A cell phone is an electronic device that facilitates two ways communication over a cellular network. The cellular network itself is composed of stations known as cell sites. Unlike a cordless phone which gets its functionality from a landline base, a cellular phone can be used independently and remotely. A cell phone is whether a cricket android, iPhone or blackberry, can also be referred to as a mobile phone.
Calls can be made and received with cell phones over the public telephone network which includes both cell phones and landline phones. Cell phones get their connectivity from a cellular network which is composed of companies that provide services for cell phone users. A process of handoff or handover makes telephone calls between cell phones and all other types of phones seamless even when the cell phone user is moving around.
Dr. Martin Cooper of Motorola was the first person to demonstrate the use of a cell phone back in 1973. The phone weighed as much as 4.4 pounds. It was Motorola that continued to work on the concept of the cell phone and produced the first cell phone that was available for the commercial market in 1983. By the year 1990, subscriptions to cellular phones numbered 12.4 million people worldwide. The year 2009 saw the number of people with subscriptions to cellular phones rising to almost 4.6 billion, which is almost 400 times the number of people with cell phones in 1990.Cell phones can have many other features in addition to ability make telephone calls.
Today, these features can include electronic mail, text message communication, internet access, contacts and calendar maintenance, a camera, MP3 player, GPS, and other assorted applications. A cell phone with just the primary feature of making phone calls is often called a feature phone whereas a cell phone with additional computing capabilities is known as a smartphone.