National Telephone Day: Ten Pivotal Mobile Moments

National Telephone Day encourages us to reflect on the incredible evolution that has led us to today’s digital smartphones – and as you would expect, there’s a lot to cover!

So, here are our top ten moments in mobile phone history.

1. The First Phone

Believe it or not, the first mobile phone was created in 1973 by Martin Cooper. Now, prior to this, the telephone was a fairly stationary device – with past advancements slowly making them viable on several transport modes – but it wasn’t until 1973 that the first mobile phone call was executed by Motorola.

2. Commercially Available Device

Although 1973 marked the first mobile call, it wasn’t until 1983 that the devices became a commercial commodity. The available phone was the Motorola DynaTAC 8000X and would set you back a considerable $4000! And people complain about the new iPhone being too expensive…

3. The First Commercial Call

Two years passed by before the first ‘public’ call was made by Ernie Wise. The comedian made the phone call from outside of a pub to the Vodafone headquarters. Of course, what ended up being more notable than the call itself was that Wise chose to adorn a full Dickensian Coachman’s uniform whilst making it.

4. The First Phone for the Public

Whilst 1983 unveiled the first commercially available phone, it wasn’t until 1992 that the first GSM (Global Systems for Mobile) phones were readily available – and this was the Nokia 101 model!

Trust us, you’ll want to look it up…

5. The Creation of Bluetooth

Bluetooth may seem a thing of the past for many, but most of us will remember a time where its capabilities were unparalleled and exciting! The feature was first introduced in 1994, however, it was not officially unveiled until 1998. Over the years, it continually engaged users with its ability to transfer content between devices at high speeds, without the need for wireless internet.

6. SMS Messaging

You may be more accustomed to iMessage or WhatsApp these days, but the introduction of SMS messaging was a huge advancement within the mobile phone sector and came about in 1994 – and from there our mobile conversations were no longer contained in verbal methods alone!

7. First Smartphone

It would be difficult to count every model of smartphone available to us at present – particularly because major brands such as Apple, Samsung and Google ensure that there is always something to look forward to!

Backtrack to 1996, however, and there was only one smartphone on the market and it was the Nokia 9000 Communicator – it’s a catchy name, right?

8. First Camera Phone

The mobile cameras of today rival the capabilities of high-grade cameras, but this was only possible after years of hard work and advancement. In fact, the first camera phone, the Sharp J-SH04,  appeared way back in 2000 and found popularity with the teenagers of Japan!

9. First Apple iPhone

Well, you could have guessed that the market-leading brand would make an appearance somewhere on this list, but you might not have realised that the ever-popular iPhone did not reach the consumer market until 2007!

10. First Google Android Phone

As always, where an Apple device goes an Android will follow and the same goes for their launch dates. Whilst Apple’s iPhone entered the tech scene in 2007, Google’s first Android phone made a splash in 2008.