Development of Mobile Phones and its Effects on Peoples Lives and Society - Literature review Example

Development of mobile phones and its effects on people’s lives and society History of human in communication Communication can be traced back to the time life began. It ranges from simple process of exchange of information, to comprehensive conversations and mass communications. The revolution of human communication occurred about 200,000 year ago by speech (Miller et al 45). The development of symbols occurred about 30,000 years ago while writing was discovered about 7,000 years ago. Major developments have occurred within a short time scale in telecommunication. It is believed that speech developed because of differentiation of human brain during evolution, which resulted from a mutation in the FOXP2 gene (Hashimi et al 47). This is believed to have occurred 200,000 years ago. Development of speech contributed much to information and knowledge transmission to younger generations. Speech allowed human beings to adapt quickly to their environment. Thus, speech enabled humans to make more advances in technology and socio-cultural evolution than any time before. The shortcomings of speech such as limited human memory, limitation in distance and loss of knowledge in case of demise of an elder made humans to continue searching more sophisticated forms of communications. The development of symbols enabled dissemination of ideas, improved the range over which the ideas could be communicated and assured that information could be stored for a prolonged period. Symbols are just conventional representation of concepts. Cave paintings are the oldest type of symbols, which dates back to the Upper Palaeolithic period. Chauvet cave painting is the oldest painting and was created about 30,000 BC. The second oldest symbols are Petroglyphs, which involved carvings into rock surface. They date back to about 10,000 BC. Petroglycans were followed by pictograms which are symbols that represent concepts, activity, event, place or object through illustrations. The use of pictograms has been traced in many ancient cultures around the world and they were developed around 9,000 BC. The next form of communication that evolved from pictograms is ideograms. These are graphical symbols, which represents an idea. The similarities in ideograms among many ancient cultures have been documented and are attributed to the fact that some ideas are universal. Logographic writing systems developed from ideograms. Logographic is the oldest form of writing, which was based on pictographic and ideographic. The writing systems are divided into logographic, syllabic and alphabetic. First writing systems were invented in the 4th millennium BC. The first pure alphabets emerged around 2000 BC in Ancient Egypt. Writing communication was followed by telecommunication, which enabled transmission of information over long distance via signal. Initially this involved use of smoke signals and drums in America, Africa and parts of Asia. The first fixed semaphore systems were first seen in Europe in 1790s ((Miller et al 48)). The first electrical telecommunication systems appeared in 1830s. Since then, many advances have been made in the field of telecommunication. For instance, electrical telegraph was developed in 1838, telephone 1876, photo phone 1880 and radio 1896. These forms of telecommunication were based on audio signals. More recent telecommunication systems were based on electrical or electronic signals. Electrical or electronic signal based telecommunication systems include television invented in 1927, videophone 1930, fiber optical telecommunications 1964, computer networking 1969, analog cellular phones 1981, SMTP email 1982, internet 1983 and satellite phones 1998 (Hashimi et al 47). History of Mobile Phone One of the greatest and successful inventions of the 20th century is the invention of the mobile phone. Mobile phone system was first commercialized in Japan in 1979. The conceptualization of ideas on mobile phone began in 1947 when W. Rae Young and Douglas H. Ring came up with the idea of hexagonal cells for mobile phones. The first mobile phone system was developed by Erickson in 1956 and it was known as Mobile Telephone system A (MTA). A portable mobile phone (radiophone) was created in 1957 by Leonid Kupriyanovich from Moscow. USSR deployed mobile phone service in 1958 and its system was based on the Soviet MRT-1327 standard. A direct dial up service was first offered by a private telephone company in Kansas 1959, which used Motorola Radio Telephone equipment. The first semi automatic MTA was launched in Sweden in 1960 (Miller et al 60).An MTB system which used DTMF signals was introduced in 1965 by Erickson. Description of frequency reuse and handoff concepts, which formed the basis of present day cell phone, was done in 1970s. The invention of call handoff system by Amos E. Joel, Jr (Guthery & Cronin, 69). In 1970 enabled mobile phones to be used continuously without loss of conversation when one moved from one cell area to another. A proposal for cellular service based on advanced mobile phone system (AMPS) was made in 1970 to Federal Communication Commission and was approved in 1982 (Hashimi et al 47). This analog AMPS was superseded in 1990 by Digital AMPS. ARP network in Finland was the first successful commercial networks. It was launched in 1971. This is viewed as the zero generation cellular networks. The invention of Motorola DynaTAC 8000X in 1973 by Motorola is credited for being the origin of modern cell phone. This was the first mobile phone to be used in a setting, which was non-vehicle. Martin Cooper is credited for this invention (Laberge & Vujosevic 98). The important development of modern mobile phones is divided into generations. The first generation (1G) mobile phones are characterized with use of multiple cell sites and the ability to converse across different cell area without breakages in conversation. This was made possible by the handover technology (Elrom et al 35). The first commercial 1G generation cellular network was launched in 1979 in Japan by NTT. The second 1G generation networks were simultaneously launched by Nordic Mobile Telephone (NMT) in 1981 in Denmark, Norway, Finland and Sweden. This was the first mobile phone network to feature international roaming. The second-generation (2G) networks emerged in 1990s and they used the GSM standard. These 2G generation mobile phones were based on digital transmission of information instead of the previous analog transmission. They also used advanced and fast phone in networking signals. The development of 2G phones saw the introduction of prepaid mobile phones (Guthery & Cronin, 79). The first GSM network was launched in 1991 in Finland. The introduction of 2G networks coincided with development of tiny hand held devices. The 2G networks introduced new forms of communications such as short message service (SMS) which allowed text messaging. The introduction of SMS occurred in 1992 for machine generated SMS message and 1993 for person-to-person SMS text message. The 2G networks also made it possible to access media content via the mobile phone. The first data services on mobile phones begun in Finland in 1993 (Elrom et al 34). The third generation 3G is characterized with high speed IP data networks. 