[telecom] 20 years of GSM digital mobile phones

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By Caleb Cox

Twenty years ago today, on 9 November 1992, Nokia launched the world's first commercially available GSM digital mobile phone - the Nokia 1011 - strengthening consumer interest in the world of mobile connectivity. The candybar device - which weighed a whopping 475g and could sustain a conversation for no more than 90 minutes - also introduced text messaging, viewable on the handset's two-line display.

Those that rushed off to buy one were blissfully unaware of how much their handsets would evolve over the next two decades. The notion that a phone could become the central hub of their lives would have been considered outlandish. Here then are of the of the most significant milestones reached in the digital mobile era.

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