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The first car-to-car radios are used
The Detroit Police Department began using mobile radios in their police cars. They used them to talk between cars, but it didn't work very well. -
The Federal Communications Committee is established
The government used most radio frequencies for itself, but the air waves were still clogged up. The FCC was created to decide who got to use which channels. -
Communication by mobile radios becomes more common
By the 1940's most government agencies, as well as the rich people, had mobile radios. They used them while they were on the go to talk to others. -
First mobile phone was established
The first service created just for mobile phones opened up in St. Louis, MO, but the service didn't work well and it didn't last. -
The first car phone service is attempted
A car phone service was opened between Boston and New York, but this service was a failure, too. -
A second attempt at car phones is made
The second attempt at car phones was a success. The equipment was large and heavy, but it worked, and that was an improvement over the past. -
"cell" comes into play
AT & T proposed splitting phone service into different areas across the cities. These areas were called "cells" -
First cell phone is tried
Dr. Martin Cooper invented a portable hand-held phone that didn't need to be powered through a car. He was the first person to make a mobile phone call. -
The cell phone goes public
It took ten years for the technology that Dr. Cooper invented to become available to the public. The first public cell phones were put out by Motorola. -
Flip phone is introduced
Motorola came out with a new design where the mouth piece flipped over the top of the keypad. It was the first flip phone. -
Text messaging is developed
Developers in Europe came up with a way to send written messages over the phone. It was called texting. -
First smart phone is invented
The smart phone could send and receive emails and messages, but it didn't have a speaker or microphone. This meant it needed a headset to work -
Camera phone is made
A company called San yo made a phone that could snap pictures. Later the user could download the pictures to a computer to be printed. -
Cell Phone Recycle Act
A law was passed in California that said cell phone companies had to allow customers to return old cell phones to be recycled. This was because cell phones can contain materials that are harmful if left in a landfill. -
the Apple I Phone is released
Apple released its first iphone and it changed the cellular industry. It featured a touch screen and allowed users to do almost anything they could do from a home computer, which basically changed the way people lived.
