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, video games and digital photography. Mobile phones offering only basic capabilities are known as feature phones; mobile phones which offer greatly advanced computing capabilities are referred to as smartphones. (Full article...)
A smartphone (or simply a phone) is a portable computer device that combines mobile telephone functions and personal computing functions into one unit. They are distinguished from older-design feature phones by their more advanced hardware capabilities and extensive mobile operating systems, which facilitate wider software, access to the internet (including web browsing over mobile broadband), and multimedia functionality (including music, video, cameras, and gaming), alongside core phone functions such as voice calls and text messaging. Smartphones typically contain a number of metal–oxide–semiconductor (MOS) integrated circuit (IC) chips, include various sensors that can be leveraged by pre-installed and third-party software (such as a magnetometer, a proximity sensor, a barometer, a gyroscope, an accelerometer, and more), and support wireless communication protocols (such as Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, or satellite navigation). More recently, smartphone manufacturers have begun to integrate satellite messaging connectivity and satellite emergency services into devices for use in remote regions where there is no reliable cellular network. (Full article...)
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The DynaTAC is a series of cellular telephones manufactured by Motorola from 1983 to 1994. The Motorola DynaTAC 8000X received approval from the U.S. FCC on September 21, 1983. A full charge took roughly 10 hours, and it offered 30 minutes of talk time. It also offered an LED display for dialing or recall of one of 30 phone numbers. It was priced at $3,995 in 1984, its commercial release year, equivalent to $11,253 in 2022. DynaTAC was an abbreviation of "Dynamic Adaptive Total Area Coverage".
Several models followed, starting in 1985 with the 8000s and continuing with periodic updates of increasing frequency until 1993's Classic II. The DynaTAC was replaced in most roles by the much smaller Motorola MicroTAC when it was first introduced in 1989, and by the time of the Motorola StarTAC's release in 1996, it was obsolete. (Full article...)Types of phones -
A camera phone is a mobile phone which is able to capture photographs and often record video using one or more built-in digital cameras. It can also send the resulting image wirelessly and conveniently. The first commercial phone with color camera was the Kyocera Visual Phone VP-210, released in Japan in May 1999.
Most camera phones are smaller and simpler than the separate digital cameras. In the smartphone era, the steady sales increase of camera phones caused point-and-shoot camera sales to peak about 2010 and decline thereafter. The concurrent improvement of smartphone camera technology, and its other multifunctional benefits, have led to it gradually replacing compact point-and-shoot cameras.
Most modern smartphones only have a menu choice to start a camera application program and an on-screen button to activate the shutter. Some also have a separate camera button, for quickness and convenience. A few such as the 2009 Samsung i8000 Omnia II have a two-level shutter button as in dedicated digital cameras. Some camera phones are designed to resemble separate low-end digital compact cameras in appearance and to some degree in features and picture quality, and are branded as both mobile phones and cameras—an example being the 2013 Samsung Galaxy S4 Zoom. (Full article...)Selected audio -
The reorder tone, also known as the fast busy tone, or the congestion tone, or all trunks busy (ATB) tone is an audible call progress tone in the public switched telephone network (PSTN) that is returned to a calling party to indicate that the call cannot be processed through the network. (Full article...)
