The evolution of Mobile Phones

The mobile phone was launched in the UK in 1985 and now, there are more mobile phones in the country than people. The mobile phone has had a tremendous and lasting impact on our lives. Can you imagine life without your smart phone that allows you to browse the web, download apps, send text messages, check your email, take photographs, play music and also make telephone calls? But how did it all begin and how has the mobile phone evolved from those early days of 1985 when a mobile phone was a device for making telephone calls whilst outside? 

The mobile phones all come down the the original invention with was the walkie talkie created by motorola. The success of the the walkie talkie then led to the next invention which was the development of the car radio telephone. The radiopager was a very standard one way text messaging. These inventions were very basic and standard, the walkie talkie could only be used in a certain distance and the radiopager only allowed to send a message one way. 

Analogue mobiles where the next to be invented. For the UK, the first mobile phone networks were provided by Vodafone and Cellnet, both of which started in 1985. These networks used analogue technology, the mobiles them self were very large, heavy, could only make calls and did not have a long lasting battery time. Even so these were soon reconised and used in everyday life, today these phones are referred to as 'the bricks'

In 1996, mobile phones became a little more defined and better looking than how they were before. Antennas were shortened and the designs modified; the features were also upgraded. The image to the right shows Nokia 9000 which was one of the most popular phones of that time. Even though though

they don't seem the most flattering of mobile phones they were still able to make phone calls and produce text messages.

In 1999, mobile phones were given a more compact look. The image to the left shows a Nokia 3210, features cool colours, internal antenna and better graphics in a much smaller package than previous phones. These phones were obviously the most modern phones as the time, which gave you better signal for text messaging and calls. The antenna was also removed to give it a better look and they also made it more modern by giving colours to the phone. This became very popular as it was the first of this kind of mobile. These phones came relatively cheap so each person could afford a mobile phone.

In 2002, technology made another huge change in the history of mobile phone by putting a great full colour display and including a camera to mobile phones, producing the world’s first camera cell phone. The 'Camera Phone' seemed to be the best thing that happened to mobile phones. The Nokia 7650 shown on the right hand side, features a great colour display and a 0.3MP camera allowing you to snap pictures on the move. These phones were new to everyone and completely different to what anyone had ever seen before. The main difference in this phone was the coloured screen. The coloured screen made it easier to see and also the phone had a different way of accessing its buttons, to get to they keys of the phone you would have to push the phone upwards to it would slide.  This completely upped the game for all over mobile phone companies.

2004 gave rise to the one of the slimmest cell phone of the time, created by Motorola. To the left shows a Motorola V3, which was in a class of its own, a slim shape, dual screen, VGA Camera and lots of other exciting features. mobile phones have come a long way from brick-like bulky to stylish sleek that can fit in your shirt pocket. From 1985 to 2004 you can already see a huge change in mobile phones just by the appearance, never mind the features that are also included. The duel screen made everyone want this phone as it was something different again, you were able to check for text messages and calls just by looking on the smaller screen which is on the front of the phone.

In 2006, mobile phones were transforming with into a stylish gadget. It began its new role as a must have gadget  The LG Chocolate, was a great example of how cellphone designers are putting style in the forefront of cell phone design. To the right you can view the LG Chocolate, this is the most modern phones we have viewed so far, the touch buttons were also a first in mobile phones and this soon became the new must have. Having a 'touch phone' was the next best phone to be brought out, the buttons on the push up screen were used as the buttons you would normally press. 

In 2007, Apple Inc unveiled the Apple iPhone, which was the world’s first advanced touchscreen smartphone. It’s the first phone to have an operating system, the iOS, and by enabling apps to run on the phone, it had allowed cellphones to become the primary mobile device of use. The iPhone included apps such as App Store, iTunes store and news stand. This made The Apple iPhone one of the most wanted phones. Apple released these phones with features no other phone were capable of. E-mails became very handy as you didn't have to log in to your laptop or computer every time you needed to send an e-mail. You could also download the games you wanted and not ones that were also put on there for you. iPhones also included GPS which was basically a sat nav built into your phone. This abled you to use your phone to find your way around places without having to ask someone for directions or going out of your way to buy a sat nav.



