Portal:Telephones
The Telephones Portal 
A telephone, colloquially referred to as a phone, is a telecommunications device that enables 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 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). This radio frequency link connects to the switching systems of a mobile phone operator, providing access to the public switched telephone network (PSTN). Modern mobile telephony relies on a cellular network architecture, which is why mobile phones are often referred to as 'cell phones' in North America. (Full article...)
A smartphone 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. Smartphones are distinguished from older-design feature phones by their more advanced hardware capabilities and extensive mobile operating systems, access to the internet, business applications, mobile payments, and multimedia functionality, including music, video, gaming, radio, and television. (Full article...)
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A push-button telephone is a telephone that has buttons or keys for dialing a telephone number, in contrast to a rotary dial used in earlier telephones.
Western Electric experimented as early as 1941 with methods of using mechanically activated reeds to produce two tones for each of the ten digits and by the late 1940s such technology was field-tested in a No. 5 Crossbar switching system in Pennsylvania. The technology at that time proved unreliable and it was not until after the invention of the transistor that push-button technology became practical.
The Bell System selected Findlay, Ohio as the first city in the U.S. to test the touch tone telephone, as Ohio Bell began installations at Findlay homes starting on 1 November 1960. The next test market was in Greensburg, Pennsylvania, starting on 1 February 1961. (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, alongside the higher-end iPhone 16 Pro and 16 Pro Max, and the lower-end iPhone 16e. 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...)
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Ringing tone (audible ringing, also ringback tone) is a signaling tone in telecommunication that is heard by the originator of a telephone call while the destination terminal is alerting the receiving party. The tone is typically a repeated cadence similar to a traditional power ringing signal (ringtone), but is usually not played synchronously. Various telecommunication groups, such as the Bell System and the General Post Office (GPO) developed standards, in part taken over by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) and other standards bodies. With modern cell phone and smartphone technology ringing tone can be customized and even used for advertising. (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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Mobile phone subscribers per 100 inhabitants. 2014 figure is estimated. (from Mobile phone) -
Alexander Graham Bell was awarded the first U.S. patent for the invention of the telephone in 1876. (from History of the telephone) -
A Nexus 6, an Android smartphone, displaying the Main Page of the English Wikipedia (from Smartphone) -
Mobile payment system (from Mobile phone) -
Two decades of evolution of mobile phones, from a 1992 Motorola DynaTAC 8000X to the 2014 iPhone 6 Plus (from Mobile phone) -
Receiver schematic, c.1906 (from History of the telephone) -
A New York City driver holding two phones (from Smartphone) -
Bell prototype telephone stamp(from History of the telephone)
Centennial Issue of 1976 -
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Android smartphones (from Mobile phone) -
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Antonio Meucci, 1854, developed a voice-communication apparatus that several sources credit as the first telephone. (from History of the telephone) -
A text message (SMS) (from Mobile phone) -
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) -
Inserted memory and SIM cards (from Smartphone) -
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1917 wall telephone, open to show magneto and local battery (from History of the telephone) -
Cellular networks work by only reusing radio frequencies (in this example frequencies f1–f4) in non adjacent cells to avoid interference (from Mobile phone) -
Historical marker commemorating the first telephone central office in New York State (1878) (from History of the telephone) -
A smartphone touchscreen (from Smartphone) -
Reis's telephone around 1861, first device called telephone (from History of the telephone) -
The LG Prada with a large capacitive touchscreen introduced in 2006 (from Smartphone) -
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) -
Scrapped mobile phones (from Mobile phone) -
Dupuis and Haug during a GSM meeting in Belgium, April 1992 (from Mobile phone) -
A French Gower telephone of 1912 at the Musée des Arts et Métiers in Paris (from History of the telephone) -
Private conversation, 1910 (from History of the telephone) -
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People using phones while walking (from Mobile phone) -
Optical track pad sensor of an HTC Legend, 2010. (from Smartphone) -
Active mobile broadband subscriptions per 100 inhabitants (from Mobile phone) -
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) -
Mobile payment system. (from Smartphone) -
Mobile/desktop convergence: the Librem 5 smartphone can be used as a basic desktop computer (from Smartphone) -
A Moto G7 Power; its display uses a tall aspect ratio and includes a "notch". (from Smartphone) -
The Motorola DynaTAC 8000X. In 1983, it became the first commercially available handheld cellular mobile phone. (from Mobile phone) -
1896 telephone (Sweden) (from History of the telephone) -
