According to reliable sources, the cell phone was invented by Dr. Martin Cooper, formerly with Motorola, who branded the “first portable handset” the Dyna-Tac. Supposedly Cooper made the first cell phone and placed a call in April, 1973 to his rival at Bell Labs.
Motorola Dyna-Tac
His Dyna-Tac only weighed 2.5 pounds and measured 9 x 5 x 1.75 inches. (Stick that in your pocket.) Ten years later, Motorola released the first cell phone to the public.
Have you ever asked yourself “why do cell phones or mobile phones look the way they do?” Why are most cell phones candybar, clamshell, slide or swivel shaped?
To answer that question, check out Google, which shows over 4.5M listings for “cell phone design evolution.” While you could easily spend the rest of the year reviewing cell phone schematics and learning more about the innards of a cell phone, I’ll decrease the learning curve for you.
Did you notice the similarity of cell phone design until around 2006-2007?
As we approached the introduction of the iPhone and other smartphones, the form factor or shape of mobile devices didn’t change significantly, but the display size and color resolution, the physical keyboard and added functionality did. The definition of “mobile” itself changed.
Because the iPhone and similar devices performed more like a computer, the phone function, as well as user engagement, remarkably changed. Mobile phones, unlike the previous 20 years, were no longer “talking devices.” They became multi-functional mobile computers.
Since 2007, cell phone designers and manufacturers have been designing and manufacturing more advanced mobile computing devices. In fact, Nokia’s Gian Cioletti in his podcast interview with me on MobileBeyond said that Nokia no longer sells smartphones. Nokia sells mobile computers.
So making phone calls is only one function of “mobile phones” Why do mobile devices still look so much alike? Why are they rectangular? Why can’t cell phones look like they aren’t even cell phones? Why do you have to hold one in your hand?
A developing trend called “concept phones” has emerged from designers and and handset makers in the past couple of years. In many cases, concept phones don’t resemble mobile phones at all. Some look like coffee table decorations, others like necklaces. Shapes, sizes and functionality differ.
To whet you appetite, check out the Motorola KRE-8 Concept Phone for D.J.’s.
Time to throw away your midi keyboard?
Nokia wants you to buy multiple mobile devices. Need a new pair of stylish glasses…and a mobile?
Nokia ClipIT Mobile Device
Yanko Design would like you to sample its Nokia CLIPit concept mobile device. No SIM necessary, just your finger print.
All of the CLIPit’s data is “in the cloud,” accessible from CLIPit, other cell and land line phones and your car kit. Your fingerprint, different from all six billion humans on Earth, identifies you as the owner.
A steel touch screen at the top of the unit has light emitting diodes installed in the pad for dialing, sending and receiving text messages and navigating through your music library.
You may hold CLIPit during calls or put it on a table, without Bluetooth, and CLIPit’s speaker phone automatically turns on.
While you’re listening to your unlimited music library, hang CLIPit around your neck and insert the ear phones. Everyone will think you wearing a necklace made of turquoise and steel. When you’re on the go, clip CLIPit to your clothes, car dashboard, bike, friend, dog or wherever.
But where’s the screen?
Philips developed a technology called “Lumalive” letting you put CLIPit on a three inch piece of cloth. The lower layer in the cloth contains OLED’s which produce a color display in the upper layer. Want a larger screen? Say 12 inches? Attaching CLIPit to “smart fabric” touch-sense and LumaLive technology produces a 12-inch laptop display. When you’re through, fold the cloth, store it and away you go. Totally mobile.
Mohammad Zamani, one of CLIPit’s designers, is still positive about a 2010 release date. So you’ll probably not have a CLIPit from Santa under this year’s Christmas tree. But next year, when someone asks you what you want to Christmas, don’t say “post-it,” say “CLIPit.”
In a move aimed at accelerating the use of the Android platform beyond mobile phones, MIPS Technologies said it’s making the Android platform available on its MIPS architecture.
