~Technological Advancements~

When cell phones were first introduced they were limited to what they could do. They weighed 2-3 pounds and could only make phone calls. They had 30 minutes of talking time and could be kept in sleep mode for up to eight hours. They could hold over 25 phone numbers and cost just under $4000. They had one purpose and that was to communicate with one other person. The cellular service providers were also limited. There were only two or three companies offering cellular service, which included Motorola and Siemens (Recent).

?Waiting for 3G services from the telephone companies of the world isn?t the only way to access the Internet wirelessly and at high speeds?? (Smart Mobs). These days the cellular phone companies and the capabilities of the cellular phone are limitless. Most phones come equipped stock with special features such as cameras, GPS, walkie-talkies and any video game you can think of. More advanced ?3G?, or dual band ?3G, phones come with the abilities to capture and download full length video and music, and are able to receive wireless internet to connect you to the World Wide Web (Recent). Other stock features on cellular phones are LCD screens with protective covers, anti-reflection screens, and anti-UV rays screens (Recent).

The phones today are also smaller, lighter, and less expensive. They do not come bigger than six inches and all weigh less than a pound. They also cost hundreds of dollars, when only 20 years ago they would have been in the quadruple digits. Today the worlds smallest phone weighs 55 grams and is only 2.64 inches in length (Worlds Smallest). It is called the Xun Chi 138 and was created in China. It has a 1.3 Mega pixel camera and is capable of holding 260k colors.

Not only are the actual phones big business, but the accessories for the phones are getting more and more advanced every year. All phones come with stock accessories such as a battery, a charger, and some, pre-paid, phones even come with a couple of dollars worth of minutes, but it is the accessories that do not come on the phones that are truly amazing. There are car chargers, Bluetooth?s, cases, data cables and face plates (Accessories). Some of the most advanced accessories consist of new software inputs, super batteries, and Bluetooth speakers. There is even talk about cell phone projectors. These are being worked on by Finland?s ?Upstream Engineering? company that will potentially have the ability to plug an 8-12 inch projector into a phone to allow pictures and videos to be view on a screen instead of having to pass the phone around for everyone to take a look.

Storage space on a phone is unbelievable. In the 1980?s there was no reason for a cell phone to hold any other information than the numbers of a few close friends, but with so much information needed to make the world run, information at our fingertips is a must. Just the ability to have internet on a phone is amazing but to be able to download it and store it is just crazy. The average storage space on a phone is about 160 Mega bytes. There is also more room made to house music, videos, and pictures (Emerging). With so much information placed in the palms of our hands it is easier for everything to operate smoothly.