Typical mobile phone mini-SIM card (from Mobile phone) -
Personal Handy-phone System mobiles and modems, 1997–2003 (from Mobile phone) -
Elisha Gray, 1876, designed a telephone using a water microphone in Highland Park, Illinois. (from History of the telephone) -
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Apple iPhone smartphone (from History of the telephone) -
A 19th century acoustic tin can or "lovers' telephone" (from History of the telephone) -
The master telephone patent granted to Bell, 174465, March 7, 1876 (from History of the telephone) -
"Device options" menu of Samsung Mobile's TouchWiz user interface as of 2013, accessed by holding the power button for a second (from Smartphone) -
A user consulting a mapping app on a phone (from Smartphone) -
Thomas Edison invented the carbon microphone which produced a strong telephone signal. (from History of the telephone) -
IBM Simon and charging base (1994) (from Smartphone) -
Top of cellular telephone tower (from History of the telephone) -
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) -
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) -
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Several BlackBerry smartphones, which were highly popular in the mid-late 2000s (from Smartphone) -
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The Nokia 9110 Communicator, opened for access to keyboard (from Smartphone) -
Smartphone with infrared transmitter on top for use as remote control (from Smartphone) -
A Samsung Galaxy S20 Plus, featuring a "hole-punch" camera (from Smartphone) -
Antonio Meucci's telephone. (from History of the telephone) -
The original Apple iPhone; following its introduction in 2007, the common smartphone form factor shifted to large touchscreen software interfaces without physical keypads (from Smartphone) -
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)
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Philipp Reis, 1861, constructed the first telephone, today called the Reis telephone. (from History of the telephone) -
A driver using two handheld mobile phones at once (from Mobile phone)
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Selected biography
Innocenzo Vincenzo Bartolomeo Luigi Carlo Manzetti (Italian pronunciation: [innoˈtʃɛntso manˈdzetti]; 17 March 1826 – 15 March 1877) was an Italian inventor born in Aosta. Following his primary school studies he went to the Jesuit-run Saint Bénin Boarding School and then on to Turin where he was awarded a diploma in land surveying before returning to Aosta. (Full article...)
Selected images
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Public telephone, Bucharest, Romania -
Telephone booth box art outside the Tower of London, 2012 -
A Western Electric candlestick phone from the 1920s -
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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 -
Emergency telephones, on the Paris-Bordeaux railway line, Saint-Saviol station, Vienne, France -
The AUTOVON was a worldwide American military telephone system that was built starting in 1963. -
A police box outside Earl's Court tube station in London, built in 1996 and based on the 1929 Gilbert Mackenzie Trench design -
A Bell Canada payphone with digital display -
Mailbox and public telephone in Haßfurt, Germany -
Apple iPhones -
Rotary dial telephone, probably from Belgium; the circuit diagram inside is in Dutch and French -
Automatic electric Rotary dial telephone -
Rotary dial telephone, probably from Belgium; the circuit diagram inside is in Dutch and French -
A historic telephone booth in Skansen, Stockholm -
Android smartphones -
A Funke + Huster telephone inside the Idrija Mine, Slovenia -
A Northern Electric telephone, model number N415H, circa 1950 (probably) -
Landline call blocking in use -
Historical telephone with the German imperial eagle and the heraldic shield of the House of Hohenzollern dynasty; Vollmer's Mill, Seebach, Baden-Württemberg, Germany -
Wooden wall telephone with a hand-cranked magneto generator -
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. -
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An example of a K6, the most common red telephone box model, photographed in London in 2012 -
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Acoustic telephone ad, The Consolidated Telephone Co., Jersey City, New Jersey, 1886 -
Track-side emergency brake and emergency telephones at the platform of the metro station Aspern Nord, Donaustadt, Vienna, Austria
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 | |||||||
| Law | |||||||
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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
- 19 February 2025 –
- Apple Inc. announces the iPhone 16e, discontinuing all remaining Lightning port iPhones and the home button third-generation iPhone SE. (9to5Mac)
- 15 February 2025 – Russia–United States relations
- Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio speak by telephone about the Russo-Ukrainian War, the Gaza war, the sanctions against Russia, and removing restrictions on each country's diplomatic missions. They also discuss preparations for a high-level summit in Saudi Arabia. This is the first time the U.S. and Russia had contact at the foreign minister level in almost two years. (Financial Times)
- 12 February 2025 – Russo-Ukrainian War
- After holding a telephone call with Russian president Vladimir Putin, U.S. president Donald Trump says negotiations to end the war will start immediately. (CNN) (Euronews)
Associated Wikimedia
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Wikisource
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Wikiversity
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