[h=1]The History of the Mobile Phone[/h]
By Washington Post September 9
On Tuesday, Apple unveiled its long-awaited newest mobile products: the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, essentially letting the world take even better selfies with more pixels and higher resolution. To mark the occasion, as well as acknowledge how a generation of mobile devices have helped shape communication around the world, it seemed fitting to explore the many iterations the mobile phone has gone through over the decades.
1917
A photograph shows German soldiers in a dugout during World War I, with a soldier on the left using a field telephone. World War I pioneered many technological, scientific and societal innovations. Field telephones and wireless communications were regularly used for the first time to coordinate military movements. (Handout via U.S. Library of Congress/Reuters)
1941
Direction-finding equipment in this radio spy patrol car tells how close the car is to a transmitting set and can even spot the room of an apartment from which signals are coming, shown Feb. 27, 1941, in Washington. (AP Photo)
1973
In this 2003, photo, Martin Cooper, chairman and chief executive of ArrayComm, holds a Motorola DynaTAC, a 1973 prototype of the first hand-held cellular telephone. On April 3, 1973, Cooper made the first public call ever made on a cellphone. (Eric Risberg/AP)
1984
New York City Mayor Edward Koch, front center, uses a car phone as he holds the hand of Lynn Forester Stein, executive vice president of Celluphone Corp. on Aug. 7, 1984, New York. (Marty Lederhandler/AP Photo)
1989
In 1989, Motorola introduced the Micro TAC personal telephone. With a collapsible antennae and a flip-close design that was reminiscent of the communicators used in the “Star Trek” TV series, the Micro Tac was deemed the first truly portable phone and launched the consumer segment of cellphone use. (Motorola via AP)
1988
Franck Piccard of France talks on his cellphone on Feb. 28, 1988, after the Mens Super G Slalom event at the Winter Olympic Games in Calgary, Canada. (Allsport UK /Getty Images)
1992
Then-Democratic presidential nominee Bill Clinton talked on a cellular phone while meeting with Boston Mayor Ray Flynn in a New York hotel on Sept. 25, 1992. (Mark Lennihan/AP Photo)
1997
Philips Consumer Communications shows its new digital smart phone, The Synergy. The mobile gave wireless access to E-mail, Internet and Faxes. (Rabih Moghrabi/AFP/Getty Images)
1997
The first in her village with a cellular phone, Laili Begum, 27, in Patria, Bangladesh, dials to connect a number in Dhaka in March 1997. (Pavel Rahman/AP Photo)
2002
The Danger Hiptop came out in 2002. Sold mostly by T-Mobile as the Sidekick, the Hiptop combined Web browsing, e-mail, instant messaging and cellphone services with personal-assistance apps, a digital camera and a few video games. The phone’s flip-out screen and qwerty keyboard helped it quickly catch on with the texting crowd. (Beth A. Keiser/AP Photo)
2007
On Jan. 9, 2007, Apple chief executive Steve Jobs introduced the iPhone at the MacWorld Conference in San Francisco. Combining the features of a cellphone, pocket computer and multimedia player, the iPhone changed the nature of how users related to their pocket devices. (Paul Sakuma/AP Photo)
2011
A youth films the aftermath of a tear gas volley fired by police on protestors in Muhammed Mahmoud Street near Tahrir Square on November 23, 2011, in Cairo, Egypt. (Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images)
Egyptian protesters charge their cell phones in Tahrir square in Cairo in 2011 on a day of clashes with security forces. (Khaled Desouki/AFP/Getty Images)
A veiled woman takes pictures with her cellphone during clashes with Egyptian riot policenear Tahrir Square in November 2011. (Tara Todras-Whitehill/AP Photo)
2013
Visitors take photos of newly chosen Pope Francis as he speaks from the central balcony of St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican on March 13, 2013. (Michael Sohn/AP Photo)
2014
A local youth takes a selfie in front of Queen Elizabeth II during a visit to St George's indoor market on June 24 in Belfast, Northern Ireland. (Peter Macdiarmid/ Pool/Getty Images)
The History of the Mobile Phone - The Washington Post
By Washington Post September 9
On Tuesday, Apple unveiled its long-awaited newest mobile products: the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, essentially letting the world take even better selfies with more pixels and higher resolution. To mark the occasion, as well as acknowledge how a generation of mobile devices have helped shape communication around the world, it seemed fitting to explore the many iterations the mobile phone has gone through over the decades.
