MOTOROLA Timeline

Motorola Founded: On September 25, 1928, Paul V. Galvin and his brother, Joseph, incorporated Motorola's founding company—the Galvin Manufacturing Corporation—in Chicago, Illinois, USA.

Battery Eliminator: Galvin Manufacturing Corporation's first product was a 1928 battery eliminator. This power converter allowed battery-powered radios to run on household electricity. The company's first customer was Sears, Roebuck and Co., which sold battery eliminators to consumers.

First Car Radio: In 1930 Galvin Manufacturing Corporation introduced the Motorola radio, one of the first commercially successful car radios. Company founder Paul V. Galvin created the brand name Motorola for the car radio -- linking "motor" (for motorcar) with "ola" (which implied sound). Thus the Motorola brand meant sound in motion.

Handie Talkie: In 1940 Galvin Manufacturing Corporation engineers developed the Handie-Talkie SCR536 AM portable two-way radio. This handheld radio became a World War II icon. The Handie-Talkie and other radios Galvin Manufacturing developed for the U.S. military at this time did not carry the Motorola brand.

First Words From the Moon: Motorola radio equipment relayed the first words from the moon to Earth on July 20, 1969.. Motorola supplied the specially developed backpack antenna worn by astronaut Neil Armstrong, as well as equipment to process TV signals on Earth, and equipment responsible for range safety functions on all three stages of the Saturn V rocket and precision tracking during the launch phase.

First Commercial Cell-phone: The world's first commercial handheld cellular phone, the Motorola DynaTAC phone, received approval from the U.S. Federal Communications Commission on September 21, 1983. The 28-ounce (794-gram) phone became available to consumers in 1984.

Motorola MOTOMESH Broadband Radio Network: In 2005 Motorola's MOTOMESH wireless mobile network was one of the first multiradio mesh networks to combine 4.9 GHz licensed mobile broadband radios and unlicensed Wi-Fi radios into a single access point. Mesh networking allowed public safety users to rapidly create a network of wireless devices linked in a relay system.