Mobile Programming
1
Introduction
To most of us, mobile phones have changed the way we have lived our lives. Imagining a
world without voice calling, text messaging and mobile internet access would radically change
our current lifestyles. Although it should be noted that the advancement in mobile phones did not
come overnight, it evolved over five different generations wherein the latest is still being rolled
out and adopted by consumers.
Objectives:
At the end of the session, the students should be able to:
1. Trace the history and generations of mobile devices;
2. Distinguish the difference between a smartphone and tablet;
3. Gain familiarity with the terms relevant to the topic;
4. Enumerate and explain the different generations in mobile devices
5. Have an idea on the advancements that we will see in the future about mobile devices
INTRODUCTION TO MOBILE 1
PROGRAMMING
A. History of Mobile Devices
In the 1940’s AT&T was the first company to
commercialize mobile telecommunication. In 1947, the
service simply known as “Mobile Telephone Service”
(MTS) was launched. By the end of the year, MTS spread
to more than a hundred towns and highway paths. MTS
heavily relied on an operator to connect both incoming and
outgoing calls. The disadvantage of the MTS was that it
used a half-duplex “press to speak” system where the
caller would have to release the button to hear the other
person.
The improvement for MTS arrived in 1965. AT&T
released the “Improved Mobile Telephone Service”
(IMTS) which features user dialing and removed operator
forwarding. It also increased the area coverage and
increased the number of possible subscriber and calls by
adding two radio channels. However, since IMTS is limited
by the technology of its time the maximum subscribers
nationwide was limited to 40,000 and it took an average of
30 minutes to place a call. This is the reason why MTS was
used in the US until the 1980’s.
The breakthrough in mobile technology was
ushered in by Dr. Martin Cooper when in 1973 he was
able to call on a handheld mobile phone. This was
considered as an achievement because during the time
mobile phones could only be used in vehicles and with this
their portability is limited. The other landmarks in mobile
phone history are:
In 1979, Japan became the first country to have a
city-wide commercial cellular mobile phone network.
In 1981, the Nordic Mobile Telephone (NMT)
system was launched in Denmark, Norway, Sweden and
Finland.
And in 1983 the first ever mobile phone to be
approved by the FCC (Federal Communications
Commission) in the USA was the Motorola DynaTac.
The advancements mentioned are now known as the
1G or 1st generation mobile phones. In Addition, the first
generation of cellular networks paved the way to the
networks we know and use today. Use of multiple cell
tower sites, each connected through a network, allowed
users to travel and even switch cell towers during a call.
The 1990’s gave birth to the 2G or 2nd generation
mobile phones which featured two new digital
technologies. The European GSM standard and the North
American CDMA standard. Demand grew and more and
more cell tower sites were built. In addition to
technological improvements in batteries and internal
components, this allowed for much smaller mobile devices.
It was also the time when the introduction of SMS
Messaging, with the first computer generated SMS sent in
1992 in the UK. A year later in Finland, the first person-to-
person SMS was delivered using GSM technology. As
popularity grew, pre-paid mobile phones and plans
emerged in the late 1990s which further popularized SMS
amongst all ages.
The 3rd generation mobile phones or 3G technology
was launched in 2001 and allowed operators to offer video
calling and data transmission. 3G transformed the mobile
phone industry and enabled widespread mobile Internet and
the transmission services like TV and Radio for the very
first time. Handset manufacturers jumped on the
bandwagon and smartphone use took off. By around 2005
3G had evolved a step further, leading many to coin the
terms “3.5G” “turbo 3G” and “3G+” in reference to
HSPDA (High Speed Downlink Packet Access), HSPA and
HSPA+.
The 4th generation mobile phones or 4G is still
evolving although it marks the switch to native IP
networks, bringing mobile Internet more in-line with wired
home internet connections. 4G became commercially
available in the UK in late 2012 and offers super fast
connections and similarly speedy downloads.
B. The emergence of Smartphones and Tablets
What is a smartphone? The actual definition of the
term, no matter the source is vague. Merriam-Webster
defines it as “a cell phone that includes additional
software functions” while Oxford says that it is “able to
perform many of the functions of a computer, typically
having a relatively large screen and an operating system
capable of running general-purpose applications.”
Either way, you would be able to know the difference
between a smartphone and a basic phone because of
difference in features.
The first smartphone was released in the market
back in 1992. It was the IBM’s Simon Personal
Communicator. Simon had a monochrome touchscreen, a
stylus, and a charging base station. When using data, you
could expect to charge the phone after about 60 minutes of
use. It sold 50,000 units but the manufacturer decided
against continuing the product due to operation costs.
In 1996, Nokia released the Nokia 9000
Communicator, a 1.5-inch thick, 397g phone with an
outward facing dial pad, navigation keys, and
monochromatic display. Along the left edge, however, was
a hinge which opened to a full QWERTY keyboard and
physical navigation buttons flanking a much larger display.
It was capable of email, fax, Web, word processing, and
even spreadsheets.
