The Telephones Portal 
A telephone, colloquially referred to as a phone, 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 Ancient Greek: τῆλε, romanized: tēle, lit. 'far' and φωνή (phōnē, voice), together meaning distant voice.
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 cell phone 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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Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), also called IP telephony, is a method and group of technologies for voice calls for the delivery of voice communication sessions over Internet Protocol (IP) networks, such as the Internet.
The broader terms Internet telephony, broadband telephony, and broadband phone service specifically refer to the provisioning of voice and other communications services (fax, SMS, voice messaging) over the Internet, rather than via the public switched telephone network (PSTN), also known as plain old telephone service (POTS). (Full article...)
Types of phones -
The iPhone is a line of smartphones developed and marketed by Apple that run iOS, the company's own mobile operating system. The first-generation iPhone was announced by then–Apple CEO Steve Jobs on January 9, 2007, at Macworld 2007, and launched later that year. Since then, Apple has annually released new iPhone models and iOS versions; the most recent models being the iPhone 16 and 16 Plus, and the higher-end iPhone 16 Pro and 16 Pro Max. As of January 1, 2024, more than 2.3 billion iPhones have been sold, making Apple the largest vendor of mobile phones in 2023.
The original iPhone was the first mobile phone to use multi-touch technology. Throughout its history, the iPhone has gained larger, higher-resolution displays, video-recording functionality, waterproofing, and many accessibility features. Up to the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus, iPhones had a single button on the front panel, with the iPhone 5s and later integrating a Touch ID fingerprint sensor. Since the iPhone X, iPhone models have switched to a nearly bezel-less front screen design with Face ID facial recognition in place of Touch ID for authentication, and increased use of gestures in place of the home button for navigation.
The iPhone, which operates using Apple's proprietary iOS software, is one of the two major smartphone platforms in the world, alongside Android. The first-generation iPhone was described by Steve Jobs as a "revolution" for the mobile phone industry. The iPhone has been credited with popularizing the slate smartphone form factor, and with creating a large market for smartphone apps, or "app economy", laying the foundation for the boom of the market for mobile devices. In addition to the apps that come pre-installed on iOS, there are nearly 2 million apps available for download from Apple's mobile distribution marketplace, the App Store, as of August 2024[update]. (Full article...)
Selected audio -
A busy signal (or busy tone or engaged tone) in telephony is an audible call-progress tone or audible signal to the calling party that indicates failure to complete the requested connection of that particular telephone call. (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 telecommunications companies
Related portals
General images -
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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) -
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) -
Dupuis and Haug during a GSM meeting in Belgium, April 1992 (from Mobile phone) -
Antonio Meucci, 1854, constructed telephone-like devices. (from History of the telephone) -
A Samsung Galaxy S20 Plus, featuring a "hole-punch" camera (from Smartphone) -
Antonio Meucci's telephone. (from History of the telephone) -
A 19th century acoustic tin can or "lovers' telephone" (from History of the telephone) -
Bell prototype telephone stamp(from History of the telephone)
Centennial Issue of 1976 -
Typical mobile phone mini-SIM card (from Mobile phone) -
The Nokia 9110 Communicator, opened for access to keyboard (from Smartphone) -
A driver using two handheld mobile phones at once (from Mobile phone) -
Personal Handy-phone System mobiles and modems, 1997–2003 (from Mobile phone) -
Reis's telephone around 1861, first device called telephone (from History of the telephone) -
Old Receiver schematic, c.1906 (from History of the telephone) -
Alexander Graham Bell was awarded the first U.S. patent for the invention of the telephone in 1876. (from History of the telephone) -
Several BlackBerry smartphones, which were highly popular in the mid-late 2000s (from Smartphone) -
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) -
Scrapped mobile phones (from Mobile phone) -
The master telephone patent granted to Bell, 174465, March 10, 1876 (from History of the telephone) -
A smartphone touchscreen (from Smartphone) -
Apple iPhone smartphone (from History of the telephone) -
A French Gower telephone of 1912 at the Musée des Arts et Métiers in Paris (from History of the telephone) -
Mobile payment system. (from Smartphone) -
The original Apple iPhone; following its introduction the common smartphone form factor shifted to large touchscreen software interfaces without physical keypads (from Smartphone) -
Optical track pad sensor of an HTC Legend, 2010. (from Smartphone) -
IBM Simon and charging base (1994) (from Smartphone) -
Top of cellular telephone tower (from History of the telephone) -
The LG Prada with a large capacitive touchscreen introduced in 2006 (from Smartphone) -
A Moto G7 Power; its display uses a tall aspect ratio and includes a "notch". (from Smartphone) -
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A text message (SMS) (from Mobile phone) -
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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) -
