Portal:Telephones

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The Telephones Portal

A telephone is a telecommunications device that permits two or more users to conduct a conversation when they are too far apart to be easily heard directly. A telephone converts sound, typically and most efficiently the human voice, into electronic signals that are transmitted via cables and other communication channels to another telephone which reproduces the sound to the receiving user. The term is derived from Greek: τῆλε (tēle, far) and φωνή (phōnē, voice), together meaning distant voice. A common short form of the term is phone, which came into use early in the telephone's history.

In 1876, Alexander Graham Bell was the first to be granted a United States patent for a device that produced clearly intelligible replication of the human voice at a second device. This instrument was further developed by many others, and became rapidly indispensable in business, government, and in households. (Full article...)

A mobile phone (or cellphone) is a portable telephone that can make and receive calls over a radio frequency link while the user is moving within a telephone service area, as opposed to a fixed-location phone (landline phone). The radio frequency link establishes a connection to the switching systems of a mobile phone operator, which provides access to the public switched telephone network (PSTN). Modern mobile telephone services use a cellular network architecture, and therefore mobile telephones are called cellphones (or "cell phones") in North America. In addition to telephony, digital mobile phones support a variety of other services, such as text messaging, multimedia messaging, email, Internet access (via LTE, 5G NR or Wi-Fi), short-range wireless communications (infrared, Bluetooth), satellite access (navigation, messaging connectivity), business applications, payments (via NFC), multimedia playback and streaming (radio, television), digital photography, and video games. Mobile phones offering only basic capabilities are known as feature phones (slang: "dumbphones"); mobile phones that offer greatly advanced computing capabilities are referred to as smartphones. (Full article...)

A smartphone (often simply called a phone) is a mobile device that combines the functionality of a traditional mobile phone with advanced computing capabilities. It typically has a touchscreen interface, allowing users to access a wide range of applications and services, such as web browsing, email, and social media, as well as multimedia playback and streaming. Smartphones have built-in cameras, GPS navigation, and support for various communication methods, including voice calls, text messaging, and internet-based messaging apps. (Full article...)

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The KX series of telephone boxes in the United Kingdom was introduced by BT (British Telecom) in 1985. Following the privatisation of BT in 1984, the company decided to create a newly designed and improved take on the British telephone box, which at this point consisted of only red telephone boxes which BT had recently acquired, the most common being the iconic K6 box. These red boxes were considered flawed in parts by BT for several reasons, including cost, lack of ventilation, accessibility and maintenance. BT announced the £160 million series of new boxes, the KX series designed by GKN, as well as announcing the eventual replacement of all existing telephone boxes. The main telephone box in the KX range is the KX100. Upon launch, there were five models in total. The boxes were produced at a rate of 5,000 a year, with the total count of all BT-owned kiosks reaching 137,000 by 1999, a number which has since decreased by more than seventy per cent.

Whilst the updated functions of the KX series were praised, the designs were widely criticised and were seen as inferior to the red telephone boxes. The plan to replace the red boxes was also criticised. Many of the models in the KX series were revamped graphically after BT changed their logo in 1991, and production of the KX100 stopped in 1996 with its replacement, the KX+, attempting to address the criticisms that the original KX100 had received by revising its design to incorporate elements of older red telephone boxes. Later versions of the KX+ incorporated broadband connection. BT was reported to have stopped making telephone boxes altogether in 2001, although this was later denied with the introduction of the ST6 in 2007, which saw the end of the KX series. (Full article...)

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A modular smartphone is a smartphone designed for users to upgrade or replace components and modules without the need for resoldering or repair services. The most important component is the main board, to which others such as cameras and batteries are attached. Components can be obtained from open-source hardware stores.

This design aims to reduce electronic waste, increase the phone's lifespan, and lower repair costs. However, modular smartphones are generally bulkier and slower than their non-modular counterparts which may make them less attractive for most consumers. (Full article...)