3G networks uses packet switching instead of circuit switching used in 2G networks to transmit data. The first 3G network was launched in Japan in 2001 by NTT DoCoMo. Development of 2.5G systems such as GPRS and CDMA2000 1x occurred when 3G systems were being developed as extensions to the 2G networks. The 3G networks enabled media streaming of radio and television to 3G handsets. High-speed downlink packet access (HSDPA) begun being implemented in mid 2000s. The forth generation (4G) networks is characterized with data optimized technologies. The first 4G technologies included WiMax standard and the LTE (Elrom et al 34). The 4G network completely eliminated circuit switching and employed an all –IP network. This enabled treatment of voice calls as streaming audio media and utilization of packet switching over internet through VoIP. Effect of mobile phones on daily lives Mobile phones are more convenience mode of communication than any other form. Mobile phones are predominantly used for contacting family members and friends. In addition, they are used for carrying out business transactions by businesspersons. The phones are used mainly used for talking and text messaging in addition to transmission of data (Elrom et al 34). Cell phones are a source of security to teenagers and their parents who are concerned about them. This is because help is within reach and they can be contacted by their parents more easily. Mobile phones also allow people to reach out to more people through speech and texting. Cell phones reduce feedback to expression to one’s peers and this makes life more solitary especially for the youths since the personalities encountered in life is narrowed down. One may become emotionally attached to a cell phone and even be addicted to its use (Guthery & Cronin, 88). Verbal disembodied relationship is encouraged by use of cell phone and this can have a negative impact on the lives of youths. The use of SMS reduces the ability of one to converse using complete thoughts and sentences. Cell phone radiations may result in tumours or even interfere with the development of brain. 21st century cellular phones (Iphone and Blackberry) Mobile phone is the most outstanding gadget of 21st century. They are part of human lives. Today’s mobile phones are very small sized and are loaded with all features that are found in any electronic gadget. It has caught up with digital cameras and video capturing devices that have ever been invented. It has also caught up with I-pod (Laberge & Vujosevic 79). The present mobile phones have infrared and Bluetooth options, which allow one to keep on changing and updating his or her stuff on phone. The gadget also offers internet services. The phones have ms-word and excel sheets, which are essential features for businesspersons. Why mobile phone is such a culture (features on mobile phones e.g. sms, mms, internet, games, music etc.) Culture is constitutive of the social world as political and economic process. The term cellular is used in mobile phones to the technology used to build modern wireless networks while the term mobile is used indicate the ability of the device to roam. Mobile phones are being used to start and maintain relationships, to display identity and belonging, to claim membership of social group and to emphasize status. The mobile phones have become a crucial element of culture mainly because of its ability to send and receive text, audio, image and video. The small size, the portability, ability to compute data and to be customized and its ability to connect to other networks and devices has enabled mobile phones to bring people’s culture and place them in it. The SMS has been the leading the way in mobile phone culture (Miller et al 70). The SMS is being used for information, competitions, and alerts and for voting in various competitions. Multimedia content (multimedia messages (MMS)) is also being consumed massively for marketing purposes. Popular contents of multimedia communication provided on mobile phones include pictures from camera phones, ringtones, games, wallpapers and video downloads (Laberge & Vujosevic 78). The use of mobile phones to access internet is also taking ground. This occurs via use of both wireless access protocol and blackberry in addition to other portal devices. Mobile phones are also being engaged by artists, new media and cultural producers as technology and cultural site (Fling 82). What the world would be without mobile phone? Without mobile phones, communication would still be difficult even with fixed telephone. Things like text messaging, photo taking, and music features, television watching and internet services would still be limited in fixed areas. In fact, life could still be more expensive since one could still be wasting a lot of time in trying to accomplish these services (Guthery & Cronin, 78). Some of these services could not be accomplished using other forms of communication such as texting and in some situations getting online could be still hard without a mobile phone. Quick access and convenience in emergencies could still be a nightmare. Without mobile phones, people like travellers who want to stay connected would be incurring many expenses using local calls, which are known to be expensive (Elrom et al 34). Future of mobile phones It is expected that in future mobile phone networks will be able to move data much faster and will be able to co-exist with Wi-Fi, WiMax and for TV, DVB-H or MediaFLO. It is anticipated that IMS will help these technologies work together. The handsets are expected to have sleek design, long battery life, be ale to support e-payment and increased graphics for true TV and video gaming, which have console style. The resolution and image processing capabilities of the mobile phone cameras is also expected to increase (Fling 90). The mobile phones are anticipated to allow network hopping in future, which will enable seamless internet access. References Elrom Elad, Janousek Scott & Joss Thomas. AdvancED Flash on Devices: Mobile Development with Flash Lite and Flash 10. New York: Springer, 2009. Frederick Gail & Lal Rajesh. Beginning Smartphone Web Development: Building JavaScript, CSS, HTML and Ajax-Based Applications for I Phone, Android, Palm Pre, Blackberry, Windows Mobile and Nokia S60. London: Apress, 2009. Fling Brian. Mobile Design and Development: Practical Concepts and Techniques for Creating Mobile Sites and Web Apps. New York: O'Reilly Media, Inc., 2009. Guthery Scott & Cronin Mary. Mobile application development with SMS and the SIM toolkit. New York: McGraw-Hill Professional, 2002. Hashimi Sayed, Komatineni Satya & MacLean Dave. Pro Android 2. London: Apress, 2010. Laberge Robert & Vujosevic Srdjan. Building PDA databases for wireless and mobile development. New York: Wiley Pub., 2003. Miller Frederic, Vandome Agnes & McBrewster John. Mobile Development: Mobile Development, Mobile Device, Personal Digital Assistant, Enterprise Digital Assistant, Mobile Phone, Information Appliance, Mobile Software, App Store. London: Alphascript Publishing, 2010. Read More

