Mobile phone Wikipedia

Most early content for mobile phones tended to be copies of legacy media, such as banner advertisements or TV news highlight video clips. There are a huge variety of apps, including video games, music products and business tools. The first mobile news service, delivered via SMS, was launched in Finland in 2000, and subsequently many organizations provided “on-demand” and “instant” news services by SMS.
Soon afterwards, other media content appeared, such as news, video games, jokes, horoscopes, TV content and advertising. Mobile phones are used for a variety of purposes, such as keeping in touch with family members, for conducting business, and in order to have access to a telephone in the event of an emergency. In February 2014, 93% of mobile developers were targeting smartphones first for mobile app development. Up until that point, smartphone application distribution depended on third-party sources providing applications for multiple platforms, such as GetJar, Handango, Handmark, and PocketGear.
The introduction of Apple’s App Store for the iPhone and iPod Touch in July 2008 popularized manufacturer-hosted online distribution for third-party applications (software and computer programs) focused on a single platform. A mobile app is a computer program designed to run on a mobile device, such as a smartphone. Of the two, Android has been the best-selling system worldwide on smartphones since 2011, and as of March 2025, Android had 71.9% of the overall market share, while iOS had 27.7%. SIM and R-UIM cards may be mixed together to allow both GSM and CDMA networks to be accessed.
Mobile phones are cash lounge casino considered an important human invention as it has been one of the most widely used and sold pieces of consumer technology. A study by the London School of Economics found that banning mobile phones in schools could increase pupils’ academic performance, providing benefits equal to one extra week of schooling per year. They also stated that with the lack of data for the research and the usage periods of 15 years will warrant further research for smartphones and the cause of brain tumors. In most jurisdictions, prison inmates are forbidden from possessing mobile phones due to their ability to communicate with the outside world and other security issues.

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The growth in popularity has been rapid in some places; for example, in the UK, the total number of mobile phones overtook the number of houses in 1999. Mobile phones are considered an important human invention as they have been one of the most widely used and sold pieces of consumer technology. For feature phones as of 2016update, the top-selling brands were Samsung, Nokia and Alcatel. In 1979, Nippon Telegraph and Telephone (NTT) launched the world’s first cellular network in Japan.

• This ensures it can be applied to mobile Internet access, VoIP, video calls, and sending large e-mail messages, as well as watching videos, typically in standard-definition quality.
• SIM and R-UIM cards may be mixed together to allow both GSM and CDMA networks to be accessed.
• The first publicly available LTE service was launched in Scandinavia by TeliaSonera in 2009.
• In most jurisdictions, prison inmates are forbidden from possessing mobile phones due to their ability to communicate with the outside world and other security issues.
• Eventually, the idea spread and in 1999, the Philippines launched the country’s first commercial mobile payments systems with mobile operators Globe and Smart.citation needed
• Screen sizes are often measured in diagonal inches or millimeters; feature phones generally have screen sizes below 90 millimetres (3.5 in).

In many countries, mobile phones are used to provide mobile banking services, which may include the ability to transfer cash payments by secure SMS text message. Former systems would cover a service area with one or two powerful base stations with a range of up to tens of kilometers’ (miles), using only a few sets of radio channels (frequencies). The race to create truly portable telephone devices began after World War II, with developments taking place in many countries.

• In 2013, a national survey in the US reported the number of drivers who reported using their cellphones to access the Internet while driving had risen to nearly one of four.
• In addition, they enable multimedia playback and streaming, including video content, as well as radio and television streaming.
• Smartphones are defined by their advanced computing capabilities, which include internet connectivity and access to a wide range of applications.
• In the U.S., the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regulations prohibit the use of mobile phones aboard aircraft in flight.
• The first handheld mobile phone was demonstrated by Martin Cooper of Motorola in New York City on 3 April 1973, using a handset weighing c.
• Mobile processors commonly use heterogeneous multicore architectures, combining cores with different performance and power characteristics so that computational workloads can be distributed according to their processing requirements and energy constraints.
• In the earliest mobile phone systems by contrast, all control was done manually; the customer would search for an unoccupied channel and speak to a mobile operator to request connection of a call to a landline number or another mobile.

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Feature phones typically provide voice calling and text messaging functionality, in addition to basic multimedia and Internet capabilities, and other services offered by the user’s wireless service provider. Feature phone is a term typically used as a retronym to describe mobile phones which are limited in capabilities in contrast to a modern smartphone. The International Telecommunication Union measures those with Internet connection, which it calls Active Mobile-Broadband subscriptions (which includes tablets, etc.). The term “5G” was originally used in research papers and projects to denote the next major phase in mobile telecommunication standards beyond the 4G/IMT-Advanced standards. The first publicly available LTE service was launched in Scandinavia by TeliaSonera in 2009. By 2009, it had become clear that, at some point, 3G networks would be overwhelmed by the growth of bandwidth-intensive applications, such as streaming media.

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Some audio-quality enhancing features, such as Voice over LTE and HD Voice, have appeared and are often available on newer smartphones. Liquid-crystal displays are the most common; others are IPS, LED, OLED, and AMOLED displays. Screen sizes are often measured in diagonal inches or millimeters; feature phones generally have screen sizes below 90 millimetres (3.5 in). Depending on the device’s type and design, the screen fills most or nearly all of the space on a device’s front surface. Mobile processors commonly use heterogeneous multicore architectures, combining cores with different performance and power characteristics so that computational workloads can be distributed according to their processing requirements and energy constraints. With smartphones, NAND flash memory was adopted as it has larger storage capacities and lower costs, but causes longer boot times because instructions cannot be executed from it directly, and must be copied to RAM memory first before execution.

A mobile phone or cell phone is a portable wireless telephone that allows users to make and receive calls over a radio frequency link while moving within a designated telephone service area, unlike fixed-location phones (landline phones). Text messaging, which are performed on mobile phones, has also led to the creation of ‘SMS language’. In Japanese mobile phone culture for example, mobile phones are often decorated with charms.
In addition, they enable multimedia playback and streaming, including video content, as well as radio and television streaming. These include text messaging, multimedia messaging, email, and internet access (via LTE, 5G NR or Wi-Fi), as well as short-range wireless technologies like Bluetooth, infrared, and ultra-wideband (UWB). This radio frequency link connects to the switching systems of a mobile phone operator, providing access to the public switched telephone network (PSTN). While there are rumors of mobile phones causing cancer, there was a study conducted by International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) that stated the there could be an increase risk of brain tumors with the use of smartphones, this is not confirmed. In Europe, regulations and technology have allowed the limited introduction of the use of passenger mobile phones on some commercial flights, and elsewhere in the world many airlines are moving towards allowing mobile phone use in flight.