The History of Mobile Phone Design. Source:

The History of Mobile Phone Design 1946 – Wireless Telephones The first wireless telephone calls were made from cars and trucks. It was a primitive system and even in a city the size of New York only 12 people could place calls at a time. Source:

The History of Mobile Phone Design 1981 – Portable Units The first portable units were really big and heavy. Called transportables or luggables. They were so large mainly because of the size of the battery that they were housed in their own briefcase. Source:

The History of Mobile Phone Design DynaTAC 8000X In 1983 Motorola released the first true mobile phone. It weighed about the same as a bag of sugar and had a battery life of only 8 hours. It cost $3,995 and sold over 300,000 units in the first year alone. Source:

The History of Mobile Phone Design 1989 – GSM Digital Phones In 1989 digital networks lead to the increased use of mobile phones throughout the 90’s. The vast majority of phones were black or dark grey with aerials and small screens. Source:

The History of Mobile Phone Design Current Design Today's phones come in two different styles the standard and the flip-top phone. The standard matte black plastic finish of the 90’s has been replaced by coloured fascia and stylish metal finishes. Source:

The History of Mobile Phone Design Camera Phones The invention of MMS and picture messaging has led to changes in the design of mobile phones. The majority of mobile phones being produced today have either in-built or snap-on cameras and larger screens for viewing images. Source:

The History of Mobile Phone Design Convergent Devices The latest trend is to combine many different types of device in one. So mobile phones can also be used as PDAs, MP3 players, games consoles and as devices to surf the internet. Source:

The History of Mobile Phone Design 3G Next Generation Phones 3G stands for third generation, and is a wireless industry term for a collection of international standards and technologies aimed at increasing efficiency. Increasing data rates will mean that most phones will have cameras and larger screens to enhance the playback of video. Source:

The History of Mobile Phone Design Concept Phones 1 Designers often have one eye on the future to try and predict what technologies and styles will be common. The next few slides show sample concept phones the style of which they believe will be the norm in a few years time. Source:

The History of Mobile Phone Design Concept Phones 2 Source:

The History of Mobile Phone Design Concept Phones 3 Source:

The History of Mobile Phone Design Concept Phones 4 Source: