Cellular Phone Timeline

Cellular Phone Timeline

It's always interesting to consider the cellular phone timeline, because very few industries have managed to mature and develop as quickly as it has. Unlike other industries that may have been around for decades, the cell phone industry is still relatively new and mobile phones have become more popular (and more affordable than anyone could have possibly imagined.

1985: First Mobile Phone

Before there were cell phones, there were devices called car phones. They needed briefcase-sized units in order to operate, so the actual handset was only part of the equation. A truly mobile cellular phone didn't come around until 1985 when Motorola introduced the Motorola DynaTAC. You may know this phone, and the ones that immediately followed it, as the Zack Morris. This was made popular by the television series Saved by the Bell.

The Motorola DynaTAC did not really have any features beyond making voice calls. Even so, it was revolutionary for the time. It had a single line display and a basic numeric keypad. Battery life was deplorable, and most people could not afford to buy the phone or pay for the service. Other companies produced very similar phones for the next few years, all taking on a form factor similar to a regular cordless phone.

1987: CrackBerry Addiction Begins

As business users found an increasing need to stay connected to the office while on the road, Research in Motion of Canada addressed their needs with the introduction of the BlackBerry in 1997. Mobile e-mail has never been the same, especially since most corporate users can't live without their QWERTY-packing CrackBerry devices these days.

1989: Motorola StarTAC is First Clamshell

Around 1989, we were introduced to the first Motorola flip cell phone. The MicroTAC had a flap that covered the numeric keypad and the microphone was placed at the end of this flap. This made voice quality a little better, but the best part was that we no longer accidentally dialed out.

Flip phones are one thing, but we were not shown the first clamshell cell phone until 1996, over ten years since cell phones first hit the scene. Again, it was Motorola with the innovation when they showed off the Motorola StarTAC. Inspired by the communicator from the original Star Trek, the Motorola StarTAC had the keypad and display housed in the bottom half with the earpiece housed in the top half. This made for a much smaller phone and it was a lot more portable than the flip phones and candybar phones of the day. The Motorola StarTAC was also the first phone to have vibration.

1999: Introduction of Mobile Web

People liked talking on their cell phones sure, but as the World Wide Web got more prevalent, they also wanted the opportunity to surf the net while on the go. The Nokia 7110 brought that into the limelight by being the first cell phone with a WAP mobile web surfing application. It was not nearly as advanced as the mobile web browsers of today, but it marked a major step into even greater connectivity and interactivity. The slider phone was inspired by the first The Matrix movie.

2000: Goodbye External Antenna

Up until the Nokia 3210 was released, all cell phones had an external antenna. By integrating an internal antenna, the Nokia 3210 was much more streamlined in appearance while not having to forfeit anything in terms of reception. The Nokia 3210 was also the first phone with T9 predictive text, much to the joy of text message users around the globe.

2001: First Camera Phone

These days, just about every handset is a camera phone. The first cell phone to have an integrated camera was the Sharp J-SH04, a long candybar introduced to the Japanese market in 2001.

2001: Introduction of 3G High-Speed Data

Cell phones are no longer just about voice calls and text messages. We need all sorts of wireless data and that's where 3G networks come into play. The first pre-commercial 3G network was FOMA, by NTT DoCoMo in Japan. That launched in May 2001 on a pre-release of WCDMA technology. 3G networks can provide near broadband speeds. It's like having a laptop in your pocket.

The Future of Cell Phones

Who knows where the mobile phone industry will go from here. It's been around for a little over 20 years and look at how far we have come from the Motorola DynaTAC. No one would mistake that for the Nokia N95 or Apple iPhone.