cell phone

A mobile telephone that uses wireless technology, it is considered indispensable. Also known as a smartphone (albeit they are different) or a handy (short for handheld), many cell phones are capable of receiving text-based messages (such as texting, images, and e-mail) in addition to incoming calls. A friend may say to you, "Call me on my cell." Note: A pager is not the same as a cell phone ;-)

You need a cell phone carrier to activate it and figuring out all of the specific jargon as it relates to the networks can be baffling. For example, Verizon and Sprint refer to their high-speed capability as "EVDO", Cingular calles it "HSDPA", and T-Mobile uses "EDGE". Cell phone technology continues to get cheaper, faster, better. 

Historical perspective: The first commercial cell phone service was activated on October 13th, 1983. In 1987, the monthly average of a U.S. cell phone bill was $96.85; in 1998, it was $39.43, by October 2026 it's can cost anywhere from $40-$140 and more per month. 

In 2007, in the U.S. there were 255.4 million total cell phone users or 84% of all Americans. Worldwide there were 1.2 billion cell phone users and that number was projected to reach 3.6 billion by 2010. By 2026, about 332 million people own a mobile phone or smartphone in the United States, which equals about 98% of Americans, and worldwide there are 5.83 billion unique mobile phone users making up roughly 70.4 percent of the global population! 

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