In what year did the cell phone appear? The evolution of the telephone: the path from a talking telegraph to a smartphone

Telephone communication has become such a common way of communication today that it is difficult to imagine that people once could do without devices that transmitted sounds over any distance. The modern subscriber rarely thinks about the question - Who invented the telephone? But the history of this device goes back to the distant past.

The official inventor of the telephone, capable of more or less clearly transmitting the sounds of human speech, is considered to be an American of Scottish origin, Alexander Graham Bell. The creation of the first telephone in the world was recorded in 1876, it was then that a patent application was filed for an invention that made a real revolution in scientific world. Despite the fact that the principle of operation of the telephone was described twenty years before this event in the dissertation of Charles Boursel, only Bell was able to implement, and most importantly, patent in time, the bold idea of ​​sound transmission using electricity.

Today, an idea of ​​what the first telephone was like can only be obtained in a museum or from old photographs. The simplest mechanism was radically different from modern devices in the form to which we are accustomed. All manipulations with the device were carried out through a single tube, which served simultaneously as a transmitter and receiver. The sound quality was terrifying - through numerous noises and interference, the voice of the interlocutor was distinguished with great difficulty. However, both the creator of the phone and his admirers were not at all embarrassed by such inconveniences. The main thing is that the device worked and made it possible to significantly simplify the solution of many problems.

The period when the first telephone was created was deservedly considered the era of the telegraph. This means of telecommunication was considered the most popular and in demand. It seemed that no newfangled devices could displace the telegraph. In addition, the very first telephone transmitted sound over a distance of only a few hundred meters. Further improvements to which the first telephone model underwent significantly improved its quality characteristics.

Thanks to the talented developments of Thomas Edison, the device was eventually equipped with a microphone containing carbon powder. This invention had a significant impact on the development of telephone communications and in subsequent years began to be used everywhere.

Russian scientists also contributed to improving the phone. First domestic phone, the design of which used two tubes, was produced in St. Petersburg at the Siemens and Halske plant in 1877. The following 1878, the year of the creation of the telephone using permanent magnets and capacitors, became the prerequisite for a real telephone boom. The construction of numerous telephone exchanges made it possible to fulfill the aspirations of many enthusiasts - to seamlessly transmit sounds over long distances. And today, in almost everyone’s home you can find a good old telephone set - a dream that has turned into reality.

Modern people cannot imagine life without a telephone, although relatively recently it did not exist. The very first sample, similar to its current mobile “brothers,” could transmit sound, had a tiny black and white screen and not a single hint of future greatness and functionality.

The invention of the telephone, which is the direct ancestor of today's smartphones, is shared between Antonio Meucci and Alexander Bell.

It is not known for certain which of them was the first to guess about this, but both applied for patents. And, although Bell's application was created 5 years later than Meucci, the official founding father telephone communication Alexander Graham Bell is considered.

The first telephone and telegraph (history of invention)

The inventor of the first electromagnetic telegraph is Pavel Shilling, a Russian scientist. He publicly demonstrated the discovery that made it possible to transmit information remotely in October 1832.

The idea was supported, and a year later the telegraph, built by Wilhelm Weber and Karl Gauss, appeared in Germany. Cook Wheatstone, a native of England, created an amazing apparatus based on Schilling’s drawings in 1837, and in 1840 a similar invention was patented by US resident Samuel Morse.

Telephone

Italian Antonio Meucci, living in England, went further and created a device that transmits sounds through wires. The 1871 patent application proudly declared “Telephone.”

Invented: “talking telegraph”

Alexander Bell patented the "talking telegraph" in 1876. His device transmitted sounds “live” with almost no delay, allowing human speech to be recognized. The device was presented to the public at the World Electrotechnical Exhibition of 1876, which was held in Philadelphia.

Who called the telephone a telephone?

Charles Bourcel spoke about the principle of operation of the telegraph in his dissertation back in 1854, but limited himself to theory. Nevertheless, Bourcel distinguished himself and took his place in history by using the word “telephone”.

Who invented the first cellular (mobile) telephone?

The first cellular device is the DynaTAC 8000X model, created by Motorola. It entered the market in 1983 and was so popular that, even at the then fabulous price of $3,995, it sold out like pies.

The DinaTAK device held a full battery charge for about 60 minutes, could store 30 numbers, and did not have a display or other functions other than a call. It weighed almost a kilogram, had an inconspicuous design and 12 keys.

