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First car-to-car radio
The Detroit Police Department began using mobile radios in their police cars. They used them to talk between cars, but it didn't work very well. -
FCC Established
The government used most radio frequencies for itself, but the air waves were still clogged up. The FCC was created to decide who got to use which channels. -
Mobile Radios become common
By the 1940's most government agencies, as well as the rich people, had mobile radios. They used them while they were on the go to talk to others. -
The first mobile phone service is established
The first service created just for mobile phones opened up in St. Louis, MO, but the service didn't work well and it didn't last. -
Second attempt at carphones
The second attempt at car phones was a success. The equipment was large and heavy, but it worked, and that was an improvement over the past. -
First cellphone
Dr. Martin Cooper invented a portable hand-held phone that didn't need to be powered through a car. He was the first person to make a mobile phone call. -
Mobile Phone is public
It took ten years for the technology that Dr. Cooper invented to become available to the public. The first public cell phones were put out by Motorola. -
Flip Phone
Motorola came out with a new design where the mouth piece flipped over the top of the keypad. It was the first flip phone. -
Text Messaging
Developers in Europe came up with a way to send written messages over the phone. It was called texting. -
Smartphone
The smart phone could send and receive emails and messages, but it didn't have a speaker or microphone. This meant it needed a headset to work. -
Camera phone
A company called Sanyo made a phone that could snap pictures. Later the user could download the pictures to a computer to be printed. -
iPhone
Apple released its first iphone and it changed the cellular industry. It featured a touch screen and allowed users to do almost anything they could do from a home computer, which basically changed the way people lived.
