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86-541: The Hush-A-Phone was a device designed to attach to the transmitter of a telephone to reduce noise pollution and increase privacy. Sold by the Hush-A-Phone company, the device was frequently described in its commercial advertisements as "a voice silencer designed for confidential conversation, clear transmission and office quiet. Not a permanent attachment. Slips right on and off the mouthpiece of any phone". Hush-A-Phone Corp. (originally Hush-A-Phone Sales Corp.)

172-474: A business school student. He was able to save enough money to attend the Spring 1935 semester at Cornell College, then returned to Collins Radio for the summer. In August 1935, Beranek had a chance encounter with a stranger whose car had developed a flat tire while passing through Mount Vernon. While helping the stranger (who turned out to be Glenn Browning ), he learned that the passing motorist had written

258-537: 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

344-467: A master antenna system in a new men's dormitory then under construction. He also continued to date his girlfriend Floss. Beranek graduated from Cornell College in summer 1936 with a Bachelor of Arts. He continued studies at Harvard University , where he received a doctorate in 1940. During World War II , Beranek managed Harvard's electro-acoustics laboratory, which designed communications and noise reduction systems for World War II aircraft, while at

430-479: A one-room schoolhouse in Tipton, Iowa . After his first year, he rode in a horse-drawn school bus on a two-hour trip to a somewhat larger school. In 1922 his family moved back to Solon, where he was soon skipped over third grade and moved directly into fourth grade classes. Around that time, a baby brother was born, named Lyle Edward Beranek. In 1924, Beranek's father brought home a battery-powered radio containing

516-514: A ringer or a visual indicator, to announce an incoming telephone call. Telephone calls are initiated most commonly with a keypad or dial, affixed to the telephone, to enter a telephone number , which is the address of the call recipient's telephone in the telecommunications system, but other methods existed in the early history of the telephone. The first telephones were directly connected to each other from one customer's office or residence to another customer's location. Being impractical beyond just

602-408: A speaking tube . In the U.S., a somewhat dated slang term refers to the telephone as "the horn," as in "I couldn't get him on the horn," or "I'll be off the horn in a moment." Early telephones were technically diverse. Some used a water microphone , some had a metal diaphragm that induced current in an electromagnet wound around a permanent magnet, and some were dynamic – their diaphragm vibrated

688-497: A coil of wire in the field of a permanent magnet or the coil vibrated the diaphragm. The sound-powered dynamic variants survived in small numbers through the 20th century in military and maritime applications, where its ability to create its own electrical power was crucial. Most, however, used the Edison/Berliner carbon transmitter , which was much louder than the other kinds, even though it required an induction coil which

774-422: A common battery exchange had a magneto hand-cranked generator to produce a high voltage alternating signal to ring the bells of other telephones on the line and to alert the operator. Some local farming communities that were not connected to the main networks set up barbed wire telephone lines that exploited the existing system of field fences to transmit the signal. In the 1890s a new smaller style of telephone

860-602: A dance band, but falling income forced him to consider dropping down to a single class (in mathematics) during the next academic year. In August 1933, Beranek was invited to accompany the family of a local dentist to the Century of Progress World's Fair in Chicago . This was his first trip to a big city and it was a revelation. He attended concert performances by the Chicago Symphony and Detroit Symphony daily,

946-485: A few customers, these systems were quickly replaced by manually operated centrally located switchboards . These exchanges were soon connected together, eventually forming an automated, worldwide public switched telephone network . For greater mobility, various radio systems were developed in the mid-20th century for transmission between mobile stations on ships and in automobiles. Hand-held mobile phones were introduced for personal service starting in 1973. In later decades,

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1032-486: A home and a shop. Users who wanted the ability to speak to several different locations would need to obtain and set up three or four pairs of telephones. Western Union , already using telegraph exchanges, quickly extended the principle to its telephones in New York City and San Francisco , and Bell was not slow in appreciating the potential. Signalling began in an appropriately primitive manner. The user alerted