History of Mobile Phone One of the greatest and successful inventions of the 20th century is the invention of the mobile phone. Mobile phone system was first commercialized in Japan in 1979. The conceptualization of ideas on mobile phone began in 1947 when W. Rae Young and Douglas H. Ring came up with the idea of hexagonal cells for mobile phones. The first mobile phone system was developed by Erickson in 1956 and it was known as Mobile Telephone system A (MTA). A portable mobile phone (radiophone) was created in 1957 by Leonid Kupriyanovich from Moscow.

USSR deployed mobile phone service in 1958 and its system was based on the Soviet MRT-1327 standard. A direct dial up service was first offered by a private telephone company in Kansas 1959, which used Motorola Radio Telephone equipment. The first semi automatic MTA was launched in Sweden in 1960 (Miller et al 60).An MTB system which used DTMF signals was introduced in 1965 by Erickson. Description of frequency reuse and handoff concepts, which formed the basis of present day cell phone, was done in 1970s.

The invention of call handoff system by Amos E. Joel, Jr (Guthery & Cronin, 69). In 1970 enabled mobile phones to be used continuously without loss of conversation when one moved from one cell area to another. A proposal for cellular service based on advanced mobile phone system (AMPS) was made in 1970 to Federal Communication Commission and was approved in 1982 (Hashimi et al 47). This analog AMPS was superseded in 1990 by Digital AMPS. ARP network in Finland was the first successful commercial networks.

It was launched in 1971. This is viewed as the zero generation cellular networks. The invention of Motorola DynaTAC 8000X in 1973 by Motorola is credited for being the origin of modern cell phone. This was the first mobile phone to be used in a setting, which was non-vehicle. Martin Cooper is credited for this invention (Laberge & Vujosevic 98). The important development of modern mobile phones is divided into generations. The first generation (1G) mobile phones are characterized with use of multiple cell sites and the ability to converse across different cell area without breakages in conversation.

This was made possible by the handover technology (Elrom et al 35). The first commercial 1G generation cellular network was launched in 1979 in Japan by NTT. The second 1G generation networks were simultaneously launched by Nordic Mobile Telephone (NMT) in 1981 in Denmark, Norway, Finland and Sweden. This was the first mobile phone network to feature international roaming. The second-generation (2G) networks emerged in 1990s and they used the GSM standard. These 2G generation mobile phones were based on digital transmission of information instead of the previous analog transmission.

They also used advanced and fast phone in networking signals. The development of 2G phones saw the introduction of prepaid mobile phones (Guthery & Cronin, 79). The first GSM network was launched in 1991 in Finland. The introduction of 2G networks coincided with development of tiny hand held devices. The 2G networks introduced new forms of communications such as short message service (SMS) which allowed text messaging. The introduction of SMS occurred in 1992 for machine generated SMS message and 1993 for person-to-person SMS text message.

The 2G networks also made it possible to access media content via the mobile phone. The first data services on mobile phones begun in Finland in 1993 (Elrom et al 34). The third generation 3G is characterized with high speed IP data networks. 3G networks uses packet switching instead of circuit switching used in 2G networks to transmit data. The first 3G network was launched in Japan in 2001 by NTT DoCoMo. Development of 2.5G systems such as GPRS and CDMA2000 1x occurred when 3G systems were being developed as extensions to the 2G networks.

The 3G networks enabled media streaming of radio and television to 3G handsets. High-speed downlink packet access (HSDPA) begun being implemented in mid 2000s.

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