Mobile phones, especially smartphones, have become our inseparable companions. But what you may not know is that the history of the mobile phone goes back as far as 1908, when a patent for a cordless phone was issued in the US state of Kentucky.
Mobile phones were invented in the 1940s, when AT&T engineers developed the parts for mobile phone base stations.
The first mobile phones were not really mobile phones. They were two-way radios that allowed people such as taxi drivers and emergency services to communicate.
Instead of relying on base stations with separated parts (and a signal transmitted from one part to the other), the first mobile phone networks operated using a single powerful base station covering a much larger area.
"Motorola, on 3 April 1973, was the first company to mass-produce the first portable mobile phone. These early mobile phones are often referred to as 0G mobile phones or Generation Zero mobile phones. Most of today's phones are based on 3G or 4G mobile technology.
Today's smartphones are almost unrecognisable from the analogue "brick" phones of yesteryear.
Models released in 2017, such as the iPhone X and Samsung S8, arrived with stunning full-screen designs that are perfect for watching videos and playing games. Meanwhile, their face-scanning technology lets you unlock your device just by looking at it.
Professional dual-lens cameras are now standard on high-end smartphones, and the hardware itself is becoming more and more rugged, with impressive water resistance and tough Gorilla Glass display glasses.