Mrwill
10-06-2009, 03:08 PM
From enormous, 80-pound, car-mounted beasts to tiny terminals in our back pockets, mobile phones have come a long way. What once cost thousands, weighed 2 pounds, and packed 60 minutes of battery life now costs $99, weighs 4 ounces, and packs 5 to 10 hours of battery life--and also includes a full-fledged computer, a video camera, audio/video playback, and high-speed Internet access.
http://images.pcworld.com/news/graphics/173033-sra-mta_slide.jpg
Year: 1956
In the days before cellular phone networks, the world's mobile phones lacked a unifying standard. Instead, they used varying communication methods defined on a company-by-company basis.
The 88-pound MTA phone, shown here, is typical in size and weight of early mobile phone systems from the pre-integrated-circuit era. Most were so heavy and power-hungry that they required permanent installation in a car or other vehicle. Very few people owned, used, or even encountered such devices; for example, the service for the model shown here existed in only two Swedish cities and served a mere 125 subscribers from 1956 to 1967.
Notable qualities: The first automatic mobile telephone system (it didn't require a human operator to manually connect the user to an outside phone line)
Photo: Ericsson
Motorola DynaTAC 8000X
http://images.pcworld.com/news/graphics/173033-dynatac_slide.jpg
Year: 1983
Though Motorola announced the world's first handheld mobile phone--a prototype of the DynaTAC 8000X you see above--in 1973, it took ten years for the DynaTAC to reach the market. In those ten years, engineers squeezed more capability into less space, and Motorola built much-needed infrastructure--the towers necessary for cell phone service.
Upon its release in 1983, the DynaTAC 8000X became an instant cultural icon, both as a status symbol for the rich (thanks to the $3995 retail price--$8657 in 2009 dollars) and as an almost miraculous wonder-phone that a person could use anywhere. With the DynaTAC, the cell phone revolution had finally begun.
Notable qualities: Small size, light weight; the first handheld mobile phone
Photo: Motorola
Nokia Mobira Talkman[/B]
http://images.pcworld.com/news/graphics/173033-mobiratalkman_slide.jpg
Year: 1984
Motorola's handheld DynaTAC was an amazing breakthrough, but in reality its size proved limiting due to the battery technology of the era. The DynaTAC could manage only 60 minutes of talk time in ideal conditions, while larger "luggable" phones equipped with capacious batteries--such as the Mobira Talkman, shown here--could provide many hours of continuous operation.
Notable qualities: Early luggable mobile phone; relatively long talk time
Photo: Nokia
Motorola MicroTAC
http://images.pcworld.com/news/graphics/173033-microtac_slide.jpg
Year: 1989
After the success of the DynaTAC, Motorola followed up with the much smaller and lighter MicroTAC phone in 1989. The MicroTAC included a novel space-saving idea: Motorola engineers placed part of the phone's hardware in a hinged section that could fold inward or outward as needed, thus reducing the phone's size when it wasn't in use. The flip concept lives on in many cell phones today.
Notable qualities: First flip phone, first pocket phone; smallest and lightest cellular phone at the time of its debut
Photo: Motorola
Motorola 2900 Bag Phone
http://images.pcworld.com/news/graphics/173033-bagphone_slide.jpg
Year: 1994
When many people think of the "car phones" of the 1980s and 1990s, they picture bag phones like the Motorola 2900, shown here. The bag contained a transceiver and battery, and the user operated a much lighter corded handset. Owners could carry the bag on their shoulder, but a bag phone's general bulk mostly limited its usage to cars.
Despite the availability of smaller phones on the market, bag phones remained popular well into the late 1990s due to their long talk times and their superior range. Thanks to heftier batteries, bag phones could afford to transmit a cell signal with greater power, allowing the phone to be used farther away from a receiving tower. This was especially important in the days when cellular coverage wasn't nearly as widespread as it is now.