1118-461: A modest fee by recording students before and after taking a speech training class. This was his first hands-on experience with the developing science of acoustics . By early 1934 he was forced to drop out of college and work full-time to earn more tuition money. He found a position at the fledgling Collins Radio Company of Cedar Rapids, Iowa , where he studied German in his spare time. While there, he also met and dated Florence "Floss" Martin,

1204-586: A new industry comprising many VoIP companies that offer services to consumers and businesses . The reported global VoIP market in October 2021 was $ 85.2 billion with a projection of $ 102.5 billion by 2026. IP telephony uses high-bandwidth Internet connections and specialized customer premises equipment to transmit telephone calls via the Internet, or any modern private data network. The customer equipment may be an analog telephone adapter (ATA) which translates

1290-400: A numeric keypad for dialing, and a display for caller ID . In addition, answering machine function may be built in. The cordless handset contains a rechargeable battery , which the base station recharges when the handset rests in its cradle. Muilt-handset systems generally also have additional charging stands. A cordless telephone typically requires a constant electricity supply to power

1376-591: A satellite phone is that it can be used in such regions where local terrestrial communication infrastructures, such as landline and cellular networks, are not available. Satellite phones are popular on expeditions into remote locations, hunting, fishing, maritime sector, humanitarian missions, business trips, and mining in hard-to-reach areas, where there is no reliable cellular service. Satellite telephones rarely get disrupted by natural disasters on Earth or human actions such as war, so they have proven to be dependable communication tools in emergency situations, when

1462-431: A separate enclosure, called the subscriber set. The dial switch in the base interrupted the line current by repeatedly but very briefly disconnecting the line one to ten times for each digit, and the hook switch (in the center of the circuit diagram) disconnected the line and the transmitter battery while the handset was on the cradle. In the 1930s, telephone sets were developed that combined the bell and induction coil with

1548-424: A single vacuum tube . His eldest son became fascinated with both the technology and the musical aspects of radio. In the harsh winter of January 1926, Beranek's mother died suddenly, leaving his father with huge debts and forcing his father to sell the farm within two months. In junior high school Beranek earned his first independent money by selling silk stockings and fabric. Beranek's father remarried and moved

1634-499: A special celebration at Boston Symphony Hall . The Leo and Gabriella Beranek Scholarship in Architectural Acoustics and Noise Control was established in 2016 to support graduate study in the fields of architectural acoustics and noise control. Beranek died on October 10, 2016, at the age of 102. His last paper, "Concert hall acoustics: Recent findings", had been published earlier that year. Beranek appeared on

1720-481: A technical paper on radio technology. When Beranek mentioned plans for graduate school, Browning encouraged him to apply to Harvard University , a possibility he had regarded as financially out of reach. Beranek was very busy in his final year at Cornell, running a radio repair and sales business and then transitioning to house wiring for electricity, while carrying a full course load. He managed three major wiring jobs for Cornell, including designing and installing

1806-548: A typing class (rarely studied by boys) where he was the top performer. Beranek applied for and was accepted at nearby Cornell College in Mount Vernon, Iowa . In the aftermath of the Wall Street Crash of 1929 , money was tight, but he had managed to save $ 500. Worried about the shaky financial situation, he went to his bank and managed to withdraw $ 400 to pay his college tuition in advance. The bank failed

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1892-500: A victory for Hush-A-Phone. In finding that AT&T did not have the right to restrict use of the Hush-A-Phone, the courts established a precedent that would eventually lead to the breakup of AT&T's monopoly . Beranek joined the staff at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology as professor of communications engineering from 1947 to 1958. In 1948, he helped found Bolt, Beranek and Newman (BBN), serving as

1978-514: A wired interface, such as USB or Lightning connectors. Smartphones, being able to run apps , have vastly expanded functionality compared to previous mobile phones. Having internet access and built in cameras, smartphones have made video calling readily accessible via IP connections. Smartphones also have access to a large number of web services and web apps, giving them functionality similar to traditional computers, although smartphones are often limited by their relatively small screen size and