You could only talk on it for 30 minutes, after which you had to put it on charge, which took 10 hours.

Satellite phone No. 1

The Mobira Cityman 900, introduced in 1987 by Nokia, was the first satellite phone. It was this one that Mikhail Gorbachev used to call Moscow while in Helsinki, which was captured by the paparazzi.

The entire elite wanted to purchase a “pipe” with an antenna, which weighed about 800 grams, despite the cost. If we recalculate today's exchange rates, the purchase cost people $6,700 or 202,500 rubles.

First inventor of the video camera phone

The first phone with a video camera was the Japanese Sharp J-SH04, released in 2000. At that time, a resolution of 0.1 megapixels seemed like an impossible miracle that allowed you to create your own videos.

Who invented the touch phone and when?

The creator of the touch phone is considered to be the computer development company IBM. The new product was presented to the general public in 1998, although its development took 5 years.

The 2007 LG KE850 Prada model was the first where the sensor worked not with a stylus, but with a finger. It also featured a bright design and wide functionality.

Who first invented the Smartphone?

The first smartphone appeared in the mobile industry in 1996 and was called Nokia 9000 Communicator. It weighed almost 400 grams, had a monochrome display, 8 MB of memory and a QWERTY keyboard.

But the term itself was introduced by Ericsson when it introduced the Ericsson R380s model to the world in 2000. In addition to versatility, this smartphone was distinguished by its small size and weight of only 160 grams. Its feature was a hinged cover (flip) covering the touch screen.

Invention of the Android phone

Android was developed by Android Inc., later acquired by Google. The world's first Android phone was launched in September 2008. It was called T-Mobile G1 or HTC Dream.

In the vastness of Russia, the first such smartphone was the Highscreen PP5420, produced in 2009. After the release of the third version of Android in February 2011, tablets based on this base began to appear.

Who invented the iPhone?

Popular series iPhone smartphones invented Apple corporation. Steve Jobs announced it in January 2007 at a thematic conference, and the first model went on sale 4 months later.

The "name" of the series means the word "phone" with the prefix of the letter i, which is an abbreviation for the word Internet.

• inspire (inspiration),
• instruct (training),
• inform (knowledge),
• individual (personality).

Updated iPhones appear every year. The last one was released in the spring of 2016. It is called iPhone SE, popularly called “iPhone 7”, because the previous one was called iPhone 6 Plus, but in fact this is model number 9.

Wikipedia about telephone inventions

Wikipedia talks a lot about telephone inventions. In it you can find events preceding the appearance of the telegraph, associated with the discoveries of famous physicists. It allows you to get acquainted with the complete history of the origin and development of an apparatus that has become important for modern society.

But the information about the first phones presented on Wikipedia is quite scarce. Camera phones, for example, are mentioned in passing. However, modern models, their functionality, design and manufacturers are described in detail.

The telephone has come a long way from a telegraph, transmitting information over wires over short distances, to a smartphone, which contains almost all the world's knowledge, working thanks to a built-in satellite dish. Development continues. Perhaps in the near future the phone will become even more powerful and functional, and will also take on a new look.

With the advent of the first telegraph in 1837, which gave the world the ability to transmit information at a distance, people's lives changed radically. But the appearance of the first telephone set, with the help of which remote sound transmission was realized, became a real sensation.

Today, no one can even imagine themselves without a personal mobile phone. Technologies do not stand still; the telephone market is constantly expanding and presents consumers with new, improved models every year. But let's remember how it all began, who invented the first telephone, how mobile phones appeared and what is their success modern models Apple.

Creating your first phone

The first telephone was introduced in 1876 in the United States of America, and the creator who patented his invention was. Initially, Bell's telephone worked at a distance of 200 meters, but the scientist did not stop working and improving his invention, and a year later the telephone underwent such modernization that it remained unchanged for another 100 years.

The creation of the telephone itself was not planned by Bell. The goal facing the scientist was to improve the telegraph - he tried to achieve the transmission of 5 telegrams at the same time. In the process of work, records with different frequencies were created, one of which once failed. Bell's partner got angry and started cursing. And Bell, who was at the receiving apparatus at that time, unexpectedly heard the distant voice of his own partner. From this moment the history of the creation of the first telephone begins.

The “telephone” patent obtained by Bell is considered one of the most profitable both in the United States and in the world. It brought wealth and worldwide recognition to the creator, and the name of Alexander Graham Bell went down in history forever.

