Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Diversions 12/22/03- Squawky talkie phones

From: [email-masked]
Date: Mon, 15 Dec 2003 18:06:44 -0500

Diversions 12/22/03  Squawky talkie phones 

By David Lagesse 
Whipping out a cellphone and dialing up friend after friend to 
coordi- nate plans isn't fast enough for Isaiah Beard, a 26-year-old 
tech-support specialist in New Brunswick, N.J. No, Beard rounds up 
friends with one click of his phone, using it like a two-way radio 
to blast a message to all. "It really cuts down on time wasted 
herding the group together," he says.

Beard is an early fan of a feature that's spreading on wireless 
networks: "push to talk" services that turn a cellphone into 
something like a walkie-talkie or CB radio. A single tap of a button 
on phones from Verizon, Sprint, and Nextel connects you to friends 
and family who've also bought the service. The idea is retro, 
dredging up memories of 1970s truck-driving movies. But cell 
peddlers predict it will catch on, especially with teenagers. "It's 
like instant messaging for voice," says Sprint's Jason Guesman. 

No pleasantries. Push-to-talk has already proven popular in the 
workplace, where Nextel has offered it for years. Now others are 
betting it will sell to busy parents, their roving kids, and others 
who don't want to waste valuable, wireless minutes on short chats. 
The plans, which add $5 to $20 a month to your phone bill for 
unlimited use, work similarly. Push a button on the phone, and 
you're instantly connected to the others in your calling circle who 
have the walkie-talkie feature turned on anywhere within the coast-
to-coast network. Their phones don't ring. They get a beep that 
you're calling, or--if they've left the speakerphone on--your voice 
sounds out in what's called a "barge." Only one person can speak at 
a time. Verizon and Sprint require brief pauses between 
transmissions. Nextel doesn't, and it also connects nearly 
instantly, while Sprint's takes a few seconds, and Verizon's a bit 
longer. But even the slowest link is less than half the 20 seconds 
it might take to dial and connect a regular call. Walkie-talkie 
etiquette also doesn't demand the "How are you?" pleasantries that 
bog down phone calls.

Added fun comes from setting up groups--Sprint permits users to 
broadcast messages up to five people at a time, Verizon as many as 
20, and Nextel 25. In a neat trick, Verizon lets you see who's got 
the service turned on--much like finding who's available online for 
instant messaging. Other stunts are coming, predicts X. J. Wang of 
the Yankee Group research firm, such as the ability to zap recorded 
voice messages, photos, and documents to a group almost instantly.

But the Miss Manners among us should be warned: Push-to-talk may 
bring a whole new level of cellphone rudeness. In Walkie-talkie 
Land, it's standard to barge in with an uninvited call, and an 
unexpected squawking voice can fill a room like a loud cop radio. 
But the speakers can be turned off, as can the service, and only 
friends with your cell number can reach you in the first place. 
Missed messages vanish into the ether.

Verizon and Sprint now require new phones, which start at about $150 
after rebates. All of Nextel's phones come ready for the service 
(more on the handsets in TechBits).

The biggest disappointment: Your friends have to buy from the same 
company; the services don't talk to each other. Guesman says that 
shouldn't be much of a technical hurdle to overcome, and talks are 
underway that might link them in a year or so. And that, good buddy, 
would be a big 10-4, over. 

BREAKER, 1-9! 

"Push to talk." This feature gives cellphones like Sanyo's RL 2000 a 
walkie-talkie touch.

Chat room. Your voice transmits to as many as 25 of your friends 
from coast to coast.

"Barging" in. Messages play out--maybe rudely--via speakerphone.

http://www.usnews.com/usnews/issue/031222/tech/22tech.div.htm

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