2064-489: Is derived from the Greek : τῆλε , tēle , "far" and φωνή, phōnē , "voice", together meaning "distant voice". Credit for the invention of the electric telephone is frequently disputed. As with other influential inventions such as radio , television , the light bulb , and the computer , several inventors pioneered experimental work on voice transmission over a wire and improved on each other's ideas. New controversies over

2150-544: Is hard to understand why the FCC should have the power to forbid my use of the Hush-A-Phone if I choose to accept the deterioration in quality for the sake of increased privacy". On March 23, 1951, Hush-A-Phone and Harry C. Tuttle submitted filings to the FCC reporting scientific tests proving that the Hush-A-Phone "actually causes a net increase in transmission efficiency of the telephone circuit" and that AT&T and affiliates were "public utility monopolies unlawfully interfering with

2236-428: Is limited, usually to within the same building or within a short distance from the base station. Base stations include a radio transceiver which enables full-duplex, outgoing and incoming signals and speech with the handsets. The base station often includes a microphone, audio amplifier , and a loudspeaker to enable hands-free speakerphone conversations, without needing to use a handset. The base station may also have

2322-436: Is not an unjust and unreasonable practice upon the part of the defendants to prohibit its use in connection with their telephone services." While the commission agreed that the Hush-A-Phone did provide protection against eavesdroppers and noise from telephone circuits, "the device sometimes results in loss of voice intelligibility and also has an adverse affect [sic] on voice recognition and naturalness." The FCC's 1955 decision

2408-663: The Earth instead of terrestrial cell sites , as cellphones do. Therefore, they can work in most geographic locations on the Earth's surface, as long as open sky and the line-of-sight between the phone and the satellite is provided. Depending on the architecture of a particular system, coverage may include the entire Earth or only specific regions. Satellite phones provide similar functionality to terrestrial mobile telephones; voice calling , text messaging , and low-bandwidth Internet access are supported through most systems. The advantage of

2494-568: The Federal Communications Commission (FCC), asking them to order the phone company to authorize use of the device. The hearing occurred in 1950, but the original hearing examiner involved died, delaying the initial recommendation. Some time between May 3 and 12, 1949, the company moved a few doors down, to 65 Madison Ave., and occasionally advertisements exceeded the four-line standard, in Oct 1949 offering free tickets to

2580-612: The Internet , giving rise to the field of Internet Protocol (IP) telephony, also known as voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP). VoIP has proven to be a disruptive technology that is rapidly replacing traditional telephone network infrastructure. By January 2005, up to 10% of telephone subscribers in Japan and South Korea had switched to this digital telephone service. A January 2005 Newsweek article suggested that Internet telephony may be "the next big thing." The technology has spawned

2666-454: The "Business Show". In February 1951, the FCC decided Hush-A-Phone's complaint should be dismissed, but held the case open for the next seven years, permitting further pleadings and reconsideration. A letter to the editor of The Washington Post by John P. Roberts, a communications engineer, described the FCC decision "an invasion of the rights of the individual", adding "even if this quality deterioration had been satisfactorily demonstrated, it

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2752-401: The 1920s, Beranek used his acoustical expertise to develop an improved version of the device. AT&T threatened Hush-A-Phone users with termination of their telephone service. At the time, AT&T maintained a monopoly on American telephone service and telephones were leased from AT&T, rather than owned by customers. The resulting legal case, Hush-A-Phone v. United States , resulted in

2838-658: The 1990s, mobile phones have gained other features which are not directly related to their primary function as telephones. These include text messaging, calendars, alarm clocks, personal schedulers, cameras, music players, games and later, internet access and smartphone functionality. Nearly all mobile phones have the ability to send text messages to other users via the SMS (Short Message Service) protocol. The multimedia messaging service (MMS) protocol enables users to send and receive multimedia content, such as photos, audio files and video files. As their functionality has increased over

