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People can only live with their cell phones now. People worldwide have billions of cell phones to talk, text, or use social media. The devices have changed into smartphones, which can do much more than talk. How did this happen? This article will talk about “the 50 years of cell phones” and how they became the most important device in the world today. Even though most people are familiar with Android and Apple, technology has come a long way to get where it is now. More than 40 years ago, the first cell phone was made. As you might expect and as you may have seen, technology has changed a lot in the last 40 years. Here’s a look at the history of cell phones and how they changed over time to become Smartphones.
How did it start?
In the 1940s, a wireless communication device was first thought of. However, the first mobile phone was made in the 1970s. In 1973, Martin Cooper, an engineer at Motorola, made the first public call with a cell phone. The device, which cost $3,995 and weighed 2.5 pounds, could only run for 20 minutes on a single charge.
Credit: CNN
Mobile phones used to be big, but they helped make way for the cell phones we use today. In the 1980s, cell phones got smaller and cheaper, which led to a rise in the number of people who used them. The first commercial cell phone, the Motorola DynaTAC 8000X, came out in 1983. It cost $3,495 and weighed less than two pounds. When other companies saw how well it did, they decided to get into the business and make their models.
Motorola made its first flip phone in 1989, which was a big hit immediately. Back then, everyone wanted a flip phone. It had a different look and was much easier to carry. As time passed, different companies made different cell phones, such as Nokia’s phone with a “QWERTY” keypad. In 1998, the third generation of phones came out, with color screens and ringtones that could be changed.
First iPhone Revolutionized Cell Phones
Nokia and Motorola were at the top of the industry during that time. They were the first to add many features that might seem essential now, like radios and Bluetooth. But in 2007, Apple released the first iPhone, which changed everything about cell phones. 2007 could be one of the most critical years in the history of cell phones, along with the 1970s, because the first iPhone changed how most people used their phones.
iPhone (1st generation)
The first Android phone, the HTC Dream, came out a year after the first iPhone. This started the competition. Over time, more people joined the race, bringing many valuable features. Apple’s iPhone 5S was the first phone to have a fingerprint sensor, and Samsung’s Galaxy S5 was the first to have a heart rate monitor. In 2017, Apple released the first iPhone that could be charged wirelessly and had Face ID. In 2019, we met the 5G network.
In the past few years, some companies have focused on making foldable phones to change how cell phones will be used. Last, the iPhone 14 with satellite connectivity came out in 2022. Apple and Samsung make some of the most popular smartphones in the world. Their ideas and phones have been very important in recent changes.
