Portal:Telephones

The Telephones Portal

A telephone, commonly shortened to 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 wireless 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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The Telephone Preference Service (TPS) is the United Kingdom's official do not call list. It allows businesses and individuals to opt out of unsolicited marketing calls.

Similar do not call lists are implemented in other countries, such as the National Do Not Call Registry in the United States, and the Do Not Call Register in Australia.

The Telephone Preference Service (TPS) is the only such register that is enforced by law in the UK. TPS was created in 1996 by the Data & Marketing Association (DMA). In 1999, it was made a statutory requirement and was included in the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR). (Full article...)

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Samsung Galaxy Z series foldable smartphones (front view)

A foldable smartphone (also called a foldable phone or simply foldable) is a smartphone with a folding form factor. While folding designs have been used previously in clamshell or "flip phone" models, the term "foldable" now generally refers to a newer style featuring flexible displays. Some variants of the concept instead use multiple touchscreen panels connected by a hinge. Concepts for such devices date back as early as Nokia's "Morph" concept in 2008 and a concept presented by Samsung Electronics in 2013, which was part of a broader set of ideas using flexible OLED displays.

The first commercially available folding smartphones with OLED displays began to appear in 2018. Some devices fold on a vertical axis into a wider, tablet-like form while remaining usable in a smaller, folded state. The display may either wrap around to the back of the device when folded, as seen with the Royole FlexPai and Huawei Mate X, or use a booklet-style design, where the larger, folded screen is located inside and a smaller screen on the cover allows interaction without opening the device, as with the Samsung Galaxy Fold series. Horizontally folding smartphones have also been produced, typically using a clamshell form factor.

The first generation of commercially released foldable smartphones faced concerns over durability and their high prices, and they are largely regarded as a gimmick. In 2023, only around 1% of worldwide smartphone ownership were foldable smartphones. (Full article...)

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Multi-frequency dialing

These multi-frequency tones were generated by automated switching equipment. The blue box was designed to replicate these tones.

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A blue box is an electronic device that produces tones used to generate the in-band signaling tones formerly used within the North American long-distance telephone network to send line status and called number information over voice circuits. During that period, charges associated with long-distance calling were commonplace and could be significant, depending on the time, duration and destination of the call. A blue box device allowed for circumventing these charges by enabling an illicit user, referred to as a "phreaker", to place long-distance calls, without using the network's user facilities, that would be billed to another number or dismissed entirely by the telecom company's billing system as an incomplete call. A number of similar "color boxes" were also created to control other aspects of the phone network. (Full article...)

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The following are images from various telephone-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1Thomas Edison invented the carbon microphone which produced a strong telephone signal. (from History of the telephone)
Image 2Alexander Graham Bell was awarded the first U.S. patent for the invention of the telephone in 1876. (from History of the telephone)
Image 3Antonio Meucci, 1849, developing a voice-communication apparatus that several sources credit as the first telephone. (from History of the telephone)
Image 4A driver using two handheld mobile phones at once (from Mobile phone)
Image 5The master telephone patent granted to Bell, 174465, March 7, 1876 (from History of the telephone)
Image 6Tooltip 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)
Image 7A 19th century acoustic tin can or "lovers' telephone" (from History of the telephone)
Image 8Blackview A60 Andoid Go mobile phone smartphone cell phone showing the front-facing camera is put in notch display (from Smartphone)
Image 9Two decades of evolution of mobile phones, from a 1992 Motorola DynaTAC 8000X to the 2014 iPhone 6 Plus (from Mobile phone)
Image 10Scrapped mobile phones (from Mobile phone)
Image 11Elisha Gray, 1876, designed a telephone using a water microphone in Highland Park, Illinois. (from History of the telephone)
Image 12Typical mobile phone mini-SIM card (from Mobile phone)
Image 13A Nexus 6, an Android smartphone, displaying the Main Page of the English Wikipedia (from Smartphone)
Image 14Optical track pad sensor of an HTC Legend, 2010. (from Smartphone)
Image 15A smartphone touchscreen (from Smartphone)
Image 16Mobile phone subscribers per 100 inhabitants. 2014 figure is estimated. (from Mobile phone)
Image 17Martin 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)
Image 18Mobile payment system. (from Smartphone)
Image 19Inserted memory and SIM cards (from Smartphone)
Image 20A young woman speaking on a mobile phone in Copenhagen, 2025 (from Mobile phone)
Image 21A New York City driver holding two phones (from Smartphone)
Image 22The Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra has an artificial intelligence-powered feature (from Smartphone)
Image 23"Device options" menu of Samsung Mobile's TouchWiz user interface as of 2013, accessed by holding the power button for a second (from Smartphone)
Image 24A French Gower telephone of 1912 at the Musée des Arts et Métiers in Paris (from History of the telephone)
Image 25Cellular networks work by only reusing radio frequencies (in this example frequencies f1–f4) in non adjacent cells to avoid interference (from Mobile phone)
Image 26Mobile payment system (from Mobile phone)
Image 27A text message (SMS) (from Mobile phone)
Image 28Reis's telephone around 1861, first device called telephone (from History of the telephone)
Image 29Dupuis and Haug during a GSM meeting in Belgium, April 1992 (from Mobile phone)
Image 30A user consulting a mapping app on a phone (from Smartphone)
Image 31
Bell prototype telephone stamp
Centennial Issue of 1976
(from History of the telephone)
Image 321917 wall telephone, open to show magneto and local battery (from History of the telephone)
Image 33Tivadar Puskás proposed the telephone switchboard exchange in 1876. (from History of the telephone)
Image 34Actor 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)
Image 35Historical marker commemorating the first telephone central office in New York State (1878) (from History of the telephone)
Image 36Android smartphones (from Mobile phone)
Image 37A German rotary dial telephone, the W48 (from History of the telephone)
Image 38Apple iPhone smartphone (from History of the telephone)
Image 39Philipp Reis, 1861, constructed the first telephone, today called the Reis telephone. (from History of the telephone)
Image 40Smartphone with infrared transmitter on top for use as remote control (from Smartphone)
Image 41The HTC Desire, a 2010 smartphone with optical trackpad and search button (from Smartphone)
Image 42The Motorola DynaTAC 8000X. In 1983, it became the first commercially available handheld cellular mobile phone. (from Mobile phone)
Image 43Top of cellular telephone tower (from History of the telephone)
Image 44Receiver schematic, c.1906 (from History of the telephone)
Image 45A 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)
Image 46Replica of the telettrofono at Museo Nazionale Scienza e Tecnologia Leonardo da Vinci of Milan, Italy, invented by Antonio Meucci and credited by several sources as the first telephone. (from History of the telephone)
Image 47A pedestrian looking down at their smartphone while crossing a road (from Mobile phone)
Image 481896 telephone (Sweden) (from History of the telephone)
Image 49Personal Handy-phone System mobiles and modems, 1997–2003 (from Mobile phone)
Image 50A high-capacity portable battery charger (power bank) (from Smartphone)
Image 51Private conversation, 1910 (from History of the telephone)
Image 52Innocenzo Manzetti considered the idea of a telephone in 1844 (from History of the telephone)
Image 53A 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)
Image 54Active mobile broadband subscriptions per 100 inhabitants (from Mobile phone)
Image 55E-waste in Agbogbloshie (from Smartphone)