2924-591: The Hush-A-Phone and similar devices. Advertisements proudly noted "Use of the Hush-A-Phone on telephone is permitted by Federal Appellate Court ruling" beginning in March 1957, and by July were stating "Bell System Approves Use of Hush-A-Phone by tariffs Effective May 16, 1957". Hush-A-Phone was still featured in advertisements by the company during the early 1960s in The New York Times , but their last direct ad seems to have been on March 13, 1962, after which

3010-724: The Hush-A-Phone company was first mentioned in The New York Times in a 1922 classified advertisement for a "typist-dictaphone operator". At this time, Hush-A-Phone was located in New York's Flatiron District , at 41 Union Square. Only a month later, the company advertised for a salesman, noting that 500 Hush-A-Phones were sold in one week at a business show. The company was still seeking a salesman in April 1922, but stopped posting dedicated sales openings until January 1923, this time noting several thousand Hush-A-Phones had already sold in New York. The company's first classified advertisement for

3096-545: The Hush-A-Phone retained clarity of sound. 125,796 Hush-A-Phone sets were sold between 1922 and 1949. During the 1940s, telephone service was seen as a " natural monopoly ", and AT&T was the sole provider of all aspects of telephone service in much of the U.S., including telephone equipment. In the late 1940s, phone company repairmen began warning customers that using devices like the Hush-A-Phone could result in termination of phone service. On December 22, 1948, Hush-A-Phone and Harry C. Tuttle, its president, protested to

3182-493: The advent of smartphones, mobile phone manufacturers have also included consumer electronics companies, such as Apple , Samsung and Xiaomi . As of 2022, most mobile phones are smartphones, being a combination of a mobile phone and a personal computing device in the same unit. Most smartphones are primarily operated using a graphical user interface and a touch screen. Many phones have a secondary voice user interface, such as Siri on Apple iPhones , which can operate many of

3268-451: The analog cellular system evolved into digital networks with greater capability and lower cost. Convergence in communication services has provided a broad spectrum of capabilities in cell phones, including mobile computing, giving rise to the smartphone , the dominant type of telephone in the world today. Before the development of the electric telephone, the term telephone was applied to other inventions, and not all early researchers of

3354-401: The assistance of a telephone operator. What turned out to be the most popular and longest-lasting physical style of telephone was introduced in the early 20th century, including Bell's 202-type desk set. A carbon granule transmitter and electromagnetic receiver were united in a single molded plastic handle, which when not in use was secured in a cradle in the base unit. The circuit diagram of

3440-526: The base station and charger units by means of a DC transformer which plugs into a wall AC power outlet. A mobile phone or cellphone or hand phone is a handheld telephone which connects via radio transmissions to a cellular telephone network . The cellular network consists of a network of ground based transmitter/receiver stations with antennas – which are usually located on towers or on buildings – and infrastructure connecting to land-based telephone lines. Analog cellular networks first appeared in 1979, with

3526-404: The bell, induction coil, battery and magneto were in a separate bell box or " ringer box ". In phones connected to common battery exchanges, the ringer box was installed under a desk, or other out-of-the-way place, since it did not need a battery or magneto. Cradle designs were also used at this time, having a handle with the receiver and transmitter attached, now called a handset , separate from

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3612-409: The capacity, quality, and cost of the network. Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) was launched in the 1980's, providing businesses and consumers with access to digital telephony services such as data, voice, video , and fax services. The development of digital data communications methods made it possible to digitize voice and transmit it as real-time data across computer networks and

3698-500: The company's name changed from Hush-A-Phone Sales Corp., Manhattan, to Hush-A-Phone Corp. Some time between May 30, 1923, and October 18, 1923, Hush-A-Phone moved halfway back toward its original Union Square location, to 10 Madison Avenue, and by May 1924, the company had started suggesting that potential customers outside of New York wanting a demonstration would instead be sent a booklet. The Wall Street Crash of 1929 brought trouble to many companies. On October 20, 1929, Hush-A-Phone

