Definition: phone

(telePHONE) Today, "phone" is generally synonymous with smartphone or cellphone, and as time passes, the smartphone moniker will fade from casual conversation. Prior to the smartphone, there were cellphones and regular land-based phones.

In contrast to the smartphone, a landline means a desk phone connected to a telephone company, or it may be directly connected to the Internet (see VoIP). See telephone, payphone, wall phone, smartphone and landline.

The Smartphone of the 19th Century

In the late 1800s, this Ericsson phone was just as trailblazing as the iPhone was in 2007. This photo was taken at Antoni Gaudi's famous "La Pedrera" apartment house in Barcelona.