Meanwhile in 1997, the word “Smartphone” will be
officially coined by the company Ericsson when it released
the GS 88 concept, otherwise known as Penelope. Its
outward appearance and design were strikingly similar to
that of the 9000 Communicator, though it housed a
touchscreen on the inside and came with a stylus.
In the early 2000s, Symbian, BlackBerry OS,
Palm OS, and PocketPC 2000 (now known as Windows
Mobile) became increasingly popular. They are gadgets
with capabilities such as email, fax, Web browsing, and
other features. Between 2000 and 2006, cell phone
manufacturers eagerly explored dozens of different form
factors to capitalize on the new mobile functionality.
Sliding and flipping keyboards, rotating displays, wafer-
style phones with displays positioned above permanent,
vertical keyboards, and even phones
with multiple keyboards abounded.
The smartphone industry that we know today
started in January 2007 when Steve Jobs, then chief
executive of Apple unveils the iPhone which he says is "a
revolutionary and magical product that is literally five years
ahead of any other mobile phone". Meanwhile in
November 2007, Google announced that it will offer the
Android mobile operating system for free. This means that
anyone can use it and modify it. By default it will also use
Google services for search, email and video.
On the other hand, the Tablet or Tablet PC is not a
recent invention. In reality, it is a result of many years of
advancement and evolution. In definition, a tablet or tablet
PC is basically a computer which is integrated into a
touchscreen device. Basically, it falls in between a
smartphone and a laptop in usability and functionality.
The first recorded invention which has the first
detailed concept for a tablet PC occurred in the form of the
Dynabook. Plans for the Dynabook were drawn up by Alan
Kay in 1968. Kay envisioned the Dynabook as a portable
computer with a nearly unlimited power supply that could
be used as an educational tool for children. Although, The
Dynabook never progressed beyond the conceptual stage
since the technology available at the time could not support
it.
20 years later, Jeff Hawkins and his company the
GRiD Systems became the first company to offer an actual
portable tablet-based computer 1989 when they introduced
the Gridpad. The Gridpad relied on MS DOS (Microsoft
Disk Operated System) as its OS.
In 1993, Apple began its own entry in the then
emerging Tablet market. Their product was known as
Newton Messagepad. Although it was originally designed
to be a larger computer, it eventually shrunk down to a
more pocket-friendly size because it became a PDA
(Personal Digital Assistant) Device.
By 1997, Palm proved very successful during this
time with its line of PDA devices. The most successful
being the Palm Pilot. This device proved that people
wanted a third type of mobile device between a cell phone
and a laptop, if it was affordable and was easy to use. It
was also the first to use the touchscreen technology and not
rely on a stylus for interaction with the device.
Another major change for the tablet PC came in
2001 when Bill Gates announced the Windows XP Tablet
Edition. This was a major change for the tablet PC since in
the past, tablets had relied on proprietary operating systems
like PenPoint OS and Palm OS. These systems were
generally simpler and less graphics intensive than those
found on standard computers. This new version of
Windows XP promised all the looks and functionality of
Windows in a format better suited to a touchscreen
interface.
By 2010, the iPad arrived, with touchscreen that
people had grown accustomed to from the iPhone and iPod
touch. By October 2012, it had sold 100 million units. This
successful sales figure had spawned competitors to make
the tablet PC market competitive. The Samsung Galaxy
Tab, Amazon Kindle Fire, Sony S2 and Microsoft
Surface tablet are just a few products that has emerged due
to the success of the iPad.
C. What is in store for us in the Future?
The development of both the smartphone and the
tablet PC is expected to have an impact on how people
would see and use devices such as computers in general.
However, that impact is still limited because people are still
trying to figure out the use of gadgets such as smartphones
and tablets.
Advancements could come in the form of
alternative power sources for our devices. Examples of this
could be solar-powered battery packs or solar powered
mobile accessories. There are also studies being conducted
into using kinetic energy as a power source for our devices.
Another type of advancement could come in the
form of our device’s screens taking on new shapes and
forms. An example of this is the gadgets with curved
displays like the Samsung Galaxy Round and the LG G
Flex in tablets.
The future technologies might be seen sooner rather
than later for smartphones and tablets because of the pace
that the pressure being exerted in the market.
Reference:
http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2012/jan/2
4/smartphones-timeline
http://www.thecarterreview.com/history-of-tablet-
pc.php
http://www.techradar.com/news/mobile-
computing/10-memorable-milestones-in-tablet-history-
924916
http://www.ign.com/articles/2010/04/01/the-history-
of-the-tablet-pc
http://www.qrcodescanning.com/smartphonehist.ht
ml
http://thenextweb.com/mobile/2011/12/06/the-
history-of-the-smartphone
http://pocketnow.com/2014/07/28/the-evolution-of-
the-smartphone
http://www.techhive.com/article/199243/a_brief_his
tory_of_smartphones.html
http://www.informationweek.com/mobile/mobile-
applications/smartphone-os-a-22-year-history/d/d-
id/1319495
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-
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http://new.artinstitutes.edu/blog/the-history-and-
evolution-of-cell-phones
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