3784-456: The company's president from 1952 to 1969. He continued to serve as chief scientist of BBN through 1971, as he led Boston Broadcasters, Inc. which (after a court battle) took control of television station WCVB-TV . It has been remarked that if one selects his own components, builds his own enclosure, and is convinced he has made a wise choice of design, then his own loudspeaker sounds better to him than does anyone else's loudspeaker. In this case,

3870-660: The company's public appearances after the show, appearing between ads for cigars and baldness cures, until 1942, when their product appeared in photographs in a few ads run by houseware store Lewis & Conger. In 1944 the company noted "Models for E-1 and F-1 Handset Phone; Pedestal Phone; Switchboard and Dictating Machines". In 1945, Hush-A-Phone ads began appearing in The Washington Post , and Hush-A-Phone consulted with acoustics expert Leo Beranek at MIT , who began work to design an improved silencer. Beranek would later bring in J. C. R. Licklider to help demonstrate

3956-470: The cradle base that housed the magneto crank and other parts. They were larger than the "candlestick" and more popular. Disadvantages of single-wire operation such as crosstalk and hum from nearby AC power wires had already led to the use of twisted pairs and, for long-distance telephones, four-wire circuits . Users at the beginning of the 20th century did not place long-distance calls from their own telephones but made an appointment and were connected with

4042-532: The desk set, obviating a separate ringer box. The rotary dial becoming commonplace in the 1930s in many areas enabled customer-dialed service, but some magneto systems remained even into the 1960s. After World War II, the telephone networks saw rapid expansion and more efficient telephone sets, such as the model 500 telephone in the United States, were developed that permitted larger local networks centered around central offices. A breakthrough new technology

4128-420: The device's functions, as well as enabling users to use spoken commands to interact with the internet. Typically alphanumeric text input is accomplished via an on-screen virtual keyboard, although some smartphones have a small physical keyboard. Smartphones offer the ability to access internet data through the cellular network and via wi-fi, and usually allow direct connectivity to other devices via Bluetooth or

4214-402: The earliest Strowger switch automatic exchanges had seven wires, one for the knife switch , one for each telegraph key , one for the bell, one for the push-button and two for speaking. Large wall telephones in the early 20th century usually incorporated the bell, and separate bell boxes for desk phones dwindled away in the middle of the century. Rural and other telephones that were not on

4300-457: The electrical device used the term. Perhaps the earliest use of the word for a communications system was the telephon created by Gottfried Huth in 1796. Huth proposed an alternative to the optical telegraph of Claude Chappe in which the operators in the signaling towers would shout to each other by means of what he called "speaking tubes", but would now be called giant megaphones . A communication device for sailing vessels, called telephone ,

4386-460: The family to the nearby town of Mount Vernon, Iowa , where he became co-owner of a hardware store . At his father's suggestion, Beranek learned radio repair via a correspondence course , and apprenticed to an older repairman. The younger Beranek quickly learned the trade, and was soon able to buy a Model T automobile. He also earned some spare cash by playing trap drums in a 6-person dance band. He continued to excel in his studies, including

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4472-524: The first digital cellular networks appearing in the early 1990s. Mobile phones require a SIM card to be inserted into the phone. The SIM card is a small PVC card containing a small integrated circuit which stores the user's international mobile subscriber identity (IMSI) number and its related key, which are used to identify and authenticate subscribers to the cellular network. Mobile phones generally incorporate an LCD or OLED display, with some types, such as smartphones, having touch screens. Since

4558-418: The frequency response of the loudspeaker seems to play only a minor part in forming a person's opinion. Beranek's 1954 book, Acoustics , is considered the classic textbook in this field; it was revised in 1986. In 2012, at the age of 98, he collaborated with Tim Mellow to produce an updated and extended revision, published under the new title Acoustics: Sound Fields and Transducers . His famous humorous adage

4644-534: The holidays), Hush-A-Phone was absent from the Times until July 1934, when a four-line, text-only advertisement appeared. Advertisements in 1936 noted a new model "for French phone" was out, and in October 1937 the Hush-A-Phone company was exhibiting again, this time showing a 200-foot elastic telephone wire at the National Business Show. However, the four-line classified advertisements continued to be

