From the very first basic phones that were introduced over the last few decades, which were extremely basic offering only a single hour of talk time, to the modernised versions many of us use today; mobile phones have been an unquestionably vital part of business as well as our personal lives. Initially, only one hour of talk time was possible before having to recharge. Now almost all is possible, with the capacity of phones reaching new levels…

Mobile phones were historically introduced in the 1940s, before becoming an almost essential possession by the early 1990s. Mobile technology is constantly evolving and shall always continue to do so. In the year 1946, the first ever mobile device was used by the Swedish police. The devices, which were almost identical to two-way radios, operated on connections to individual networks and charged using car batteries. Remarkably, only 6 phone calls were able to be made on each device before the complete depletion of the cars’ battery!

After 1967, the technology available only gave mobile phone users the capability to make and receive calls within a limited vicinity. This was very restrictive for callers, and took a good few years to be resolved.

1st Generation
In the year 1983, the first practically portable phone was launched; the ground-breaking Motorola DynaTAC 8000X, weighing in at approximately 2 pounds and measuring a remarkable 13 inches. The cost of this device was a staggering £2400 – slightly more expensive than the phones of today! Just slightly…

This innovative 1G phone had a battery which allowed for up to an hour call time without charge, and the capacity to hold 30 numbers. Charging was carried out directly through a cars’ cigarette lighter. Other devices which were similar to the Motorola resembled much of the same looks as a briefcase. As these phones were operated via analogue, call quality frequently suffered and calls were lost.

2nd Generation
Mobile phones during the 90s are known as second generation, models which operate on TDMA/CDMA systems in the United States and all of Europe. Such devices used digital circuit switched transmission technology, which efficiently reduced the amount of lost calls and drastically increased the quality of calls. These devices were also comprised of modern computer chip technology, allowing phones to be made compact and light. Sales and production grew rapidly after these technological advances.

3rd Generation
3G phones were launched only a short space of time after 2G devices were made available. These phones were designed for many other purposes, most commonly known for being featured on desktop computers. Email, fax, YouTube video playback and outstandingly clever applications were now possible to access on the move.

The advancements for mobile echoed the features made available for landline telecoms at around the same time, such as hosted VoIP and call recording; extremely helpful for growing businesses in the mentioned era. Combined, mobile and landline communications became progressively prominent to this day, and continue to evolve.

By Sam Hurley

Sam is a Marketing Executive at Focus DC In Leicestershire. You can reach Sam on Twitter @fdcstudio