The world has progressed quite significantly from the very first mobile device.
All it takes to capture a picture on today’s smartphones is a swipe or tap rather than a button, and we can live stream footage from any location. It’s easy to forget that these conveniences emerged within the past few decades due to technological advances, but we do just that.
For this reason, we figured it would be instructive to travel back in time and investigate the origins of the first cell phone and other significant developments that led to our current state of affairs.
What was the First mobile phone in history ever made?
The Motorola DynaTAC 8000x is the world’s first commercially available mobile phone. It was released to stores in the United States in 1983.
The invention of the first cell phone
The traditional birthdate of the first mobile phone is 3rd April 1973. On this day in history, the very first documented cell phone call occurred.
Even yet, it is interesting to note that the first attempts at building a mobile phone date back to the 1940s. These earlier models were more akin to a 2-way radio than modern cell phones.
The Genius Behind the First Cell Phone
Motorola, led by John F. Mitchell and Dr. Martin Cooper, created the first cell phone. In spite of competition from Dr. Joel Engel and the team at AT&T, Motorola was the first company to market the first device after successfully implementing their idea.
The First Mobile Phone Call
As mentioned above, we see that the first mobile phone call happened on 3rd April 1973. Using the Motorola DynaTAC 8000x, Martin Cooper called AT&T’s Dr. Joel Engel, marking the first-ever mobile phone call.
As Cooper puts it, he told Joel, “I’m calling you from a real cellular telephone. “A hand-held mobile phone,” It seems like there was dead air on the other end of the line when he tried to make contact. Perhaps there were some kinks to iron out, or Dr. Engel was simply at a loss for words.
The Cost of the First-Ever Cell Phone Call
The original cell phone, released in 1983, saved consumers $3,995. That is about $10,000 in terms of today’s currency.
The Weight of the First Cell Phone
The weight of the first cell phone was extremely high compared to the standards of the present devices. The Motorola DynaTAC 8000x was around 23cm (9 inches) and weighed approximately 1.1kg (2.5 pounds). Its battery life was roughly 30 minutes during calls and 6 hours in standby mode.
Tracing the Origins of the Smartphone Today
Let’s trace the path from the DynaTac 8000x to today’s smartphone. Read on to understand how the smartphone we use today came to being.
The First Mobile Phone with a Camera
The Samsung SCH-V2000 was the first mobile phone to incorporate a camera. The phone had a 20-photo capacity but no transfer options. Instead, it required a network connection to a computer before it could view the images.
Many people consider the Sharp J-SH04 the first camera phone because although it was not the first one, it was the first with photo-sharing capabilities.
Both phones first appeared on store shelves in 2000 in Asia. We can indeed say that these phones have an advanced state of the art in mobile communication by one significant step.
The First Smartphone Ever Made
IBM released the Simon Personal Communicator (SPC) in 1994, widely regarded as the first smartphone. The hefty gadget included a touchscreen, email, and other preinstalled features like a calculator.
The First Flip Mobile Phone
In 1996, Motorola introduced the StarTAC, the first flip-style mobile phone.
However, the NEC TZ-804 can rightfully claim to be the first flip phone. The gadget, which was first introduced in 1991, seems to have been forgotten by history.
The First Internet Access Cell Phone
First introduced in 1996, the Nokia 9000 was the world’s first mobile phone to provide Internet connectivity. WAP technology was once synonymous with something very different from what it means now.
This phone, also called the “Communicator,” was designed to fold up like a laptop computer and equipped with a complete Keypad.
