"Fifty years with mobile phones: From novelty to no. 1 consumer product" by Olof Billstrom, Lars Cederquist, Magnus Ewerbring, Gunnar Sandegren and Jan Uddenfeldt

"This year marks fifty years since Ericsson introduced the world's first automatic mobile telephone system for a few hundred subscribers in Stockholm and Goteborg (Gothenburg), Sweden. The associated mobile units were colossal 40kg blocks of radio equipment designed for installation in the baggage compartment of a car.
 
The extraordinary success of mobile communications, from those early pioneering efforts to today's miniature telephones and advanced services, the result of global technical labors of the highest art, reads like a page from a storybook. From the outset, Ericsson has been a major player, driving many facets of development and helping to create the standards that prevail in the industry today.

The expertise Ericsson gained from its first systems, and a steady ambition to create an optimum, automatic network, laid the groundwork for a vision that has stood the test of time. Ericsson continues to forge ahead as a technical leader in the field of mobile communications: perhaps more so now than ever before thanks to high-speed packet access (HSPA), the turbo version of the 3G network."

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A figure from the Ericsson Review article illustrating the evolution of mobile handsets, size (weight) and talking time.

Ericsson and Ericsson Mobility World backgrounder
Ericsson supplies operators and service providers around the world with end-to-end solutions in mobile and broadband internet. In its commitment to deliver these solutions, Ericsson in 2001 invested in the Sony Ericsson joint venture together with Sony. Ericsson is also one of the shareholders in Symbian where Sony Ericsson is a license holder.

Ericsson Mobility World Developer Program takes advantage of its global reach through Ericsson Mobility World centers and Expert centers around the world, where content and applications play an increasingly important role in the end-to-end solutions for mobile and broadband internet. Application developers can find new opportunities through the collaboration between the Ericsson Mobility World Developer Program and Sony Ericsson Developer World.

From a technical perspective, developers can learn the difference between device-centric application development and mobile internet server-side application development, and how these interrelate. Business opportunities include learning different business models and how all players (vendors, phone manufacturers, operators and application developers) work together.

The Ericsson Mobility World Developer Program focuses on IMS and multimedia solutions. The Developer Program supports developers, content providers and partners, from idea to business, in the creation of user-friendly, traffic-revenue driven services that enrich communication between people.

More information:

• "Ericsson Review", Ericsson's telecommunications technology journal>>
• Visit Ericsson Mobility World website>>