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Accepted Designs >> Handset
Development
Handset development in North America began in the 1920s. Here,
the handset of the telephone combines the transmitter and receiver
in a single unit. This design allowed the caller to turn and move
his or her head while talking on the telephone.
Prior to this, receivers had been separate units held up to the
ear with the transmitter mounted on the telephone, angled slightly
upwards. This arrangement ensured good transmission by controlling
gravity pressure on the carbon granules inside the transmitter.
In 1963, the Bell Telephone Company began trials of the Trimline
model that had the dial on the handset. Most of today’s telephones
have lightweight dialing circuitry in the handset.
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