First mobile phone

The idea of ​​​​creating mobile phones appeared in the middle of the 20th century, and again in the United States of America.

In 1947, Bell Laboratories put forward a proposal to create a mobile phone. True, by this they meant a device that would be built into a car, since the weight of the phone was 30-40 kg without a power source. Only in the 70s was it possible to reduce the weight of phones to 14 kg, but the power supply was still located in the car.

Until 1972, Motorola had nothing to do with cell phones; the company's main goal was to create portable radios. Everything changed thanks to a simple company employee, Martin Cooper, who at one random moment came to the conclusion that he would create an oversized cell phone really. Having shared this discovery with his colleagues, he began development, which continued for a year.

In 1973, Dyna-Tac was ready. It was a small-sized cell phone by those standards, weighing 1.15 kg and measuring 22.5 * 12.5 * 3.75 cm. It had 10 numeric keys, a call and end call button. The phone had no display. The battery lasted 35 minutes of continuous conversation, but after that it took 10 hours to charge the phone.

To implement the invention, all that remained was to test it in practice. It happened on April 3, 1973 in New York. The first “training” station was installed on the roof of a 50-story building and Martin Cooper personally conducted the experiment by dialing the head of Bell Laboratories and talking to him on a cell phone. It was a triumph, which became the first step in the rapid development and improvement of “handheld” mobile phones.

The emergence of touch phones

This may seem surprising, but the first touch phone was not widely used by users, and the company that created it even abandoned further work in the field of mobile devices.

This happened in 1993. IBM Corporation, specializing in the production of computer equipment, introduced the world's first touchscreen mobile phone, calling it “IBM Simon”. At that time, it represented the maximum in terms of possible characteristics, weighed 0.5 kg, and most of the operations on the display were actually performed with your fingers.

The phone's battery was designed for 1 hour of continuous talk time or 8 hours of standby time. Its RAM was 1 MB, and the developers also provided for receiving on the phone email and faxes.

However, as we have already noted, IBM Simon was not distributed. Firstly, this was due to the inflated price of the phone – $1100. Secondly, the device was unreliable and often needed expensive repairs. As a result, the development company simply liquidated itself from the mobile phone production market.

Apple in the life of a person of the 21st century

Today products Apple- not only compact devices, the quality of which is noted all over the world, but also the most fashionable brand of the 21st century. People literally cannot imagine their life without an “apple,” and the start of sales of a new company product is always a great success.

It's hard to imagine, but the way out first iPhone took place 10 years ago. True, the creation of famous smartphones began back in 2002 - by the founder of Apple.

His main idea was to create a device that would meet the needs of consumers: stylish design, built-in player and mini-computer, as well as high power of the phone. But the first iPhone did not live up to the expectations of even Jobs himself; the smartphone lacked power, but the main disadvantage was low speed Internet connections. Therefore, the first iPhone model did not receive mass distribution.

Work to modernize the product continued, and a year later it was presented new model- iPhone 3G. The problem with Internet speed in this model was almost solved, the design was also modernized, and operating memory has been replaced. The success of this model was confirmed by information received from sales: more than 70 countries were interested in the new product.

Afterwards, the iPhone 3G S was released, billed as high-speed. New features have appeared, such as voice control and encryption personal information. Like the previous model, new iPhone quickly filled the markets and was sold out.

Today, Apple smartphones are sold with great success in more than 80 countries around the world. iPhones moved from affordable smartphone in the “above-average” category, since the cost of even old models rarely falls below 25,000 rubles, and new items cost 130-150 thousand rubles from the start of sales.

• People might consider the inventor of the telephone not Alexander Bell, but Antonio Meucci, who also developed the telephone, but refused to patent his invention for $10, and Bell took advantage of this.
• Today, Nokia is developing a method that will make it possible to recharge a phone using radio waves.
• The first telephone did not have a bell; instead, it used a whistle.
• Popular models in Japan waterproof phones, since the Japanese use them even in the shower.

• Antarctica also has its own dialing code, starting with +682.
• 150 million mobile phones are sent to landfill every year because they were replaced with an improved device, not because the phone was faulty.

The invention of the telephone and its upgrading to a mobile phone is, of course, a breakthrough for science and an extremely important discovery for humans. Now everyone, regardless of distance, feels close to friends and family, talking with them every day.

