Big and heavy, with a runtime of 30 minutes and a cost of $4,000: Motorola’s DynaTac 8000x, debuted in stores on March 6, 1983. It marked the beginning of the commercial era of mobile telephony, and of a revolution that still continues. The inventor, Martin Cooper, already ten years earlier had carried out the first call from a mobile device to an engineer from Bell Laboratories who was working on a similar technology. Since then, mobile telephony has evolved rapidly from bulky and expensive phones to thin and multifunctional devices capable of connecting to the Internet, taking pictures, playing music and much more. Mobile telephony also has changed the way of communicatingto learn, work and enjoy people around the world.
The idea
The future of cell phones is under the skin, says the inventor of the cell phone
by Andrea Nepori
Il DynaTAC 8000x it looked more like a walkie-talkie that a mobile phone could memorize 30 phone numbers and weighed a lot: but Motorola sold about 300,000 of them over the years, and an unexpected advertisement came from Michael Douglas in the 1987 film Wall Street. From that moment on, the cell phone has started a race to success, slow at first – it took seven years to reach one million users – then, ever faster until the debut of the iPhone in 2007 than with an Internet connection and then access to the world of apps and of services has changed the market. The sector, at the moment is down due to the global crisis and the saturation of the market and, as demonstrated by the telephony fair which ended a few days ago in Barcelona, the challenge of the manufacturing companies concerns foldable phones but also wearable devices such as viewers which, according to Mark Zuckerberg now working on the metaverse, they could become the new iPhones.
Mwc 23, Motorola’s roll-up smartphone
Below, here are a few models that have made history.
Motorola DynaTAC (1984)
The Motorola DynaTAC 8000X, marketed since March 13, 1984, is remembered as the first portable telephone in history for commercial use. With a prototype, in 1973, the inventor Martin Cooper had made the first mobile call, but the American Federal Communications Commission approved its sale only in 1983.
Motorola MicroTAC (1989)
Became 8700 in the mid-nineties, it was known for the flap that hid the keys, somewhat reducing the size
Nokia Communicator (1996)
Perhaps the first smartphone in history, or at least the one that inspired all the others. And undoubtedly the first with a full keyboard
Motorola StarTAC (1996)
It was so successful that it practically never left, in the sense that new and updated versions have been remade over time, even last year
Nokia 3110 (1997)
A phone that has become a cultural phenomenon that has crossed generations: the 3110 “has a battery that lasts a week” and “if it falls on the floor, the floor breaks”. And then he had the Snake video game.
Nokia 7110 (1999)
A couple of years after the Communicator, this is actually the device that first brings the Internet (and a browser) on the go
Ericsson R380 (2000)
The first telephone with a retractable touch screen (only in black and white, of course) and Symbian operating system: the ancestor of current smartphones was born in Sweden.
Ericsson R520 (2000)
The first to implement Bluetooth; at first only to transfer data, today to connect headphones and other accessories.
Nokia N-Gage (2003)
Part smartphone, part portable console: but what seemed like an ideal recipe for success made the N-Gage a colossal failure.
BlackBerry 6210 (2004)
For a very long time, the choice of professionals or those who in any case used the mobile phone above all for work. It was also President Obama’s choice, and there are those who still regret it today
Motorola RazrV3 (2004)
While opponents focused on the technical features, Motorola churned out one of the most stylish phones ever.
Apple iPhone (2007)
Steve Jobs described it like this: an iPod with touch controls, a revolutionary mobile phone and a state-of-the-art Internet communication device. Other smartphones already existed, but Apple’s marked the beginning of a revolution that still lasts today.
HTC Dream (2008)
One year after iOS, Google presents its Android operating system. To do this, he starts a collaboration with the Taiwanese company HTC, which is currently out of the telephony market.
iPhone 4 (2010)
Its design (once again by Jonathan Ive) marked a turning point in the world of smartphones. And today the iPhone 14 takes back the sharp edges, after years of rounded edges.
Samsung Galaxy S (2010)
Here begins the Korean company’s challenge to Apple: for the first few years, more than in stores, it took place in court, amidst accusations of copying and patent infringements.
Samsung Galaxy Note (2011)
The progenitor of one of the most successful gadget series of recent years.
Apple iPhone 5S (2013)
Smartphones contain more and more sensitive data: to protect them, Apple introduces Touch ID. Fingerprint is still the most popular way to unlock phones today.
OnePlus One (2013)
A high-end smartphone with a low price: this is how OnePlus, founded by Carl Pei and Pete Lau, makes its debut on the market. Today it is part of the BKK Electronics group, while Pei founded Nothing.
Samsung Galaxy Note Edge (2014)
In hindsight, this is where the idea of foldable smartphones can start from. But the first Galaxy Note Edge will not be remembered for either the design or the practicality of the curved edge.
Samsung Galaxy Note 7 (2016)
It was supposed to be a phenomenal gadget; a design flaw turned it into a pyrotechnic fail.
Google Pixel (2016)
It’s on this list because it’s somehow Google’s response to Apple, which is finally starting to deal with hardware as well as software.
Apple iPhone X (2017)
For ten years of the iPhone, Apple is launching a completely new model, with a rounded design, with a notch in the display for the facial recognition system. The “notch” will then appear on hundreds of smartphones, but none will reach the accuracy and reliability of Face ID.
Samsung Galaxy Fold (2019)
On paper, a revolutionary device, in fact, an embarrassing debut for Samsung, so much so that it never reached the hands of the Western public due to design flaws. The second version, revised and corrected, was presented with great caution ten months later.
Interview
Carl Pei: “With Nothing we want to make technology fun again”
by our correspondent Bruno Ruffilli
