<P> The history of mobile phones covers mobile communication devices that connect wirelessly to the public switched telephone network . </P> <P> While the transmission of speech by radio has a long history, the first models that were wireless, mobile, and also capable of connecting to the standard telephone network are much more recent . The first such devices were barely portable compared to today's compact hand - held devices, and their use was clumsy . </P> <P> Along with the process of developing a more portable technology, and a better interconnections system, drastic changes have taken place in both the networking of wireless communication and the prevalence of its use, with smartphones becoming common globally and a growing proportion of Internet access now done via mobile broadband . </P> <P> Before the devices existed that are now referred to as mobile phones or cell phones, there were some precursors . In 1908, a Professor Albert Jahnke and the Oakland Transcontinental Aerial Telephone and Power Company claimed to have developed a wireless telephone . They were accused of fraud and the charge was then dropped, but they do not seem to have proceeded with production . Beginning in 1918, the German railroad system tested wireless telephony on military trains between Berlin and Zossen . In 1924, public trials started with telephone connection on trains between Berlin and Hamburg . In 1925, the company Zugtelephonie A.G. was founded to supply train telephony equipment and, in 1926, telephone service in trains of the Deutsche Reichsbahn and the German mail service on the route between Hamburg and Berlin was approved and offered to first - class travelers . </P>

When did cell phones become popular in the united states