4730-479: The issue still arise from time to time. Charles Bourseul , Antonio Meucci , Johann Philipp Reis , Alexander Graham Bell , and Elisha Gray , amongst others, have all been credited with the invention of the telephone. Alexander Graham Bell was the first to be awarded a patent for the electric telephone by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) in March 1876. Before Bell's patent,

4816-582: The local communications system can be compromised. Leo Beranek Beranek was born in 1914, in Solon, Iowa . His father Edward Fred Beranek was a farmer whose ancestors came from Bohemia (in what is now the Czech Republic ) and his mother Beatrice Stahle, previously a schoolteacher, had become a farmwife. Edward's paternal grandparents Josef Beránek and Anna Šimandlová were from Nynice and Jarov respectively. Beranek first started school in

4902-412: The model 202 shows the direct connection of the transmitter to the line, while the receiver was inductively coupled. In local battery configurations, when the local loop was too long to provide sufficient current from the exchange, the transmitter was powered by a local battery and inductively coupled, while the receiver was included in the local loop. The coupling transformer and the ringer were mounted in

4988-460: The natural and inherent rights of a subscriber". FCC official Jack Werner's suggestion was that the telephone company should suspend service to any consumer failing to comply with the regulation prohibiting foreign attachments. The FCC's final decision was issued on December 23, 1955, and stated "The unrestricted use of the 'Hush-A-Phone' could result in a general deterioration of the quality of interstate and foreign telephone service. Accordingly, it

5074-475: The next day, and Beranek lost the remaining $ 100. During freshman year at college, Beranek was told by his father that he could not expect any family money and that he was on his own. In the summers of 1932 and 1933, Beranek worked as a field hand on local farms, to earn tuition money and to improve his physical condition. Beranek moved into two rooms above a bakery, shared with three other students to save money. He also continued to repair radios and played in

5160-471: The other end, or the exchange operator , by whistling into the transmitter. Exchange operation soon resulted in telephones being equipped with a bell in a ringer box , first operated over a second wire, and later over the same wire, but with a condenser ( capacitor ) in series with the bell coil to allow the AC ringer signal through while still blocking DC (keeping the phone " on hook "). Telephones connected to

5246-452: The phone company, the final legal proceedings involving the Hush-A-Phone turned out to be relevant to the eventual breakup of the Bell system . Advertisements for the Hush-A-Phone not only argued for its importance as an aid to privacy, but also noted the device improved clarity of sound, which AT&T would directly argue against. The manufacture of Hush-A-Phones began in 1921, although

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5332-514: The product appeared June 7, 1922, pricing the product at $ 10 and offering a free 5-day trial offer. Between the end of June 1922 and January 16, 1923, the company moved eleven blocks closer to the Empire State Building, to 1182 Broadway, and the "free trial" changed to "free demonstration offer". A capital increase to the "Hush-A-Phone Sales Corp." company was announced on December 22, 1922, from $ 250,000 to $ 500,000, and in March 1923,

5418-408: The product was featured in catalog-type ads posted by stationer's store Goldsmith Brothers through 1970. In 1972, the last classified ad for Hush-A-Phone was listed by Harrison-Hoge Industries, Inc. for $ 13.95 in black and $ 15.95 in green, ivory, or beige. Telephone A telephone , colloquially referred to as a phone , is a telecommunications device that permits two or more users to conduct

5504-483: The same time developing other military technologies. During this time he built the first anechoic chamber , an extremely quiet room for studying noise effects which later would inspire John Cage 's philosophy of silence. In 1945, Beranek became involved with a small company called Hush-A-Phone , which marketed a cup that fit over the mouthpiece of a telephone receiver in order to prevent the person speaking from being overheard. Although Hush-A-Phone had been around since