List articles
- Comparison of smartphones
- List of best-selling mobile phones
- List of countries by number of broadband Internet subscriptions
- List of countries by number of telephone lines in use
- List of countries by smartphone penetration
- List of country calling codes
- List of iPhone models
- List of mobile network operators
- List of mobile phone brands by country
- List of mobile phone generations
- List of telephone operating companies
Related portals
General images -
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Alexander Graham Bell was awarded the first U.S. patent for the invention of the telephone in 1876. (from History of the telephone)
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A German rotary dial telephone, the W48 (from History of the telephone)
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Top of cellular telephone tower (from History of the telephone)
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Active mobile broadband subscriptions per 100 inhabitants. (from Mobile phone)
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The master telephone patent granted to Bell, 174465, March 10, 1876 (from History of the telephone)
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Two decades of evolution of mobile phones, from a 1992 Motorola 8900X-2 to the 2014 iPhone 6 Plus (from Mobile phone)
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Historical marker commemorating the first telephone central office in New York State (1878) (from History of the telephone)
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E-waste in Agbogbloshie (from Smartphone)
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A Meizu MX4 with Flyme OS (from Smartphone)
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Tooltip 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)
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The original Apple iPhone; following its introduction the common smartphone form factor shifted to large touchscreen software interfaces without physical keypads (from Smartphone)
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Martin 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)
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The Huawei P30 features three rear-facing camera lenses with Leica optics. (from Smartphone)
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A text message (SMS) (from Mobile phone)
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Private conversation, 1910 (from History of the telephone)
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A user consulting a mapping app on a phone (from Smartphone)
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"Device options" menu of Samsung Mobile's TouchWiz user interface as of 2013, accessed by holding the power button for a second (from Smartphone)
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The HTC Desire, a 2010 smartphone with optical trackpad and search button. (from Smartphone)
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A French Gower telephone of 1912 at the Musée des Arts et Métiers in Paris (from History of the telephone)
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The Motorola DynaTAC 8000X. In 1983, it became the first commercially available handheld cellular mobile phone. (from Mobile phone)
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Antonio Meucci, 1854, constructed telephone-like devices. (from History of the telephone)
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Mobile payment system. (from Smartphone)
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Smartphone with infrared transmitter on top for use as remote control (from Smartphone)
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Scrapped mobile phones (from Mobile phone)
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Modern Apple iPhone. This phone is considered a smartphone (from History of the telephone)
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Typical mobile phone mini-SIM card (from Mobile phone)
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A Samsung Galaxy S20 Plus, featuring a "hole-punch" camera (from Smartphone)
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Bell prototype telephone stamp(from History of the telephone)
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Optical track pad sensor of an HTC Legend, 2010. (from Smartphone)
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Mobile phone subscribers per 100 inhabitants. 2014 figure is estimated. (from Mobile phone)
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A 19th century acoustic tin can or "lovers' telephone" (from History of the telephone)
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A smartphone touchscreen (from Smartphone)
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Elisha Gray, 1876, designed a telephone using a water microphone in Highland Park, Illinois. (from History of the telephone)
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A driver using two handheld mobile phones at once (from Mobile phone)
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Inserted memory and SIM cards (from Smartphone)
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Old Receiver schematic, c.1906 (from History of the telephone)
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Several BlackBerry smartphones, which were highly popular in the mid-late 2000s (from Smartphone)
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1917 wall telephone, open to show magneto and local battery (from History of the telephone)
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Cellular networks work by only reusing radio frequencies (in this example frequencies f1-f4) in non adjacent cells to avoid interference (from Mobile phone)
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A 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)
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Tivadar Puskás proposed the telephone switchboard exchange in 1876. (from History of the telephone)
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A Moto G7 Power; its display uses a tall aspect ratio and includes a "notch". (from Smartphone)
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The Nokia 9 PureView features a five-lens camera array with Zeiss optics, using a mixture of color and monochrome sensors. (from Smartphone)
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1896 Telephone (Sweden) (from History of the telephone)
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Antonio Meucci's telephone. (from History of the telephone)
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Mobile payment system (from Mobile phone)
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This 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)
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A high-capacity portable battery charger (power bank). (from Smartphone)
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The LG Prada with a large capacitive touchscreen introduced in 2006 (from Smartphone)
