Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Walkie-Talkie Phones Make Debut

From: Marcelrf <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 15 Mar 2004 16:32:49 -0500

Walkie-Talkie Phones Make Debut

By Kim Tae-gyu 
Staff Reporter
Online messaging services will be available through mobile handsets, 
as cellular phone makers plan to adopt the push-to-talk (PTT) 
phones, a device with walkie-talkie features.

Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics on Monday said they will 
introduce PTT phones within this year. U.S.-based Motorola also 
looks to make its way in. 

Samsung Electronics, the world's third-largest handset provider, is 
preparing to launch PTT this year through a business alliance with 
Finland-based Nokia.

LG Electronics, the fifth-biggest player in the globe, said it will 
have little difficulty in developing the walkie-talkie phones 
technology-wise as long as Korea's service providers start such 
offerings.

Motorola, which has already deployed a series of PTT phones in the 
global market, is also expected to follow suit in Korea, the test 
bed of the world's next-generation mobile technologies.

Korean mobile carriers, led by LG Telecom, plan to deploy the PTT 
services, although an exact timetable has yet to be fixed. The 
government is also reportedly mulling over approving such offerings.

The push-to-talk service enables users to press a single button and 
instantly talk to another customer with PTT phones without having to 
wait for a dial tone and endure busy signals.

Another attractive point of the walkie-talkie phone is that it 
enables users to talk to a group of people simultaneously _ over 10 
persons _ according to Samsung Electronics.

With such features, experts expect that PTT conversations will 
eventually be able to provide an instant messaging service via 
handsets. The phone screen will show a list of contacts and indicate 
who is available, like friends and contacts lists in online 
messenger programs.

``PTT is designed for brief and immediate voice exchanges with those 
who you call frequently. In that sense, PTT is to voice what instant 
messaging is to e-mail,'' Kim Kyung-mo, a telecom analyst with Mirae 
Asset, said.

He added the new services will become part of the smart and 
essential applications for consumers. 

The services were rolled out several years ago in the United States 
by Nextel, the nation's fifth-largest mobile carrier, and usually 
adopted by small businesses with mobile workforces, like building 
contractors and sales agents. 

As the PTT market has been growing, however, larger rivals, 
including Verizon Wireless and Sprint PCS, have started to jump on 
the bandwagon, threatening pioneer Nextel's traditional dominance in 
the relatively untapped market. 

[email-masked] 

03-15-2004 19:06 

http://times.hankooki.com/lpage/tech/200403/kt2004031519042411790.htm

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