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Tech: History of the mobile phone

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Ages 11-12

The world’s first mobile phone call was made on April 3, 1973 when the senior engineer at Motorola, called a rival telecommunications company and told them he was speaking through a mobile phone.

Here are some cell phones that followed:

DynaTAC 8000X

In 1983, Motorola released its first mobile phone. It only had 30 minutes of talk-time and could store 30 phone numbers.

Price: $3995

 

Mobira Cityman900

This Nokia phone was available in 1989. The handset weighed almost 2 pounds and was a huge improvement from the other “brick like” phones.

Price: $9900

 

Nokia 6110

In 1997, Nokia released a mobile phone that everyone had to have. It featured three games, a calculator, a clock and calendar and came in 4 colours.

Price: $1230

 

Motorola StarTA

Also popular in 1997, the inspiration for the clam-shell design came from Star Trek. 60 million were sold and they appeared in many Hollywood movies.

Price: $1500

 

Blackberry 850

In 1999, the first Blackberry was one of the first of many released under the brand name. It had a full keyboard, could send messages, access email and more.

Price: $527

 

Nokia 3310

In the mid to late 1990’s this was the mobile phone everyone wanted and most had. It is still known as the most indestructible phone ever made and the antenna was designed into the phone itself.

Price: $185

 

J-SH04

The first camera phone came from Japan and the Sharp Corporation in November 2000. It had a 0.1 megapixel resolution, a colour LCD screen, one-touch internet access and a speaker phone.

Price: $500 

 

Samsung SGH-T100

The first cell phone with a bright, clear and colourful, large, matrix LCD display.

 

Siemens SL4

In 2001, the first mp3 player phone was released. It had a memory card slot for extra storage and a wireless internet browser.

Price: $400

 

Motorola Razr V3

This flip phone was the best-selling phone from 2004 to 2006. 130 million of them were sold. It was an mp3 player and had Bluetooth connectivity.

Price: $449

 

Blackberry 7270

In 2005, the first phone to have Wi-Fi started the cell phone addiction. Having the internet meant that people could now check their phones while brushing their teeth or even at the dining table.

Price: $500

 

LG Shine

In 2006, LG released a camera phone that displays the number pad once you slide it up. It also had a mirror screen.

Price: $249

 

Apple iPhone

In 2008, the first-generation iPhone changed cell phones forever. The touchscreen became the design of choice and the apps were so popular that by 2010 Apple had sold 50 million iPhones. In 2017, they sold 78 million iPhones.

Price: $599

 

This article was featured in the 2018 edition of the RG Kids Magazine.

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