2023-04-03 08:06:24
The mobile phone is 50 years old – a reason to celebrate. Mobile phones are now an essential part of our lives. Reading the news, snapping photos, reading emails and posting moments on social media are commonplace for many users.
BILD looks back into the history of mobile telephony.
Who Invented the First Cell Phone?
The father of cell phones is Martin Cooper. The 94-year-old US engineer worked in research at Motorola and developed the first mobile phone prototype.
How did the first phone call go?
Martin Cooper remembers his first words to a rival at Bell Labs. From 6th Avenue in New York, Cooper called the colleague from the competitor company in the first telephone call on April 3, 1973.
Cooper: Hey Joel. I am calling you from a mobile phone. But a real mobile phone. A personal, portable mobile phone.”
Heavy as a brick
Unlike modern devices, the prototype of Martin Cooper’s first cell phone looked like a brick. It weighed one kilo and measured 25 centimeters. It wasn’t until 1983, ten years later, that the DynaTac 8000X went into series production.
For comparison: modern smartphones weigh an average of 200 grams (with battery).
30 minutes of battery life
In 1983 the Motorola DynaTac 8000X finally went on sale. It was offered to American citizens for a whopping $4,000. The price alone made the first mobile phone a slow seller. Added to this was the battery life – customers could only make calls for half an hour.
First text message
On December 3, 1992, the first SMS (Short Message Service) was sent by Vodafone employee Richard Jarvis with the words “Merry Christmas”.
In Germany, the service was offered from 1994. The service is particularly popular with younger people. The only drawback: an SMS only contained 160 characters.
More cell phones than people
As early as 2015, statistically speaking, everyone had a mobile phone connection and, accordingly, a cell phone. Due to advancing technology, many people have owned a number of cell phones over the years and in some cases kept them. Thus, there should now be more cell phones than people in the world.
Most expensive cell phone in the world
Plated in 24k gold and set with a huge pink diamond on the back, the Falcon Supernova iPhone 6 Pink Diamond is the world’s most expensive phone. It costs 47.5 million euros.
Bacteria spin cell phone
The mobile phone is always at hand, even in the toilet. Accordingly, it is not surprising: mobile phones are real bacteria slingshots. According to TÜV, only every fourth person cleans their phone. On average, 100 different types of bacteria romp about on the screen. But no fear! Most bacteria are completely harmless.
First mobile phone with a touchscreen
Anyone who thinks the touchscreen is an invention of the 2000s is wrong. As early as 1992, IBM launched the “IBM Simon”. Still without a color display, but with the option of sending faxes and e-mails.
First mobile phone without an antenna
Funnily enough, the first mobile phone without an antenna only came onto the market after the first touch screen. In 1998 engineers managed to integrate the antenna into the housing with the Nokia 8810.
The birth of the mobile phone camera
In 1999, the Toshiba Camesse, the first camera phone, saw the light of day. However, the quality of the photos was sub-par. It wasn’t until 2004 that cell phones with a 1-megapixel camera were available.
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