5590-426: The service location to the emergency services when an emergency telephone number is called. A cordless telephone or portable telephone consists of a base station unit and one or more portable cordless handsets . The base station connects to a telephone line, or provides service by voice over IP (VOIP). The handset communicates with the base station via radio frequency signals. A handset's operational range

5676-453: The signals of a conventional analog telephone; an IP Phone , a dedicated standalone device; or a computer softphone application, utilizing the microphone and headset devices of a personal computer or smartphone. While traditional analog telephones are typically powered from the central office through the telephone line, digital telephones require a local power supply. Internet-based digital service also requires special provisions to provide

5762-510: The size of their keyboards. Typically, smartphones feature such tools as cameras, media players, web browsers, email clients, interactive maps, satellite navigation and a variety of sensors, such as a compass , accelerometers and GPS receivers . In addition to voice calls, smartphone users commonly communicate using a wide variety of messaging formats, including SMS, MMS, email, and various proprietary messaging services, such as iMessage and various social media platforms. In 2002, only 10% of

5848-458: The telephone transmitted sound in a way that was similar to the telegraph. This method used vibrations and circuits to send electrical pulses, but was missing key features. Bell found that this method produced a sound through intermittent currents, but in order for the telephone to work a fluctuating current reproduced sounds the best. The fluctuating currents became the basis for the working telephone, creating Bell's patent. That first patent by Bell

5934-438: The user alternately listening and speaking (or rather, shouting) into the same hole. Sometimes the instruments were operated in pairs at each end, making conversation more convenient but also more expensive. At first, the benefits of a telephone exchange were not exploited. Instead, telephones were leased in pairs to a subscriber , who had to arrange for a telegraph contractor to construct a line between them, for example, between

6020-522: The voice at a distant location. The receiver and transmitter are usually built into a handset which is held up to the ear and mouth during conversation. The transmitter converts the sound waves to electrical signals which are sent through the telecommunications system to the receiving telephone, which converts the signals into audible sound in the receiver or sometimes a loudspeaker . Telephones permit transmission in both directions simultaneously. Most telephones also contain an alerting feature, such as

6106-456: The world's population used mobile phones and by 2005 that percentage had risen to 46%. By the end of 2009, there were a total of nearly 6 billion mobile and fixed-line telephone subscribers worldwide. This included 1.26 billion fixed-line subscribers and 4.6 billion mobile subscribers. A satellite telephone, or satphone, is a type of mobile phone that connects to other phones or the telephone network by radio link through satellites orbiting

6192-517: The years, many types of mobile phone, notably smartphones, require an operating system to run. Popular mobile phone operating systems in the past have included Symbian , Palm OS , BlackBerry OS and mobile phone versions of Windows . As of 2022, the most used operating systems are Google's Android and Apple's iOS . Before the era of smartphones, mobile phones were generally manufactured by companies specializing in telecommunications equipment, such as Nokia , Motorola , and Ericsson . Since

6278-511: Was "Beranek's Law", about the psychological effect of somebody's own design in comparison to other designs. Beranek's 1962 book, Music, Acoustics, and Architecture , developed from his analysis of 55 concert halls throughout the world, also became a classic; the 2004 edition of the text expanded the study to 100 halls. Beranek participated in the design of numerous concert halls and opera houses , and traveled worldwide to conduct research and enjoy musical performances. From 1983 to 1986, Beranek

6364-533: Was a company founded in New York in 1921 or 1922 to market the Hush-a-Phone. The device was the topic of a landmark court case, Hush-A-Phone v. United States . The Hush-A-Phone was regularly referred to in telecommunications policy analysis in the 1980s, attracting renewed interest in the 2000s as a symbol of a small company fighting against a monopoly , especially in the context of net neutrality . Indeed, because Hush-A-Phone eventually won its case against

6450-588: Was advertised along with several other companies on the first page of The New York Times as part of the "National Business Show" being held in Grand Central Palace from October 21 to 24. The company was showing its handset model for the first time. The ad noted that Mr. H. C. Tuttle, President of the Hush-A-Phone Corporation, had just returned from a European tour of ten countries where the product would be distributed. The product