Announced Monday, MIPS said it will make its source code publically available within 60 days for the new applications. MIPS, which provides processor architectures and cores for home entertainment communications, networking, and portable multimedia markets, envisions its software being used for DTVs, set-top boxes, digital picture frames, and mobile Internet devices.
In a move aimed at accelerating the use of the Android platform beyond mobile phones, MIPS Technologies said it’s making the Android platform available on its MIPS architecture.
Announced Monday, MIPS said it will make its source code publically available within 60 days for the new applications. MIPS, which provides processor architectures and cores for home entertainment communications, networking, and portable multimedia markets, envisions its software being used for DTVs, set-top boxes, digital picture frames, and mobile Internet devices.
In its Monday announcement, MIPS pointed out that its software stack delivers a device-agnostic application development platform.
“With the MIPS ecosystem around Android,” the MIPS announcement stated, “OEMs will be able to quickly optimize Android for their specific platforms.”
MIPS said it has forged partnerships with Embedded Alley and Viosoft to help with porting, integration, and testing in the Android effort. Both partner companies are providers of Linux software solutions.
3G phones are not only interesting but more educative also. Nowadays, mobiles are not single for communication only; even they are the priority sources of entertainment also. People of this generation are choosier in every case either shopping or buying any mobile model. So, manufactures are not left behind. They are more conservative towards their targeted clients by producing bulk of handsets with advanced creation of features and in shapes.
Mobile phone deals are the cream which adds in our modern technology life. This form of cream makes the persons more slippery on the latest mobiles with suitable deals. There are several brands that have their own separate plans like Nokia, Samsung, Motorola, Sony etc. They provide different plans and policies according to their terms and rules sanctioned. Users may be offered some kind of time duration according to the deals such as contract deals, PAYG, phone with free gifts, cheap mobile phone deals and many more.
In contract phone deal, you may sign a contract as the form of security, in this timing; users would enjoy a lot of free gifts and surprises as incentives. Users only gets it for some time being, like as of 6 months, 12 months and 18 months, in which he enjoys free talk time, free insurance, free accessories, free downloading and so on.
In PAYG, users are more liable to pay instantly and get some packages. In it, users don’t need to sign between any kind of particular duration, no involvement, no agreement, no rules and terms.
On mobile phone deals, buy any type of handsets from any company as you like i.e. Nokia N96. This handset becomes a giant from all by their uniqueness and with smart designing and elegant feature.
Keliv Ender works in the mobile industry and is an expert on mobile phones deals. He regularly contributes his services for this industry. He provides detailed information on Mobile phones. To get more information about contract mobile phone deals, 3g mobile phones visit http://www.cellphonesbox.com/Wholesale-gps-phone_c775/
According to IDC’s Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker for Q4 2008, the number of mobile phones shipped fell by 16 per cent to 2.98 million units in 2008. It claimed the number of converged devices (smartphones) shipped increased by 8 per cent and will rise by a further 8 per cent this year due to adoption of midrange priced devices.
“The majority of the year-on-year decline in 2008 was due to the unsustainable boom caused by Telstra’s CDMA to Next G migration in 2007,” Novosel said in a statement. “The actual effect of the slowing economy is less significant at this stage.
“Converged devices available [for] $49 per month should do well in 2009. It’s difficult to imagine anyone giving up their mobile phone despite growing negativity in the economy, however, it is likely some consumers on higher plans will start cutting back on their mobile spend when it’s time to renew their contract,” he said.
The IDC report claimed the recession has pushed up prices for mobile phones, and claimed adoption of high-end smartphones will drop this year. The researcher said last year shipments of iPhones dropped 27 per cent quarter-on-quarter, and unit costs are decreasing in the lead up to product upgrades.
Shipments of mobiles built on HSDPA (High-Speed Downlink Packet Access) constituted 45 per cent of the mobile market in 2008, according to IDC, and will increase by 4 per cent this year.