List of phone types
Payphone Courtesy telephone Emergency telephone Secure telephone Smartphone Mobile phone Satellite phone Phablet Car phone Windows Phone Camera phone Feature phone VoIP phone iPhone Tin can telephone Sound-powered telephone Grillo telephone Golden telephone Reis telephone Cordless telephone Shoe phone Field telephone IBM Simon Mobile radio telephone Foldable smartphone Prepaid mobile phone

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Reproduction of an IOS phone disconnect tone (not the original audio)

A disconnect tone in telephony is a tone provided to the remaining party to a call after the remote party hangs up. Typically, the disconnect tone is a few cycles of the reorder, busy, or the off-hook tone (e.g. in US), or between five and fifteen seconds of the Number Unobtainable tone (e.g. in UK). (Full article...)

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The following are images from various telephone-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1Tooltip in Kiwi Browser, a Google Chromium derivative, reveals the full URL by hovering over the tab list using the stylus on a Samsung Galaxy Note 4. (from Smartphone)
Image 2"Device options" menu of Samsung Mobile's TouchWiz user interface as of 2013, accessed by holding the power button for a second (from Smartphone)
Image 3Personal Handy-phone System mobiles and modems, 1997–2003 (from Mobile phone)
Image 4Old Receiver schematic, c.1906 (from History of the telephone)
Image 5A 19th century acoustic tin can or "lovers' telephone" (from History of the telephone)
Image 6Mobile payment system (from Mobile phone)
Image 7A sign in the US restricting cell phone use to certain times of day (no cell phone use between 7:30–9:00 am and 2:00–4:15 pm) (from Mobile phone)
Image 8A high-capacity portable battery charger (power bank) (from Smartphone)
Image 91917 wall telephone, open to show magneto and local battery (from History of the telephone)
Image 10
Bell prototype telephone stamp
Centennial Issue of 1976
(from History of the telephone)
Image 11Smartphone with infrared transmitter on top for use as remote control (from Smartphone)
Image 12Cellular networks work by only reusing radio frequencies (in this example frequencies f1-f4) in non adjacent cells to avoid interference (from Mobile phone)
Image 13The original Apple iPhone; following its introduction the common smartphone form factor shifted to large touchscreen software interfaces without physical keypads (from Smartphone)
Image 141896 Telephone (Sweden) (from History of the telephone)
Image 15Elisha Gray, 1876, designed a telephone using a water microphone in Highland Park, Illinois. (from History of the telephone)
Image 16A smartphone displaying the homepage of the English Wikipedia (from Smartphone)
Image 17The HTC Desire, a 2010 smartphone with optical trackpad and search button (from Smartphone)
Image 18A smartphone touchscreen (from Smartphone)
Image 19Typical mobile phone mini-SIM card (from Mobile phone)
Image 20A Meizu MX4 with Flyme OS (from Smartphone)
Image 21Thomas Edison invented the carbon microphone which produced a strong telephone signal. (from History of the telephone)
Image 22Philipp Reis, 1861, constructed the first telephone, today called the Reis telephone. (from History of the telephone)
Image 23The back of a Huawei P30. It features three rear-facing camera lenses with Leica optics. (from Smartphone)
Image 24E-waste in Agbogbloshie (from Smartphone)
Image 25The Motorola DynaTAC 8000X. In 1983, it became the first commercially available handheld cellular mobile phone. (from Mobile phone)
Image 26Antonio Meucci, 1854, constructed telephone-like devices. (from History of the telephone)
Image 27Alexander Graham Bell was awarded the first U.S. patent for the invention of the telephone in 1876. (from History of the telephone)
Image 28IBM Simon and charging base (1994) (from Smartphone)
Image 29The back of a Nokia 9 PureView. It features a five-lens camera array with Zeiss optics, using a mixture of color and monochrome sensors. (from Smartphone)