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Mobile/desktop convergence: the Librem 5 smartphone can be used as a basic desktop computer (from Smartphone)
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Philipp Reis, 1861, constructed the first telephone, today called the Reis telephone. (from History of the telephone)
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The Nokia 9110 Communicator, opened for access to keyboard (from Smartphone)
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People using phones while walking (from Mobile phone)
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Thomas Edison invented the carbon microphone which produced a strong telephone signal. (from History of the telephone)
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Android smartphones (from Mobile phone)
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IBM Simon and charging base (1994) (from Smartphone)
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Personal Handy-phone System mobiles and modems, 1997–2003 (from Mobile phone)
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Actor 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)
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A New York City driver holding two phones (from Smartphone)
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A 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)
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Dupuis and Haug during a GSM meeting in Belgium, April 1992 (from Mobile phone)
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A person using a Samsung Galaxy S3 smartphone (from Smartphone)
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Selected biography
Selected images
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Acoustic telephone ad, The Consolidated Telephone Co., Jersey City, New Jersey, 1886
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Emergency telephones, on the Paris-Bordeaux railway line, Saint-Saviol station, Vienne, France
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An example of a K6, the most common red telephone box model, photographed in London in 2012
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Rotary dial telephone, probably from Belgium; the circuit diagram inside is in Dutch and French
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Android smartphones
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Telephone booth box art outside the Tower of London, 2012
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Rotary dial telephone, probably from Belgium; the circuit diagram inside is in Dutch and French
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A 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.
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A Bell Canada payphone with digital display
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A historic telephone booth in Skansen, Stockholm
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Track-side emergency brake and emergency telephones at the platform of the metro station Aspern Nord, Donaustadt, Vienna, Austria
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A police box outside Earl's Court tube station in London, built in 1996 and based on the 1929 Gilbert Mackenzie Trench design
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Wooden wall telephone with a hand-cranked magneto generator
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Apple iPhones
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An Italian gettone telefonico (telephone token) from 1945, which was used in Italian phone booths
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The AUTOVON was a worldwide American military telephone system that was built starting in 1963.
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A Northern Electric telephone, model number N415H, circa 1950 (probably)
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Historical telephone with the German imperial eagle and the heraldic shield of the House of Hohenzollern dynasty; Vollmer's Mill, Seebach, Baden-Württemberg, Germany
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A Western Electric candlestick phone from the 1920s
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Public telephone, Bucharest, Romania
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A Funke + Huster telephone inside the Idrija Mine, Slovenia
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Photograph 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
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Landline call blocking in use
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Automatic electric Rotary dial telephone
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Mailbox and public telephone in Haßfurt, Germany
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Topics
| Types | |
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| Accessories | |
| Connectivity | |
| Calls | |
| Applications | |
| Mobile networks, protocols |
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| General operation | |||||||
| Mobile devices |
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| Mobile specific software |
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| Culture | |||||||
| Environment and health | |||||||
| Law | |||||||
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Cellular network standards | |||||||||
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| 0G radio telephones (1946) | |||||||||
| 1G (1979) |
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| 2G (1991) |
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| 2G transitional (2.5G, 2.75G, 2.9G) |
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| 3G (1998) IMT-2000 (2001) |
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| 3G transitional (3.5G, 3.75G, 3.9G) |
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| 4G (2009) IMT Advanced (2013) |
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| 5G (2018) IMT-2020 (2021) |
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| Related articles | |||||||||
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Telephones in the news
- 19 November 2023 –
- Optus CEO Kelly Bayer Rosmarin resigns following a network outage in Australia that took down its phone and internet services nationwide for 14 hours earlier this month. (The Guardian)
- 8 November 2023 – 2023 Optus outage
- A telecommunications outage by Optus leaves more than 10 million people in Australia without internet and mobile phone service for more than nine hours. (Reuters)
- 7 November 2023 – 2023 Israel–Hamas war protests
- Paul Kessler, a Jewish man participating in a pro-Israel protest dies after being struck in the head with a megaphone by a pro-Palestinian extremist in Thousand Oaks, California, United States. (AP)
- 6 November 2023 – Anglophone Crisis
- Egbekaw massacre
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