- By Vikas Yadav
- Mon, 03 Apr 2023 05:26 PM (IST)
- Source:JND
THE DAY was April 3 when Martin Cooper made a phone call from the first commercial handheld, the Motorola DynaTAC 8000X. From 1973 to today, phones have transformed by leaps and bounds via multiple innovations and upgrades.
From handsets you could barely hold for roughly 20 minutes to hours of screen on time on a pocket-friendly machine, in the past half-century, mobiles gained incredible capabilities. Here is a timeline to picture the metamorphoses in the last 50 years.
1973
The breakthrough - Dubbed the father of cell phones, Martin Cooper, during his time at Motorola, flaunted the first portable cell innovation via a call to his rival from Bell Labs. DynaTAC 8000X, the first cell device, reached the US markets after ten years with a whopping $3,995 price tag, News18 reports.
1988
Make way for the future leader - Samsung joined the party with SH-100. Further, in 1999, Samsung launched the first MP3-player bundled phone, WION reports.
1989
Flips arrive - Motorola unveiled a first-of-its-kind flip phone.
1994
First touchscreen phone - IBM's Simon released with a touch screen along with a few apps, Versus reports.
1997
Nokia innovates rapidly - Nokia's 7110 became the first phone with internet browsing capabilities, News18 adds.
1998
Holi moment - Siemens S10 introduced colours on mobile screens for the first time.
2000
A star is born - Nokia 3310 was launched and went on to become the most-selling phone.
2001
3G mobile networks - Japan introduced 3G connectivity. Video calls were first made possible with the Kyocera VP-210 in 1999. Plus, Sharp J-SH04 added a camera to a phone, News18 adds.
2003
Records made - Nokia went on to sell 250 million of the Nokia 1100 since its launch in 2003.
2007
The iPhone moment - Apple introduced the first iPhone - iPhone 2G, claiming to be a revolutionary product.
2008
Android Phone - HTC Dream became the first phone to run on Google's Android.
2009
WhatsApp Revolution -WhatsApp transformed messaging on handhelds. It surpassed SMS usage in 2012.
2014
Flagship killer arrives - Revolutionary brands like OnePlus debuted. Samsung brings Galaxy S5, a phone with a heart rate monitor. Next year, Samsung unveiled S6 Edge with a curved screen, a premium trait that continues to date in smartphones.
2019
Big screen, small form factor - Foldable phones from manufacturers like Samsung arrive in India.
Finally, read what the person who ignited the fire said: "The first fifty years were only the warm-up. There will be many more exciting advancements that will transform humanity," ANI citing the inventor, wrote.
