Authority, the emergence of GSM made the whole world adopt this technology into cell phones. Some users have also started buying SIM cards.
Well, in 1994, Nokia released the Nokia 2010, a mobile phone which had a numeric and letter keypad to enter text.
Then, in the same year, the IBM and Ericson companies launched their first cell phone called Simon. It was the first mobile phone that came with a touch screen.
Simon is equipped with quite a number of features, such as a calendar, note book, address book, to send and receive SMS and e-mail. Not only that, this device is also the first mobile phone to have a personal digital assistant.
Phone design and color changes
In 1999, Nokia launched a cellphone with a "banana" model, aka having a curved body resembling a banana. Meanwhile, Motorola has also released a new cell phone with a vertically folded or clamshell design.
In 1998 to early 2000, there was a new breakthrough in the smartphone industry. One of them is the Siemens S10 which is the first cellphone to have a color screen, no longer monochrome. The device displays red, green, blue, and white.
At the same time, Blackberry also launched the Blackberry 850, which was equipped with a Qwerty keyboard priced at US$400.
In 1999, the Nokia 9110 became the first mobile phone with a WAP browser. This device was at the forefront of that era because it could be used to surf the internet.
The first camera phone
In early 2000, a Japanese technology company succeeded in making the first handheld cell phone featuring a camera. However, the device is sold exclusively in Japan.
Two years later, the Sanyo and Sprint companies launched the first camera phone in the US, SCP-5300. At that time, the camera resolution was still small, namely 0.3 mega pixels. The device comes with different color variants and carries a clamshell model.
In 2003 Sony presented a front camera on its device called Z1010. Then, 2004, Motorola Razr again created a new trend with a thin body design.
iPhones are born
Entering 2007, Apple began to expand into the mobile phone business and launched the iPhone. The device is called a revolutionary mobile phone because it has a screen that is wide enough with full touch screen controls.
The first generation iPhone could also communicate using the internet. In the same year, Nokia also launched the Nokia N97 which has a 5 MP camera and is equipped with a series of default applications.
The success of the iPhone indirectly encourages other vendors to make similar phones. Google, which at that time started developing the Android mobile operating system, developed the first Android phone with HTC, called the HTCG1 in 2008.
The mobile phone design is starting to be uniform
In this era, most handheld phones are identical in design. Mobile phones with touch screen technology are equipped with only one button at the bottom of the screen. In the 2010s some devices also relied on 3G connectivity.
In 2013, Sony launched the Xperia Z which can be water resistant to a depth of one meter for 30 minutes. In 2014, the HTC One M8 became a camera that has two rear cameras. Its superior features are its autofocus and portrait mode.
Since the 2010s, more and more new features have been embedded in cellphones. Starting from NFC (Near Field Communication) support, IP support, waterproof certification (IP) like on the Sony device earlier, to sensors for detecting heart rate and oxygen saturation.
The era of increasingly sophisticated smartphones
In 2017, Apple presented the iPhone X with facial recognition technology (Face ID) and biometric authentication as a device security system. Then, a few years later, Samsung introduced its newest folding cellphone from the Galaxy Z Flip and Galaxy Z Fold series.
The models offered increasingly have a minimalist, elegant, and luxurious design. Plus, the features offered are also more sophisticated than a few decades ago.
In this era, mobile phones are no longer just a means of communication, but also support activities and lifestyle. Most likely, the technology that will be embedded in cellphones or smartphones in the future will also continue to develop.
One of them is the presence of a satellite communication feature, which is currently being adopted by the iPhone 14 series. There is also a smartphone camera resolution that is increasingly qualified.
Not to mention gaming cellphones which are currently also increasingly sophisticated, equipped with various features to support the gaming experience.