Modern phones also provide instant access to necessary information 24 hours a day. The main thing is to correctly use the achievements of the 21st century and not stop there, because new requests from people lead to world discoveries, being a “push” and a call for development.

The first mobile phone appeared in 1983. From that moment on, phones began to develop rapidly in terms of design and functionality. The modern iPhone with its thousands of applications and games, high-quality photos and the video can no longer be compared with that modest first Motorola. Since that first moment, thousands have appeared various models phones.

In 2007, a revolution called “3G” took place. The advent of 3G networks has reduced channel load cellular communication and significantly expand the capabilities of subscribers. And the capabilities of phones, of course. A modern mobile phone, which fits easily in the palm of your hand, has a range of functions that in the 80s was available to a “portable” computer the size of a briefcase.

What were they like, the first telephones?

The first was the telephone from Motorola with the mysterious name DynaTac. It was a heavy tube with buttons and a protruding antenna. The phone hardly fit in the hand and had a minimal number of functions for making calls.

In six years, the Motorola phone has evolved into a truly portable model - MicroTac. These phones had a small docking station and were installed in cars. However, they have not yet fit into a clothing pocket.

The next stage of development has ended in 1992 model output Motorola International. It was the first fully digital mobile phone. An elegant, thin for those times handset with buttons and an antenna. Around the same time, Nokia 1011 appeared - the first mass-produced phone GSM standard. The phone had a liquid crystal screen located in the upper part of the body and a short antenna, a few centimeters long. At the same time, the first PDA from IBM appeared, or, as it was called, a combo phone.

In 1996 Motorola releases first phone - flip phone. Elegant, thin phone with two-line LED display. At the top of the clamshell there was only a speaker. On the right top corner The phone had a thin antenna.

An alternative to the model described above was the telephone banana Nokia 8110, made popular in the first Matrix film. The phone was equipped with a small but very informative monochrome display. The keyboard was covered with a plastic cover that moved down, at the lower end of which there was a microphone.

The first series of smartphones was Nokia 9000 Communicator. The phone looked like an opening pencil case, in one half of which there was a colored oblong screen, and on the second there was a full-fledged keyboard. This smartphone was built on Intel processor 386. In 1998 this communicator has become significantly lighter and has evolved into model 9110i.

Mass model mobile phones at this time became Nokia 5110. It looked quite modest - a black candy bar with a screen, buttons and a small antenna. The phone had basic functions and was available to customers. By 1999 he grew up up to Nokia 8210, in a more stylish design, with additional functionality.

The first phone with a WAP browser was Nokia 7110. Flat phone with pretty big screen. Like the “banana”, the keyboard was closed with a lid that moved down.

Nokia 5120: a phone for all occasions. The model was distinguished by the fact that it had a shock-resistant, waterproof case, which, among other things, could be replaced.

The first phone with GPS was Benefon ESC. The phone was made in a monoblock form factor, had big screen and stylish black and silver design.

The first phone with an mp3 player Samsung SPH-M100

The first phone with a built-in mp3 player was the Samsung SPH-M100, a silver phone with a flip-up microphone.

During the same period there appeared legendary Nokia 3210. The phone was different in that it had an internal antenna and T9 smart input for entering messages. Was sold about 160 million these phones.

In 2000 appeared first touch screen phone. It was Ericsson R380. The phone had a monochrome screen, a decent part of which was hidden behind a folding keyboard.

At the same time, another popular legendary phone - Nokia 3310. The model became one of the most popular: about 126 million phones were sold.

Nokia 8310 appeared in 2001. The phone was equipped additional features, which were new at that time: Infrared port, functional calendar and FM radio.

Then a miniature one appeared Ericsson T39 - the first phone with Bluetooth. Very quickly it evolved into the T66, which is no taller than a pack of cigarettes. The T68 model already had a color screen.

Siemens at the same time releases a model S45, the first GPRS phone with 360kb internal memory, which was quite a lot at the time.

In 2002 appeared Nokia 3510, designed to bring Internet services to the masses. The 3510i version had a color screen.

The first phone with a built-in camera was the Nokia 7650 slider.

At the same time appeared Sony Ericsson P800, a smartphone with a touch screen and 128 MB of memory. The phone had a nice light blue design.

In 2003 appeared Nokia 1100, another bestseller. Since release it has been 200 million copies sold.

