- of
~1440 BC:
Moses receives the 10 commandments on two not-so-lightweight stone tablets.
1893:
George C. Blickensderfer introduces the first portable typewriter. It costs $35, contains about 2,500 parts, and comes in a wooden box.
1908:
A U.S. patent is issued to Nathan B. Stubblefield for a wireless telephone.
1934:
Popular Science magazine shows off the first spiral notebook. It can be used for taking notes on the go.
1940:
A team lead by inventor Dan Noble creates the first hand-held Walkie-Talkie; Motorola sales soar during World War II.
1957:
Soviet engineer Leonid Kupriyanovich creates a portable mobile phone. The 6.6 Lb rotary-dial device has 25-kilometer range and a 20-plus hour battery life.
1959:
S&T Telephone Company offers first commercial mobile phone service in the U.S. Marketed for vehicles in northwest Kansas, shut down three years later.
1960:
Mobile System A launches in Sweden, allows calls from a car to the public telephone network without an operator.
1971:
AT&T submits a proposal to the FCC to offer cellular phone service in the U.S. The proposal is accepted in 1982.
1973:
Dr. Martin Cooper of Motorola makes the first analog mobile phone call in the U.S.
1979:
NTT rolls out the first commercially available analog cellular network in Tokyo, Japan.
1981:
Osborne and Kaypro introduce portable PCs that weigh nearly 30 pounds and cost nearly $1,800.
1983:
Chicago-based Ameritech launches the first 1G network in the U.S. 2G arrives in 1991 and 3G in 2003.
1992:
Apple's Newton is the world's first personal digital assistant (PDA).
1996:
The Palm Pilot 1000 and 5000 become instant hits. With 128 KB and 512 KB of RAM, sync and store contacts, calendar data and other information.
1996:
Nokia introduces the 9000 Communicator, which marries a PDA and a mobile phone to create the first smartphone.
1999:
The 802.11 standard is passed and Wi-Fi is introduced commercially. Connecting portable devices to the Internet over the air becomes reality.
1999:
Research in Motion introduces the Blackberry, with two-way paging. By 2002, the device offers push e-mail, text messaging, Internet browsing, faxing, and a phone.
2007:
Apple introduces the iPhone: Web browsing, dedicated apps, geo-location capabilities and more in a highly integrated device.
2007:
Ultraportable netbooks hit the market and offer a low cost and lightweight way to stay connected.
2007:
Cloud computing emerges as a viable IT tool, organizations adopt it as a way to share and sync data to mobile devices.
2010:
Apple introduces the iPad tablet, sells more than 500,000 in a couple of months. Other vendors scurry to bring tablets to market.
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