6536-410: Was an impedance matching transformer to make it compatible with the impedance of the line. The Edison patents kept the Bell monopoly viable into the 20th century, by which time the network was more important than the instrument. Early telephones were locally powered, using either a dynamic transmitter or by the powering of a transmitter with a local battery. One of the jobs of outside plant personnel

6622-1056: Was chairman of the board of the Boston Symphony Orchestra , where he remained a Life Trustee. The Beranek Room at the Symphony Hall is named after him. He also served on the MIT Council for the Arts , "an international volunteer group of alumni and friends established to support the arts at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology". In 2008 he published Riding the Waves ;: A Life in Sound, Science, and Industry , an autobiography about his lengthy career and research in sound and music. He turned 100 in September 2014, an occasion marked by

6708-484: Was dazzled by the displays of industrial products and technology, and fascinated by the international pavilions. He lived on a shoestring, spending a total of $ 12 for four days, but felt compelled to make a return trip the following summer. In college, Beranek became friends with a fellow student who had an amateur radio setup, inspiring him to study Morse Code and to earn his own amateur radio license . In fall of 1933, he bought an early disc sound recorder to earn

6794-440: Was described as being "beautiful", made of bakelite, and "embellished with a work of art in bas-relief. It appears as a handsome desk clock, nine inches high, concealing its function as a Hush-A-Phone". Some time between October 1927 and December 1929, Hush-A-Phone moved from its Madison Avenue location to about seven blocks southwest to 43 W. 16th Street. Although one more advertisement appeared in 1929 (December 8, just in time for

6880-436: Was introduced, packaged in three parts. The transmitter stood on a stand, known as a " candlestick " for its shape. When not in use, the receiver hung on a hook with a switch in it, known as a "switchhook". Previous telephones required the user to operate a separate switch to connect either the voice or the bell. With the new kind, the user was less likely to leave the phone "off the hook". In phones connected to magneto exchanges,

6966-539: Was invented by Captain John Taylor in 1844. This instrument used four air horns to communicate with vessels in foggy weather. Johann Philipp Reis used the term in reference to his invention, commonly known as the Reis telephone , in c. 1860. His device appears to be the first device based on the conversion of sound into electrical impulses. The term telephone was adopted into the vocabulary of many languages. It

7052-457: Was rejected by the U.S. Court of Appeals on November 8, 1956, in the landmark case Hush-A-Phone v. United States , with the decision stating it was an "unwarranted interference with the telephone subscriber's right reasonably to use his telephone in ways which are privately beneficial without becoming publicly detrimental". The FCC followed up on February 6, 1957 to officially direct AT&T and Bell System subsidiaries to permit subscribers to use

7138-499: Was the master patent of the telephone, from which other patents for electric telephone devices and features flowed. In 1876, shortly after Bell's patent application, Hungarian engineer Tivadar Puskás proposed the telephone switch, which allowed for the formation of telephone exchanges , and eventually networks. In the United Kingdom, the blower is used as a slang term for a telephone. The term came from navy slang for

7224-426: 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 . The essential elements of a telephone are a microphone ( transmitter ) to speak into and an earphone ( receiver ) which reproduces

7310-591: Was the introduction of Touch-Tone signaling using push-button telephones by American Telephone & Telegraph Company (AT&T) in 1963. The invention of the transistor in 1947 dramatically changed the technology used in telephone systems and in the long-distance transmission networks, over the next several decades. With the development of stored program control and MOS integrated circuits for electronic switching systems , and new transmission technologies such as pulse-code modulation (PCM), telephony gradually evolved towards digital telephony , which improved

7396-423: Was to visit each telephone periodically to inspect the battery. During the 20th century, telephones powered from the telephone exchange over the same wires that carried the voice signals became common. Early telephones used a single wire for the subscriber's line, with ground return used to complete the circuit (as used in telegraphs ). The earliest dynamic telephones also had only one port opening for sound, with

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