From 2007 onwards mobile phones mostly became touch screen. All of these phones became faster, more powerful and definitely more up to date. These generation of mobile phones abled you to send e-mails, text messages, phone calls, view maps/GPS, listen to music and browse the internet. Mobile phones are now in high resolution also which makes the mobile phones more modern. They are now also have fast processors whih makes the mobiles easier to use. 

The evolution of Printers

The printing press is considered to be the most revolutionary invention in the history of the printing industry. It was invented in Germany by a goldsmith named Johann Gutenberg in 1439. At the time, this invention increased the speed at which books were printed as printing became easier and faster.. These wooden machines had to be manually operated, and even the ink had to applied to the text-blocks manually.

The design of the printing press remained largely unchanged until the 1800s when a press made completely of cast iron was made. This new press reduced the force required to print by approximately 90% while doubling the size of the print size. This new design was relatively slow only producing about 250 prints per hour. It wasn't’t until 1814 that the first automatic printing press was made, and this printing press greatly increased the efficiency at which newspapers and books were printed. This press was powered by steam.

Today’s printing presses are fully-automatic, digital presses that are capable of entire newspaper, but also folding it properly. They are capable of using a seemingly endless varieties of fonts and colours. The fastest digital colour press in the world is the Xeikon 8000, which is capable of producing 230 A4 ppm in true 1200dpi image quality. This translates into about 8.5 million pages per month! This is the photo on the right.

Dye-sublimation printers are common in producing photo-quality prints. The process works by transferring heat to a ribbon with 3 coloured panels and a clear overcoat layer (cyan, magenta, yellow, overcoat layer). The heated solid-state dye then turns into a gas, and it bonds to the printing material. The photo on the left is an example of one of these printers.

Inkjet printers are the most common type of consumer printer on the market today, and for good reason. They are inexpensive, produce quality imagery, and they are relatively speedy. The same can’t be said for the original inkjets from the late 1970s and early 1980s, as these were slow and didn’t produce very good quality prints. One of the first mass-produced consumer inkjet printers was the HP DeskJet in 1988.. This printer was only capable of printing 1-2 ppm, and although it was small in size, it still weighed in at a hefty 14 pounds. 

Today’s DeskJets are head-and-shoulders above the originals in every aspect. Some DeskJets can be purchased new for less than ￡40 – much cheaper than in 1988.This printer will print in both B/W and colour, and it will print either type at speeds of up to 16 ppm. Today’s Deskjets weigh approximately 1/3rdof the total weight of the original DeskJet. To thr right you can see how the printers have changed.

Fine art digital printing began back in 1991 in order to produce high quality, large-sised photos such as posters and other artistic prints.The first true digital fine art printer was the Iris Graphics Model 3047 in 1989, which carried an insane price tag of ￡40,000 and more. The printer was basically a large-scale inkjet printer that printed A0 sised paper (841mm x 1189mm). To the left you are able to see the first Iris Graphic model in form and working.

Solid ink is a technology was originally created by Tektronix in 1986 and bought over by Xerox in 2000. Solid ink technology make use of solid ink sticks in lieu of the fluid ink or toner powder usually used in printers. After the ink stick is loaded into the printing device, it is melted and used to produce images on paper. The 3D printing technology made its way to the technological world in the year 1986, but not gain importance until 1990. It was not that popular outside the world of engineering, architecture and manufacturing. 3D printing is also known as desktop fabrication, it can form any material that can be obtained as a powder. For creating an object you need a digital 3D-model. You can scan a set of 3D images, or draw it using computer-assisted design or CAD software. You can also download them from internet. Today you can now also use 3D printers to make things, such as food by using organic materials, body parts such as ears, and other things such as the metal suits that were worn on iron man. This new generation of £D printing has made the impossible the possible.