Ever wondered how the mobile phone became the world’s most loved gadget? Here’s a time line on how it all happened.

1880 – Alexander Graham Bell and his cousin Charles Bell communicate over the Photophone, a device that transmits voice over a light beam.

1910 – Lars Magnus Ericsson (who gave his name to the Swedish mobile phone company) and his wife Hilda work the first car telephone. Access was not by radio. Using two long sticks, like fishing rods, they would hook up to telephone wires. Ericsson would then crank the dynamo handle of the telephone, which produced a signal to an operator in the nearest exchange.

1924 – Bell Laboratories in the US invents the first version of a mobile, two way, voice based radio telephone in 1924

1946 – In Saint Louis, Missouri, AT&T and Southwestern Bell introduced the first American commercial mobile radio-telephone service to private customers.

1968 – Engineers begin developing technologies to increase the capacity of mobile phones using cellular systems

1973 – Motorola demonstrates a design for the DynaTAC (Dynamic Adaptive Total AreaCoverage) portable radiotelephone. The world’s first commercial portable telephone uses a radio technology called cellular.

1977 – First trials of cellular phone system in Washington, D.C., and Baltimore, Maryland, in the United States. World’s first commercial mobile phone network begins in Bahrain a year later.

1981 – First European mobile phone network in Denmark. The UK got its first system in 1985.

1990s – First GSM networks (2G) set up in Europe.

1992 – First text message sent.

1999 – First WAP handsets and services launched.

2000 – Photo messaging launched in Japan. The auction of 3G frequencies across Europe leads to billion pound deals.

2001 – GPRS (General Packet Radio System) services launched in Europe. The introduction of these networks makes it possible for larger files such as images to be sent quickly by mobile phone handsets. First home controlling systems via GPRS become available

2002 – Nokia unveils the first European MMS (photo-messaging equipped camera phone, the 7650. T-Mobile is the first network to offer the service in the UK.

2003 – 3 (part of the Hutchison group) become the first operator to offer 3G services in the UK. Among the features it offers are; online games, videophones and Premiership football highlights streamed direct to handsets.

2004/5 – 3G services launched by the entire main in networks in the UK. Most offer video and music download services. Apple/Motorola and Sony Ericsson start to push the music phone, while the first phone offering live TV is delivered by Orange.

2006 - With 3G services widely available, home controlling systems such as the ability to control video recorders or connected cookers starts to be offered by the networks.

2010 – 4G services begin in Japan, and a year later in Europe. With download speeds up to 250 times faster than 3G, high quality video can be easily transferred. Almost every electrical device now features an IP address enabling it to be connected to the Internet and thereby controlled via mobile phones handsets.