Evolution of mobile devices

Since 1995 there has been a huge technological change for humankind, and to the present time this technology continues evolving. We are talking about mobile cell phones, so we will mention four main eras of the mobile evolution.

The “Brick-looking+Antenna Era,” this era ranges from 1995 to 1998. We can also call it the LED display era because most displays only showed numbers in a tiny display to make your calls. These phones were very big in size, they were usually black, and they had huge antennas; some of them retractable but still very long. By 1997, external antennas had been replaced by internal antennas, so you would no longer see them sticking out of your phone. In 1998, some companies like Nokia started to make variations to their models, such as the bringing back of their external antennas, but at the same time they offered you a wide selection of color cases.

 

From 1999 to 2001, we will call it the “Smaller phone-era.” Because phones didn’t need external antennas anymore, cell phones became smaller in size, and also this gave more space for better displays. These began to show more information, such as text and small images, so you were able to send text messages with these phones.

Years 2002 to 2006 marked a huge difference in mobile technology; we will call this “The Color Era.” Here we have the first color screen phones, such as the Nokia 7650. These first phones usually had a built-in low-resolution camera. In 2003 Samsung introduced the first clamshell cell phone model. These models featured better camera and two screens, one inside the clamshell and an outer screen. By 2004, Motorola had released one of the best-sold phones, the V3; it had the same clamshell idea, but it was more stylish. It also had a larger screen, and it was a little bit flatter too. After this, every company decided to make more stylish models that included more functions, such as the w800i from Sony, which incorporated music into these devices.

In 2007, the iPhone was released and it marked the start of a big leap on mobile technology, “The Modern Era.” The iPhone featured one of the first mobile operating systems, which allowed the creation of applications that could be run on the system. We can also call this the multi-touch era that allowed the user to touch and make gestures on the screen to give instructions to the system. After the release of the iPhone, other operating systems were developed, and they included a qwerty keyboard in their hardware for a more business-oriented market. Around 2008, phones were becoming bigger in size and in screen for a better user-interface experience, and also for the incorporation of more sophisticated virtual qwerty keyboards. In 2011, Samsung released one of the best selling phones of all times, the Galaxy SII. This phone became a benchmark for the whole mobile market because it included all the things you need to be totally communicated. It included a whole new way to do business, and it also incorporated entertainment. Nowadays, Samsung is still dominating the mobile market with products such as the Galaxy S3 and the Galaxy Note 2. This last one is changing the touch screen idea because it includes the S-Pen, the stylus that allows you to create more ways of communicating and expressing yourself. You are no longer chained to the idea of just typing; you can handwrite, draw, color, do virtual collages, etc., and of course you can still make calls and send SMSs.

 

We don’t know what kind of new technology awaits us, but as we can see from past “Eras,” things will get greater. We’ve seen and touched the evolution from the huge heavy phones to the slick, stylish and multipurpose devices we have now. It is only a matter of time before we can see Star Wars technology in our hands.