Then they appeared Nokia N-Gage and PalmOne, telephone gadgets, as well as Nokia 6600, Symbian OS phone. A model Nokia 7600 became one of the first 3G smartphones, the lightest and smallest.

In 2004 legendary appears Motorola Razor V3, which set the standard in design for the industry. And the smartphone Nokia 7610 became the first to carry a 1-megapixel camera on board. Its brother Nokia 3220 offered full access to the Internet.

In 2005 appeared Nokia 1110- budget GSM phone for developing countries. In parallel, its antipode appears - HTC Universal, the first 3G PDA with Windows Mobile.

In 2006 was released Nokia N73, a phone that garnered a following over the next few years. At the same time appeared Nokia E62 - the first business phone.

2007 marked the appearance of the iPhone. It was a phone with a rotation sensor and a Multi-Touch interface. The phone instantly captured a significant market share. In response, Apple released a phone HTC Touch, with its own Multi-Touch interface and high screen resolution.

In 2008 appeared iPhone 3G, an even more desirable model for all applications that can be purchased in the AppStore.

Then he appeared T-Mobile G1, first phone with operating system Android system from Google. By April 2009, one million phones had been sold.

At the same time, the legendary Nokia 5800 XpressMusic, a mobile phone for music lovers. It should also be noted the business smartphone Nokia E63, LG Dare with handwriting recognition, Nokia N79 with a 5-megapixel camera and Carl Zeiss optics. LG KC910 already had an 8-megapixel camera and a xenon flash.

LG Arena appeared in 2009- first phone with 3D interface. At the same time, the BlackBerry Curve 8900 appeared with a convenient trackball and high screen resolution. Unfortunately, 2G. It is worth noting the appearance of LG Versa - a phone with a connected QWERTY keyboard and a virtual keyboard on the touch screen.

From that moment on, the evolution of mobile phones occurred in leaps and bounds. Almost every model modern phone began to have widgets for communication in popular social networks. Some models, such as the Sony Ericsson Cyber-Shot, have powerful optics and a camera with a matrix on board high resolution. Already now mobile phones have functionality close to the capabilities personal computer. Phones with touch screens are replacing the usual monoblocks. What will happen next? 3D projection displays? What are mobile phones evolving into now?

Mobile communications, which operate throughout the world today, are traditionally considered a relatively new invention. However, the first concepts for organizing infrastructure mobile communications appeared at the beginning of the 20th century. It is difficult to answer the question in which country the first mobile phones appeared and when. But if you try to do this, what facts about the development of telephone communications using radio equipment should be studied first of all? Based on what criteria should certain devices be classified as mobile phones?

History of mobile phones: basic facts

We can answer the question of who invented the first mobile phone in the world, first of all, by familiarizing ourselves with the history of the creation of the corresponding communication devices.

Concepts and prototypes of communication devices, functionally similar to mobile phones, began to be discussed in various communities (scientific, engineering) at the beginning of the 20th century. But the cell phone itself, as a subscriber means of communication, was proposed to be developed in the late 70s by Bell Laboratories, which belonged to one of the largest American corporations - AT&T. Among the first states to successfully implement commercial systems mobile communications- Finland. Mobile communication systems were actively developing in the USSR.

But which state is ahead of the rest in terms of introducing mobile phones?

It will be useful to dwell in more detail on Soviet inventions - familiarizing yourself with the facts about them will help us understand when the first mobile phone appeared in the world and in which country.

During the Great Patriotic War, the idea of ​​​​creating a special device, a monophone, was proposed by the Soviet scientist Georgy Ilyich Babat. This device was supposed to be portable phone operating in automatic mode. It was assumed that it would operate in the 1-2 GHz range. The fundamental feature of the apparatus proposed by G.I. Babat, was to ensure voice transmission through an extensive network of special waveguides.

In 1946, G. Shapiro and I. Zakharchenko proposed organizing a radiotelephone communication system, within which devices for receiving and transmitting voice were to be placed in cars. In accordance with this concept, the basis of the mobile communications infrastructure was to be existing city stations, supplemented by special radio equipment. Special call signs were supposed to be used as subscriber identifiers.