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Edison, c. 1922

Thomas Alva Edison (February 11, 1847 – October 18, 1931) was an American inventor and businessman. He developed many devices in fields such as electric power generation, sound recording, and motion pictures. These inventions, which include the phonograph, the motion picture camera, and early versions of the electric light bulb, have had a widespread impact on the modern industrialized world. He was one of the first inventors to apply the principles of organized science and teamwork to the process of invention, working with many researchers and employees. He established the first industrial research laboratory.

Edison was raised in the American Midwest. Early in his career he worked as a telegraph operator, which inspired some of his earliest inventions. In 1876, he established his first laboratory facility in Menlo Park, New Jersey, where many of his early inventions were developed. He went into business and became wealthy. Edison used his fortune to further his passion for invention. This was realized in experimental mining operations, the first film studio, and 1,093 US patents. (Full article...)

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Image 1A Bell Canada payphone with digital display
Image 2A Funke + Huster telephone inside the Idrija Mine, Slovenia
Image 3Foldable smartphones
Image 4Push-button telephone
Image 5Photograph 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
Image 6Automatic electric Rotary dial telephone
Image 7Public telephone, Bucharest, Romania
Image 8A historic telephone booth in Skansen, Stockholm
Image 9A police box outside Earl's Court tube station in London, built in 1996 and based on the 1929 Gilbert Mackenzie Trench design
Image 10Historical telephone with the German imperial eagle and the heraldic shield of the House of Hohenzollern dynasty; Vollmer's Mill, Seebach, Baden-Württemberg, Germany
Image 11Rotary dial telephone, probably from Belgium; the circuit diagram inside is in Dutch and French
Image 12Apple iPhones
Image 13Rotary dial telephone, probably from Belgium; the circuit diagram inside is in Dutch and French
Image 14Android smartphones
Image 15Track-side emergency brake and emergency telephones at the platform of the metro station Aspern Nord, Donaustadt, Vienna, Austria
Image 16A Western Electric candlestick phone from the 1920s
Image 17Acoustic telephone ad, The Consolidated Telephone Co., Jersey City, New Jersey, 1886
Image 18Wooden wall telephone with a hand-cranked magneto generator
Image 19A 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.
Image 20A Northern Electric telephone, model number N415H, circa 1950 (probably)
Image 21Landline call blocking in use
Image 22Mailbox and public telephone in Haßfurt, Germany
Image 23Telephone booth box art outside the Tower of London, 2012
Image 24An Italian gettone telefonico (telephone token) from 1945, which was used in Italian phone booths
Image 25The AUTOVON was a worldwide American military telephone system that was built starting in 1963.
Image 26A cordless phone
Image 27An example of a K6, the most common red telephone box model, photographed in London in 2012
Image 28Emergency telephones, on the Paris-Bordeaux railway line, Saint-Saviol station, Vienne, France