The history of the mobile phone, from the first call to the smartphone

Today the mobile phone is our camera, bank, watch, map, newspaper and entertainment — everything. But the first mobile phone weighed about a kilo, its battery lasted half an hour and it was good only for talking. Here is the history of the mobile phone — from the first call to today's smartphones.

The first mobile call: 1973

On 3 April 1973 Martin Cooper, an engineer at the American company Motorola, stood on a street in New York and made the first mobile call from a handheld phone. The funny part is that he called Joel Engel, an engineer at the rival company Bell Labs! That prototype phone weighed about 1.1 kilos. In 1983 its commercial version, the "DynaTAC 8000X", went on sale; it died after about 30 minutes of talk and took about 10 hours to charge. Martin Cooper is called "the father of the mobile phone".

India's first mobile call

On 31 July 1995 the Chief Minister of West Bengal, Jyoti Basu, made India's first mobile call, from Kolkata to the Union Telecom Minister Sukh Ram in Delhi. At that time both making and receiving calls cost money, and a one-minute call cost several rupees. Today India is among the world's largest mobile markets, with more than 1 billion mobile connections according to TRAI.

From 1G to 5G

Did you know? The world's first SMS was sent on 3 December 1992 in Britain by the engineer Neil Papworth, from a computer to a mobile phone. It said — "Merry Christmas". At the time there was no way to reply from a mobile phone!

The birth of the smartphone

• 1994 — IBM Simon: with a touch screen, email and a calendar, this phone is regarded as the first "smartphone".
• The 2000s — Nokia and BlackBerry: phones such as the Nokia 1100 sold in the hundreds of millions, and BlackBerry became famous for email.
• 2007 — the iPhone: a new era of smartphones began with a large touch screen and apps.
• 2008 — Android: the first Android phone arrived; today most of the world's smartphones run Android.

India: a country that makes mobiles

Until a few years ago India imported most of its mobile phones, but now India is among the world's biggest makers of mobile phones, and phones made here are sold abroad too. In 2011 "mobile number portability" began across the country, letting people change their company without changing their number. The story of the internet on mobiles: The history of the internet. Digital payments: Digital India.

Using your mobile wisely

• Keep away from screens for at least an hour before sleeping.
• Do not use your phone while driving — it can be deadly.
• Watch children's screen time, and do not look down at your phone for long with your neck bent.
• Keep a screen lock on your phone and download apps only from official app stores.

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