Image 30Several BlackBerry smartphones, which were highly popular in the mid-late 2000s (from Smartphone)
Image 31Active mobile broadband subscriptions per 100 inhabitants (from Mobile phone)
Image 32Android smartphones (from Mobile phone)
Image 33A German rotary dial telephone, the W48 (from History of the telephone)
Image 34Apple iPhone smartphone (from History of the telephone)
Image 35Top of cellular telephone tower (from History of the telephone)
Image 36A driver using two handheld mobile phones at once (from Mobile phone)
Image 37Mobile payment system. (from Smartphone)
Image 38A New York City driver holding two phones (from Smartphone)
Image 39Two decades of evolution of mobile phones, from a 1992 Motorola 8900X-2 to the 2014 iPhone 6 Plus (from Mobile phone)
Image 40Private conversation, 1910 (from History of the telephone)
Image 41People using phones while walking (from Mobile phone)
Image 42A sign along Bellaire Boulevard in Southside Place, Texas (Greater Houston) states that using mobile phones while driving is prohibited from 7:30 am to 9:00 am and from 2:00 pm to 4:15 pm. (from Smartphone)
Image 43Optical track pad sensor of an HTC Legend, 2010. (from Smartphone)
Image 44Tivadar Puskás proposed the telephone switchboard exchange in 1876. (from History of the telephone)
Image 45This layout of the camera viewfinder was first introduced by Apple with iOS 7 in 2013. Towards the late 2010s, several other smartphone vendors have ditched their layouts and implemented variations of this layout. (from Smartphone)
Image 46A Samsung Galaxy S20 Plus, featuring a "hole-punch" camera (from Smartphone)
Image 47The Nokia 9110 Communicator, opened for access to keyboard (from Smartphone)
Image 48Inserted memory and SIM cards (from Smartphone)
Image 49Mobile phone subscribers per 100 inhabitants. 2014 figure is estimated. (from Mobile phone)
Image 50A Moto G7 Power; its display uses a tall aspect ratio and includes a "notch". (from Smartphone)
Image 51Antonio Meucci's telephone. (from History of the telephone)
Image 52A user consulting a mapping app on a phone (from Smartphone)
Image 53Mobile/desktop convergence: the Librem 5 smartphone can be used as a basic desktop computer (from Smartphone)
Image 54The LG Prada with a large capacitive touchscreen introduced in 2006 (from Smartphone)
Image 55A text message (SMS) (from Mobile phone)
Image 56Martin Cooper of Motorola, shown here in a 2007 reenactment, made the first publicized handheld mobile phone call on a prototype DynaTAC model on 3 April 1973. (from Mobile phone)
Image 57A French Gower telephone of 1912 at the Musée des Arts et Métiers in Paris (from History of the telephone)
Image 58Actor portraying Alexander Graham Bell in a 1932 silent film. Shows Bell's second telephone transmitter (microphone), invented 1876 and first displayed at the Centennial Exposition, Philadelphia. (from History of the telephone)
Image 59Dupuis and Haug during a GSM meeting in Belgium, April 1992 (from Mobile phone)
Image 60The master telephone patent granted to Bell, 174465, March 10, 1876 (from History of the telephone)
Image 61Scrapped mobile phones (from Mobile phone)
Image 62Historical marker commemorating the first telephone central office in New York State (1878) (from History of the telephone)

Selected biography

"A shirt pocket phone to call anyone in the world, at any time" - George Harry Sweigert, The Plain Dealer (June 1966)

George H. Sweigert (1920–1999) is credited as the first inventor to patent the cordless telephone.

Born in Akron, Ohio, Sweigert served five years in the US Army as a radio operator in World War II in Guadalcanal, Bougainville, Fiji and New Georgia assigned to the 145th Headquarters Company under the 37th Infantry Division (United States). Following the war, Sweigert attended Bowling Green State University near Toledo, Ohio.

Sweigert credited his military experience for invention of the cordless telephone, citing experimentation with various antennas, signal frequencies, and types of radios. (Full article...)