In April 1957, Soviet engineer Leonid Ivanovich Kupriyanovich created a prototype of a communication device - the LK-1 radiotelephone. This device had a range of about 30 km and had a significant weight - about 3 kg. It could provide communication through interaction with a special automatic telephone exchange, which could connect to city telephone lines. Subsequently, the phone was improved. So, L.I. Kupriyanovich significantly reduced the weight and dimensions of the device. IN updated version the size of the apparatus was approximately equal to the size of 2 cigarette boxes stacked on top of each other. The weight of the radiotelephone was about 500 grams including the battery. It was hoped that the Soviet mobile phone would find wide application in the national economy, in everyday life and would become an item for personal use by citizens.

Radiotelephone L.I. Kupriyanovich allowed not only to make calls, but also to receive them - subject to the assignment of a personal number, as well as the use of infrastructure that allows transmitting signals from the automatic telephone exchange to automatic telephone radio stations, and from them to subscriber devices.

Research in the field of mobile communications was also carried out in other socialist countries. For example, in 1959, the Bulgarian scientist Hristo Bachvarov developed a mobile device, similar in basic principle to L.I.’s telephone. Kupriyanovich, and patented it.

Is it possible to say that the world's first mobile phone was thus invented in the USSR or in other socialist countries?

Criteria for classifying devices as mobile phones

First of all, it is worth deciding what to count, in fact, mobile phone. According to a common definition, a device should be considered as such:

Compact (a person can carry it with them);

Works using radio communication channels;

Allows one subscriber to call another using a unique number;

Integrated in some way with wired telephone networks;

Publicly available (the ability to connect does not require permission from certain competent authorities and is limited by the financial and infrastructural resources of subscribers).

From this point of view, a full-fledged mobile phone has not yet been invented. But, of course, the above criteria for determining a mobile phone cannot be considered universal. And if you remove from them, in particular, accessibility and compactness, then the rest may well correspond Soviet system"Altai". Let's take a closer look at its features.

Soviet experience in the development of mobile communications: the Altai system

When studying the question of what was the very first mobile phone in the world, it is useful to familiarize yourself with the basic facts about the corresponding communication system. The devices connected to it had, in principle, all the features of a mobile phone, except for being accessible to the public. This system, Thus:

Allowed some subscribers to call others by numbers;

It was in a certain way integrated with city networks.

But it was not publicly available: lists of subscribers were approved at the departmental level. The Altai system was launched in the 60s in Moscow, and in the 70s it was deployed in more than 100 cities of the USSR. Actively used during the 1980 Olympics.

There were plans in the USSR to create a mobile communication system to which everyone could connect. But due to the economic and political difficulties of the mid-to-late 80s, work on the development of this concept was curtailed.

Western cellular standards were introduced in post-Soviet Russia. By that time, they had already been providing communications between devices for quite some time, which could be called full-fledged mobile phones. Let's study how the corresponding standards developed in the West. This, again, will help us answer the question of where and when the world's first mobile phone appeared.

History of mobile communications in the United States

As we noted at the beginning of the article, prototypes of mobile phones in the West began to appear at the beginning of the 20th century. In the 30s and 40s, real developments began to be implemented. In 1933, communications could be made between NYPD vehicles using half-duplex radio transmitters. In 1946, a mobile network was deployed in which private subscribers could communicate with each other using radio equipment through the mediation of an operator. In 1948, an infrastructure was launched that allowed one subscriber to call another automatically.

Can we say that it was in the USA that the world's first mobile phone was invented? If we consider the above criteria for classifying a radiotelephone as a device of the appropriate type - yes, we can say so, but in relation to later American developments. The fact is that the principles of its functioning of American cellular networks of the 40s were very far from those that characterize modern

Systems like those deployed in Missouri and Indiana in the 1940s had significant frequency and channel limitations. This did not allow sufficient connection to mobile networks large number subscribers at the same time. A solution to this problem was proposed by Bell specialist D. Ring, who proposed dividing the radio signal distribution area into cells or cells, which would be formed by special base stations operating at different frequencies. This principle is generally implemented by modern cellular operators. The implementation of D. Ring's concept in practice was carried out in 1969.

History of mobile communications in Europe and Japan

In Western Europe, the first telephone communication systems using radio equipment were tested in 1951. In the 60s, work in this direction was actively carried out in Japan. It is noteworthy that it was Japanese developers who established that the optimal frequency for deploying mobile communications infrastructure is 400 and 900 MHz. Today, these frequencies are among the main ones used by cellular operators.