Notable qualities: Long talk times, plus greater battery life and signal range
Photo: Motorola
Motorola StarTAC
http://images.pcworld.com/news/graphics/173033-startac_slide.jpg
Nokia 8810
http://images.pcworld.com/news/graphics/173033-nokia8810_slide.jpg
Photo: Nokia
RIM BlackBerry 5810
http://images.pcworld.com/news/graphics/173033-blackberry5810_slide.jpg
Apple iPhone
http://images.pcworld.com/news/graphics/173033-iphone_slide.jpg
For full list- http://www.pcworld.com/printable/article/id,173033/printable.html
http://images.pcworld.com/news/graphics/173033-sra-mta_slide.jpg
Year: 1956
In the days before cellular phone networks, the world's mobile phones lacked a unifying standard. Instead, they used varying communication methods defined on a company-by-company basis.
The 88-pound MTA phone, shown here, is typical in size and weight of early mobile phone systems from the pre-integrated-circuit era. Most were so heavy and power-hungry that they required permanent installation in a car or other vehicle. Very few people owned, used, or even encountered such devices; for example, the service for the model shown here existed in only two Swedish cities and served a mere 125 subscribers from 1956 to 1967.
Notable qualities: The first automatic mobile telephone system (it didn't require a human operator to manually connect the user to an outside phone line)
Photo: Ericsson
Motorola DynaTAC 8000X
http://images.pcworld.com/news/graphics/173033-dynatac_slide.jpg
Year: 1983
Though Motorola announced the world's first handheld mobile phone--a prototype of the DynaTAC 8000X you see above--in 1973, it took ten years for the DynaTAC to reach the market. In those ten years, engineers squeezed more capability into less space, and Motorola built much-needed infrastructure--the towers necessary for cell phone service.
Upon its release in 1983, the DynaTAC 8000X became an instant cultural icon, both as a status symbol for the rich (thanks to the $3995 retail price--$8657 in 2009 dollars) and as an almost miraculous wonder-phone that a person could use anywhere. With the DynaTAC, the cell phone revolution had finally begun.
Notable qualities: Small size, light weight; the first handheld mobile phone
Photo: Motorola
Nokia Mobira Talkman[/B]
http://images.pcworld.com/news/graphics/173033-mobiratalkman_slide.jpg
Year: 1984
Motorola's handheld DynaTAC was an amazing breakthrough, but in reality its size proved limiting due to the battery technology of the era. The DynaTAC could manage only 60 minutes of talk time in ideal conditions, while larger "luggable" phones equipped with capacious batteries--such as the Mobira Talkman, shown here--could provide many hours of continuous operation.
Notable qualities: Early luggable mobile phone; relatively long talk time
Photo: Nokia
Motorola MicroTAC
http://images.pcworld.com/news/graphics/173033-microtac_slide.jpg
Year: 1989
After the success of the DynaTAC, Motorola followed up with the much smaller and lighter MicroTAC phone in 1989. The MicroTAC included a novel space-saving idea: Motorola engineers placed part of the phone's hardware in a hinged section that could fold inward or outward as needed, thus reducing the phone's size when it wasn't in use. The flip concept lives on in many cell phones today.
Notable qualities: First flip phone, first pocket phone; smallest and lightest cellular phone at the time of its debut
Photo: Motorola
Motorola 2900 Bag Phone
http://images.pcworld.com/news/graphics/173033-bagphone_slide.jpg
Year: 1994
When many people think of the "car phones" of the 1980s and 1990s, they picture bag phones like the Motorola 2900, shown here. The bag contained a transceiver and battery, and the user operated a much lighter corded handset. Owners could carry the bag on their shoulder, but a bag phone's general bulk mostly limited its usage to cars.
Despite the availability of smaller phones on the market, bag phones remained popular well into the late 1990s due to their long talk times and their superior range. Thanks to heftier batteries, bag phones could afford to transmit a cell signal with greater power, allowing the phone to be used farther away from a receiving tower. This was especially important in the days when cellular coverage wasn't nearly as widespread as it is now.
Notable qualities: Long talk times, plus greater battery life and signal range
Photo: Motorola
Motorola StarTAC
http://images.pcworld.com/news/graphics/173033-startac_slide.jpg
Nokia 8810
http://images.pcworld.com/news/graphics/173033-nokia8810_slide.jpg
Photo: Nokia
RIM BlackBerry 5810
http://images.pcworld.com/news/graphics/173033-blackberry5810_slide.jpg
Apple iPhone
http://images.pcworld.com/news/graphics/173033-iphone_slide.jpg
For full list- http://www.pcworld.com/printable/article/id,173033/printable.html