1917
A photograph shows German soldiers in a dugout during World War I, with a soldier on the left using a field telephone. World War I pioneered many technological, scientific and societal innovations. Field telephones and wireless communications were regularly used for the first time to coordinate military movements. (Handout via U.S. Library of Congress/Reuters)
1941
Direction-finding equipment in this radio spy patrol car tells how close the car is to a transmitting set and can even spot the room of an apartment from which signals are coming, shown Feb. 27, 1941, in Washington. (AP Photo)
1973
In this 2003, photo, Martin Cooper, chairman and chief executive of ArrayComm, holds a Motorola DynaTAC, a 1973 prototype of the first hand-held cellular telephone. On April 3, 1973, Cooper made the first public call ever made on a cellphone. (Eric Risberg/AP)
1984
New York City Mayor Edward Koch, front center, uses a car phone as he holds the hand of Lynn Forester Stein, executive vice president of Celluphone Corp. on Aug. 7, 1984, New York. (Marty Lederhandler/AP Photo)
1989
In 1989, Motorola introduced the Micro TAC personal telephone. With a collapsible antennae and a flip-close design that was reminiscent of the communicators used in the “Star Trek” TV series, the Micro Tac was deemed the first truly portable phone and launched the consumer segment of cellphone use. (Motorola via AP)
1988
Franck Piccard of France talks on his cellphone on Feb. 28, 1988, after the Mens Super G Slalom event at the Winter Olympic Games in Calgary, Canada. (Allsport UK /Getty Images)
1992
Then-Democratic presidential nominee Bill Clinton talked on a cellular phone while meeting with Boston Mayor Ray Flynn in a New York hotel on Sept. 25, 1992. (Mark Lennihan/AP Photo)
1997
Philips Consumer Communications shows its new digital smart phone, The Synergy. The mobile gave wireless access to E-mail, Internet and Faxes. (Rabih Moghrabi/AFP/Getty Images)
1997
The first in her village with a cellular phone, Laili Begum, 27, in Patria, Bangladesh, dials to connect a number in Dhaka in March 1997. (Pavel Rahman/AP Photo)
2002
The Danger Hiptop came out in 2002. Sold mostly by T-Mobile as the Sidekick, the Hiptop combined Web browsing, e-mail, instant messaging and cellphone services with personal-assistance apps, a digital camera and a few video games. The phone’s flip-out screen and qwerty keyboard helped it quickly catch on with the texting crowd. (Beth A. Keiser/AP Photo)
2007
On Jan. 9, 2007, Apple chief executive Steve Jobs introduced the iPhone at the MacWorld Conference in San Francisco. Combining the features of a cellphone, pocket computer and multimedia player, the iPhone changed the nature of how users related to their pocket devices. (Paul Sakuma/AP Photo)
2011
A youth films the aftermath of a tear gas volley fired by police on protestors in Muhammed Mahmoud Street near Tahrir Square on November 23, 2011, in Cairo, Egypt. (Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images)
Egyptian protesters charge their cell phones in Tahrir square in Cairo in 2011 on a day of clashes with security forces. (Khaled Desouki/AFP/Getty Images)
A veiled woman takes pictures with her cellphone during clashes with Egyptian riot policenear Tahrir Square in November 2011. (Tara Todras-Whitehill/AP Photo)
2013
Visitors take photos of newly chosen Pope Francis as he speaks from the central balcony of St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican on March 13, 2013. (Michael Sohn/AP Photo)
2014
A local youth takes a selfie in front of Queen Elizabeth II during a visit to St George's indoor market on June 24 in Belfast, Northern Ireland. (Peter Macdiarmid/ Pool/Getty Images)
The History of the Mobile Phone - The Washington Post
