Charles E. Alden

Charles E. Alden (fl. 1906) was an obscure American inventor mentioned in a 1906 edition of the New York World who was claimed to have created the idea of a vest pocket telephone, a device that was the precursor of the cell phone. An article entitled: “Ingenious Yankee Invents Simple Telephone System” appeared in the May 24, 1907 edition of L’Abeille de la Nouvelle-Orléans–a New Orleans newspaper. He envisioned the idea in 1906, sixty-seven years before the first hand-held mobile phone was demonstrated by Dr Martin Cooper of Motorola in 1973. In 1907, Alden invented and tested a wireless, remote controlled boat off the coast of Martha's Vineyard. This boat was said to have “lifted its own anchor, blows its own whistle, signals, fires a gun and steers” all while the operator is controlling it on shore.

"COTTAGE CITY, Mass. April 28 [1906]. "Charles E. Alden of New York has been pursuing experiments here since last fall in wireless telephoning. Has, he says, solved the problem of wireless telephoning and the result is so simple that is likely to create a sensation in the business world as well as in scientific circles.""

- New York World, April 29, 1906