Car phone
Encyclopedia
Mobile phone
A mobile phone is a device which can make and receive telephone calls over a radio link whilst moving around a wide geographic area. It does so by connecting to a cellular network provided by a mobile network operator...
device specifically designed for and fitted into an automobile
Automobile
An automobile, autocar, motor car or car is a wheeled motor vehicle used for transporting passengers, which also carries its own engine or motor...
.
In the late 1970s and 1980s, the car phone was more popular than the regular mobile phone. However, since the mobile phone boom in the 1990s, when mobile phones became much more affordable, the car phone has suffered, as most people carry their mobile phone around with them, and the availability of hands free kits installed into many cars allow the driver to talk and listen to a call while driving.
In Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
, car phone service was first available in 1971 on the zero-generation ARP
Autoradiopuhelin
ARP was the first commercially operated public mobile phone network in Finland. The technology is zero-generation , since although it had cells, moving between them was not seamless. The network was proposed in 1968 and building began in 1969. It was launched in 1971, and reached 100% geographic...
(Autoradiopuhelin, or Car Radiophone) service. This was succeeded in 1982 by the 1G system NMT
Nordic Mobile Telephone
NMT is the first fully automatic cellular phone system...
(Nordic Mobile Telephone), used across Scandinavia and in other often remote areas.
In North America, car phone
typically used the Mobile Telephone Service
Mobile Telephone Service
The Mobile Telephone Service is a pre-cellular VHF radio system that links to the Public Switched Telephone Network . MTS was the radiotelephone equivalent of land dial phone service. , only rural and wilderness areas were still using the system....
(MTS), which was first used in St. Louis, or Improved Mobile Telephone Service
Improved Mobile Telephone Service
The Improved Mobile Telephone Service is a "0G" pre-cellular VHF/UHF radio system that links to the PSTN. IMTS was the radiotelephone equivalent of land dial phone service...
(IMTS) before giving way to analog cellular service (AMPS
Advanced Mobile Phone System
Advanced Mobile Phone System was an analog mobile phone system standard developed by Bell Labs, and officially introduced in the Americas in 1983, Israel in 1986, and Australia in 1987. It was the primary analog mobile phone system in North America through the 1980s and into the 2000s...
) in 1984. AMPS technology was discontinued in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
in 2008.
Since a traditional car phone uses a high-power transmitter and external antenna, it is ideal for rural or undeveloped areas where mobile handsets may not work well or at all. However, due to current US Federal Communications Commission
Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, created, Congressional statute , and with the majority of its commissioners appointed by the current President. The FCC works towards six goals in the areas of broadband, competition, the spectrum, the...
regulations, carriers must pay penalties for activating any equipment that is not an E911 compliant device, such as analog.
Recent trends
There were a few car phones available , including the Nokia 810 and more recently the MotorolaMotorola
Motorola, Inc. was an American multinational telecommunications company based in Schaumburg, Illinois, which was eventually divided into two independent public companies, Motorola Mobility and Motorola Solutions on January 4, 2011, after losing $4.3 billion from 2007 to 2009...
VC6096 for use with GSM networks and a car phone made by NAL Research for the Iridium satellite network. Motorola provides US customers with the m800 and m900 car phones, for use with CDMA and GSM networks respectively. Modern car phones have colour screens and support high speed data connections as well as the ability to access SIM cards stored in other phones via Bluetooth
Bluetooth
Bluetooth is a proprietary open wireless technology standard for exchanging data over short distances from fixed and mobile devices, creating personal area networks with high levels of security...
.
Recently, some automobiles feature integrated, "hands-free" systems to utilize a consumer's cellular phone, via a Bluetooth
Bluetooth
Bluetooth is a proprietary open wireless technology standard for exchanging data over short distances from fixed and mobile devices, creating personal area networks with high levels of security...
wireless link or use an integrated transceiver. The systems use an internally mounted microphone, and the car's audio system, and may feature voice activation and control.
See also
- The Carphone WarehouseThe Carphone WarehouseCarphone Warehouse Group PLC , known as The Carphone Warehouse, is Europe's largest independent mobile phone retailer, with over 1,700 stores across Europe. It is based in the United Kingdom and is a 50% subsidiary of Best Buy...
- Teleaid, automatic emergency callEmergency CallEmergency Call is a British film released in 1952 by Nettlefold Films. The film was directed by Lewis Gilbert and stars Jack Warner in a familiar role playing a policeman, Anthony Steel, Joy Shelton and Sid James as a dubious boxing promoter....
system - OnStarOnStarOnStar Corporation is a subsidiary of General Motors that provides subscription-based communications, in-vehicle security, hands free calling, turn-by-turn navigation, and remote diagnostics systems throughout the United States, Canada and China. A similar service is known as ChevyStar in Latin...
, emergency notification system