List of selected biographies
Alexander Graham Bell Thomas Edison Innocenzo Manzetti Charles Bourseul Johann Philipp Reis Antonio Meucci Tivadar Puskás Douglas H. Ring W. Rae Young Martin Cooper (inventor) Thomas Cowherd Gardiner Greene Hubbard Anthony Pollok Thomas A. Watson Elisha Gray Pat Fleet John Draper

Selected images

Image 1Foldable smartphones
Image 2Rotary dial telephone, probably from Belgium; the circuit diagram inside is in Dutch and French
Image 3Acoustic telephone ad, The Consolidated Telephone Co., Jersey City, New Jersey, 1886
Image 4A Western Electric candlestick phone from the 1920s
Image 5Landline call blocking in use
Image 6Photograph of the interior of the Prairie Grove Airlight Outdoor Telephone Booth in Prairie Grove, Arkansas, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places
Image 7Mailbox and public telephone in Haßfurt, Germany
Image 8Emergency telephones, on the Paris-Bordeaux railway line, Saint-Saviol station, Vienne, France
Image 9A Funke + Huster telephone inside the Idrija Mine, Slovenia
Image 10A Northern Electric telephone, model number N415H, circa 1950 (probably)
Image 11Apple iPhones
Image 12Rotary dial telephone, probably from Belgium; the circuit diagram inside is in Dutch and French
Image 13Track-side emergency brake and emergency telephones at the platform of the metro station Aspern Nord, Donaustadt, Vienna, Austria
Image 14Historical telephone with the German imperial eagle and the heraldic shield of the House of Hohenzollern dynasty; Vollmer's Mill, Seebach, Baden-Württemberg, Germany
Image 15A historic telephone booth in Skansen, Stockholm
Image 16A Bell Canada payphone with digital display
Image 17A police box outside Earl's Court tube station in London, built in 1996 and based on the 1929 Gilbert Mackenzie Trench design
Image 18A cordless phone
Image 19A traditional North American rotary phone dial. The associative lettering was originally used for dialing named exchanges but was kept because it facilitated memorization of telephone numbers.
Image 20Public telephone, Bucharest, Romania
Image 21Automatic electric Rotary dial telephone
Image 22Telephone booth box art outside the Tower of London, 2012
Image 23Wooden wall telephone with a hand-cranked magneto generator
Image 24Push-button telephone
Image 25An example of a K6, the most common red telephone box model, photographed in London in 2012
Image 26An Italian gettone telefonico (telephone token) from 1945, which was used in Italian phone booths
Image 27Android smartphones
Image 28The AUTOVON was a worldwide American military telephone system that was built starting in 1963.

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v t e Telephony
Types	Landline Cable telephony Mobile phone Satellite phone Photophone
Accessories	Answering machine Caller ID
Connectivity	Cable protection system Communications satellites Fibre-optical Free-space optical ISDN Mobile phone signal POTS PSTN Submarine cables VoIP
Calls	Missed call Misdialed call Nuisance call Phone tag
Applications	Fax transmission Telephone calls Telephone newspapers Théâtrophone Video calls
Telecommunication portal Telephones portal

v t e Emergency telephone numbers
Emergency telephone Harmonised service of social value
000 (Australia) 102 (India) 106 (Australia) 108 (India) 110 (Iran, Japan, China) 111 (New Zealand) 112 (Europe and others, worldwide GSM mobile networks) 119 (parts of Asia and Jamaica) 120 (China) 122 (Austria, Egypt, and Bosnia and Herzegovina) 123 (Colombia, Egypt) 128 (Mercosur member states) 190 (Brazil) 911 (Iraq, North America E-911 system, Philippines) 988 (North America Suicide & Crisis Lifeline) 999 (Bangladesh, UK and others) 1122 (Pakistan)
Telephones portal Telecommunication portal List article Category Wikimedia Commons