History of Mobile Phones
In 30 years Mobile phones have improved by leaps and bounds.
From brick to beautiful.
This timeline will show the evolution from the first mobile phone made by Motorola, to the current generation of smart phones.
Motor Dynatac 8000x - 1983
This was the first commercially available mobile phone and was made by Martin Cooper. It had a battery time of 30 minutes and cost around $4000.
Motorola Microtac - 1989
Over the years phones have got a lot smaller and are beginning to resemble phones that are still used today. The Motorola Microtac cost around $3000 dollars and was the first flip phone ever commercially made and sold.
IBM Simon Personal Communicator - 1993
In the space of 4 years mobile phones have become a lot cheaper and a lot more technologically advanced, the Personal Communicator was the first smart phone and would of cost around $900.
Nokia 5110 - 1998
Throughout the 90's phones took a downgrade but became very affordable and portable, as well as having a whopping 3 hours battery life, the Nokia 5110 was the first phone to implement games like snake.
Motorola Razr V3 - 2004
Mobile phones have now become very popular and affordable and with that, a fashion statement. Phones have become sleek and aesthetically pleasing. Unlike the phones that have come before it, the Razr V3 would become something that would be considered the "cool" thing for teenagers to have.
Apple Iphone - 2007
While the Iphone may not have been the first smart phone, it was the most successful and groundbreaking. The internet and email capabilities were mixed in with the phones features and the touch screen was worshipped by many, this phone changed the game and unlocked the gates to the hundreds of smart phones on the market today.
Fun facts!
- There are 155.1 million mobile phone users worldwide.
- Many smartphone users do not use their phone as a phone, but rather for emails and texting, only 16% people use their smart phone primarily for phone calls
- 1 in 4 people check their phone every 30 minutes.
- 4 in 5 smartphone owners check their phone within 15 minutes of waking up.
Operations Investagions
Operating Systems (OS for short) shape how our mobile devices work, they are everything that the phone does excluding the physical design of the phone. For example iOS (Apple) has a touch based OS, whilst Nokia has a button based OS for their lower end, cheaper phones. In this section we will investigate the main operating systems on the market today.
iOS
iOS is Apple's software that is used on the iPhones, iPads and iPod touches. It is multi-touch and multi-operating, which means that the user swipes pinches and presses the screen to command the phone. The phone has multiple apps built into the phone, such as the iPod music player and SMS services, as well as up to 500,000 downloadable apps on the App Store. iOS is closed-source meaning it can't be edited by anyone but apple and can't be used on non Apple products.
Android
Android is Google's response of iOS and is found on a wide range of devices, this OS is open-sourced meaning it can be edited and modified freely. A programmers dream. Many people enjoy using this system because of its easily modifiable nature and customisation. Android is also touch screen and boasts 370,000 apps on the Android market.
Windows Phone
Window's phone OS is another open-source program that is based around hubs in which users can find all their information and technology that is needed in a good phone today. Seamless Facebook and other social networking apps are blended into the other areas of the phone, where users can find all their Facebook photos as well as their private photos taken with the phone. The touch screen OS used on Nokia and Samsung smart phones gives the user a wide variety of downloadable apps in the Play Store.
Smart Phone Apps
What makes a good app great?
Todays smart phones revolve around Apps that are available for download on the phones. Many users use these apps a lot more than actually calling someone with their phone. A good app must have a good user interface (UI) that is simple aesthetic and gives the user all the information they need. As well as having good designs and colour schemes the app must be useful or fun. Many social networking apps exist but only the well designed apps really take off. Instagram and Snapchat are prime examples; the two apps have created a simple yet effective idea, too share photos with friends. Both the apps have a simple UI, with as little writing as possible and good colours to keep the user visually stimulated. Both of these apps are top of the line social networking programs that are simple but effective.