Philipp Reis, 1861, constructed the first telephone, today called the Reis telephone. (from History of the telephone) -
1896 Telephone (Sweden) (from History of the telephone) -
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People using phones while walking (from Mobile phone) -
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Active mobile broadband subscriptions per 100 inhabitants (from Mobile phone) -
A Nexus 6, an Android smartphone, displaying the Main Page of the English Wikipedia (from Smartphone) -
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) -
"Device options" menu of Samsung Mobile's TouchWiz user interface as of 2013, accessed by holding the power button for a second (from Smartphone) -
Historical marker commemorating the first telephone central office in New York State (1878) (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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Mobile/desktop convergence: the Librem 5 smartphone can be used as a basic desktop computer (from Smartphone) -
Two decades of evolution of mobile phones, from a 1992 Motorola DynaTAC 8000X to the 2014 iPhone 6 Plus (from Mobile phone) -
Elisha Gray, 1876, designed a telephone using a water microphone in Highland Park, Illinois. (from History of the telephone) -
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) -
Mobile payment system (from Mobile phone) -
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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Thomas Edison invented the carbon microphone which produced a strong telephone signal. (from History of the telephone) -
A user consulting a mapping app on a phone (from Smartphone) -
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Smartphone with infrared transmitter on top for use as remote control (from Smartphone) -
Android smartphones (from Mobile phone) -
Mobile phone subscribers per 100 inhabitants. 2014 figure is estimated. (from Mobile phone) -
Inserted memory and SIM cards (from Smartphone) -
Private conversation, 1910 (from History of the telephone) -
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A New York City driver holding two phones (from Smartphone) -
1917 wall telephone, open to show magneto and local battery (from History of the telephone)
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Selected biography
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Gardiner Greene Hubbard (August 25, 1822 – December 11, 1897) was an American lawyer, financier, and community leader. He was a founder and first president of the National Geographic Society; a founder and the first president of the Bell Telephone Company which later evolved into AT&T, at times the world's largest telephone company; a founder of the journal Science; and an advocate of oral speech education for the deaf.
One of his daughters, Mabel Gardiner Hubbard, married Alexander Graham Bell. (Full article...)
Selected images
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Apple iPhones -
A Northern Electric telephone, model number N415H, circa 1950 (probably) -
Telephone booth box art outside the Tower of London, 2012 -
Rotary dial telephone, probably from Belgium; the circuit diagram inside is in Dutch and French -
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Public telephone, Bucharest, Romania -
Historical telephone with the German imperial eagle and the heraldic shield of the House of Hohenzollern dynasty; Vollmer's Mill, Seebach, Baden-Württemberg, Germany -
A historic telephone booth in Skansen, Stockholm -
Rotary dial telephone, probably from Belgium; the circuit diagram inside is in Dutch and French -
Wooden wall telephone with a hand-cranked magneto generator -
Mailbox and public telephone in Haßfurt, Germany -
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 -
A Western Electric candlestick phone from the 1920s -
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Landline call blocking in use -
A police box outside Earl's Court tube station in London, built in 1996 and based on the 1929 Gilbert Mackenzie Trench design -
An example of a K6, the most common red telephone box model, photographed in London in 2012 -
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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. -
Emergency telephones, on the Paris-Bordeaux railway line, Saint-Saviol station, Vienne, France -
Track-side emergency brake and emergency telephones at the platform of the metro station Aspern Nord, Donaustadt, Vienna, Austria -
The AUTOVON was a worldwide American military telephone system that was built starting in 1963. -
Android smartphones -
Automatic electric Rotary dial telephone -
A Funke + Huster telephone inside the Idrija Mine, Slovenia -
Acoustic telephone ad, The Consolidated Telephone Co., Jersey City, New Jersey, 1886 -
A Bell Canada payphone with digital display
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 | |||||||
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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 | |||||||||
Subcategories
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Telephones in the news
- 15 November 2024 – Russian invasion of Ukraine, Germany–Russia relations
- German Chancellor Olaf Scholz holds a telephone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin about the war in Ukraine, their first contact since 2022. Putin tells Scholz that any negotiated settlement to end the war must recognize the territories that Russia has occupied as part of Russia and that Ukraine must abandon its aspiration to join NATO. (AP) (The New York Times)
- 29 October 2024 –
- Four people are injured after a derailed tram crashes into a phone and computer shop in central Oslo, Norway. (Euronews)
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