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- In full:
- cellular telephone
- Key People:
- Steve Jobs
- Martin Cooper
- On the Web:
- Lifewire - Cellphones vs. Smartphones (Oct. 17, 2026)
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Cell phone in use, c. 2006.
Cell phones are now more commonly referred to as smartphones, as most models offer Internet connectivity.
cell phone
communications
Also known as: cellular phone, cellular telephone, mobile cellular phone, mobile phone(Show More)
cell phone, wireless telephone that permits telecommunication within a defined area that may include hundreds of square miles, using radio waves in the 800β900 megahertz (MHz) band.
To implement a cell-phone system, a geographic area is broken into smaller areas, or cells, usually mapped as uniform hexagrams but in fact overlapping and irregularly shaped.
Each cell is equipped with a low-powered radio transmitter and receiver that permit propagation of signals between cell-phone users.
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Electronics & Gadgets Quiz
See also mobile telephone and smartphone.
The Editors of Encyclopaedia BritannicaThis article was most recently revised and updated by The Editors of ProCon.
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