Finland has become one of the leading countries in terms of introducing developments in the field of organizing the functioning of full-fledged cellular networks. In 1971, the Finns began to deploy a commercial cellular network, the coverage area of ​​which by 1978 had reached the size of the entire country. Does this mean that the very first mobile phone in the world operating on modern principles, originated in Finland? There are certain arguments in favor of this thesis: in particular, it has been established that Finnish telecommunications corporations have deployed the corresponding infrastructure nationwide. But in accordance with the traditional point of view, such a device nevertheless appeared in the United States. The main role in this, again, if we consider the popular version, was played by Motorola.

Motorola Cellular Concepts

In the early 70s, very fierce competition developed in the United States between service and equipment providers in a promising market segment - in the field of cellular communications. The main competitors here were AT&T and Motorola. At the same time, the first company focused on the deployment of automotive communication systems - by the way, like telecommunications corporations in Finland, the second - on the introduction of compact devices that any subscriber could carry with them.

The second concept won, and on its basis, Motorola Corporation began deploying, in fact, a full-fledged modern understanding cellular network using compact devices. The world's first mobile phone within the Motorola infrastructure, again in accordance with the traditional approach, was used as a subscriber device in 1973. Ten years later, a full-fledged commercial network was launched in the United States, to which ordinary Americans could connect.

Let's consider what the world's first mobile phone was, invented, according to the popular point of view, by engineers of the American company Motorola.

First cell phone: characteristics

We are talking about the Motorola DynaTAC device. He weighed about 1.15 kg. Its size was 22.5 x 12.5 x 3.75 cm. It had numeric keys for dialing, as well as two special buttons for sending a call, as well as ending a call. The device had a battery, thanks to which it could function in call standby mode for about 8 hours, and in talk mode for about 1 hour. It took more than 10 hours to charge the battery of the first cell phone.

What does the world's first mobile phone look like? Photo of the device is below.

Subsequently, Motorola released a number of modernized versions of the device. If we talk about Motorola's commercial network, the first mobile phone in the world was made for the corresponding infrastructure in 1983.

We are talking about the Motorola DynaTAC 8000X device. This device weighed about 800 grams, its dimensions were comparable to the first version of the device. It is noteworthy that 30 subscriber numbers could be stored in its memory.

Who invented the first mobile phone?

So, let's try to answer our main question- who invented the world's first mobile phone. The history of the development of telephone communications using radio equipment suggests that the very first device that fully met the criteria for being classified as a mobile phone, which is still relevant today, was invented by Motorola in the USA and shown to the world in 1973.

However, it would be incorrect to say that this corporation has fundamentally introduced new development. Mobile phones - in the sense that they were radio equipment and provided communication between subscribers using a unique number - were by that time used in the USSR, Europe, and Japan. If we talk about when the world's first mobile phone was commercialized, the company that developed it launched the corresponding business in 1983, later than, in particular, similar projects were introduced in Finland.

Thus, the Motorola corporation can rightfully be considered the first to offer a mobile phone in the modern sense - in particular, one operating on the principle of distribution base stations on cells, and also has a compact format. Thus, if we talk about where exactly the world’s first mobile phone was invented, in which country - as a portable, compact device that is part of the cellular communications infrastructure, then it would be legitimate to determine that this state was the United States.

At the same time, it is worth noting that the Soviet Altai system functioned quite successfully even without the introduction of American-style technologies. Thus, engineers from the USSR fundamentally proved the possibility of deploying mobile communications infrastructure on a national scale, without using the principles of distributing base stations among cells.

It is possible that without the economic and political problems of the 80s, the USSR would have introduced its own mobile networks, operating on the basis of concepts alternative to the American ones, and they would work no worse. However, it is a fact that today Russia uses cellular communication standards developed in the Western world, which proposed and commercialized the first mobile phones.

It is worth noting that the Altai system actually worked until 2011. Thus, Soviet engineering developments for a long time remained relevant, and this may indicate that, perhaps, with the necessary refinement, they could compete with foreign concepts for building a cellular communications infrastructure.

Resume

So, who invented the world's first mobile phone? It is difficult to answer this question briefly. If by mobile phone we mean a compact subscriber radio equipment integrated with city networks, operating on a cellular principle and accessible to everyone, then this infrastructure was probably first introduced by the American company Motorola.

If we talk about the first commercial cellular networks - then these were probably implemented on a national scale in Finland, but with the use of devices aimed at placement in cars. Non-commercial closed mobile networks were also successfully deployed, in fact, on a national scale, in the USSR.