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Verizon Rolling Out Nextel-Like PTT Service
aberson writes "Verizon Wireless announced today that it is rolling out a PTT (push to talk) phone service, targetted at business customers. They claim better coverage, 'presence' (away/available), and wireless web for about $10 more than Nextel and $10 more than a non-PTT Verizon plan. Pricing doesn't mention how 'high-speed' data will roll into this (which you can't get on Nextel), but you are using the CDMA2000 network to essentially do VoIP. If only it could be something cross-networkable like Sonim. Just wait a few months for the other carriers to catch up and cellular number portability to be enforced. Ironically, you can only get it on a Motorola made phone. Also, Verizon seems to be not caring about Nextel trying to copyright a generic technical term."
Am I the only one who wants a cell phone that does nothing except phone calls and maybe handle a list of peoples phone numbers? All these crazy features are making me crazy :(
Sprint is about to launch a PTT VoIP solution as well, if they can overcome the technical issues. PTT VoIP is harder than it sounds, given the need for authentication, etc... unless you like waiting 30 seconds after you push the button to talk :)
They managed to come up with something more annoying that cell phones. Everyone walking around with publicly broadcasting walkie talkies. Great idea. More noise for us all.
Sweet, maybe this will inspire Nextel to start offering phones designed in the 21st century.
Life in Orange County
There is nothing more annoying than hearing someone try to use this "walkie-talkie" function in public. I sure hope SprintPCS never gets this.
Im dreaming ofa big bndwdth, That can resist the
I'm hoping that somewhere down the line, as technology along these same lines becomes more widespread, some standardization and collaboration between cellular carriers will occur... Obviously, end result becoming a direct connect network from any provider, to people who have other providers.
If only a couple more carriers start their own versions, it may not be long before we see 2-way as widespread as cell phones. Cool huh?
..Also means "Post Telegraph & Telephone". A lot of European countries used to have a single, government run, phone and postal service; PTT remains shorthand for ex-State telephone companies, like "ma Bell". (And as such it has negative connotations to the point that all telcos are moving away from that name..)
SCO employee? Check out the bounty
I won't go for this until Nokia goes for it.
BEEP - Can you hear me now?
BEEP - Yes.
[Verizon guy takes 2 steps]
BEEP - Can you hear me now?
BEEP - Yes.
Continue ad infinitum
Overrated / Underrated : Moderation
Great. People driving on the road talking on walkie talkies. Just what we all need.
You can get more with a kind word and a gun than you can with a kind word alone. - Al Capone (1899-1947)
"In a development related to Verizon suing others over using the PTT acronym, the regional telephone company Vazuvuz (formerly known as Comquaac) has sued Anson Williams claiming that his Happy Days character "Potsie" violated the trademark they filed in June 2003 for the "POTS" acronym referring to for their plain old telephone service."
Don't blame Durga. I voted for Centauri.
From their site:
Express Network is capable of data speeds bursting up to 144 kbps, delivering average speeds up to 40 to 60 kbps. You may experience slower data speeds.
When Wi-Fi cell phones for 10 dollars a month are available.
OK, I'm way behind the curve when it comes to the latest gadgets and stuff. Can anyone explain what this PTT feature does and what it's good for? I may not have a good imagination, but it seems to me to be a cell phone that you hold out in front of you, instead on next to your head. Is there more to it than that?
Must not...point out difference...between copyright and trademark...yet again...not...strong..enough!
You know when your relatives say they need 3 gigs of memory to install a game, or ask why they don't just put the hard disk in the TV screen, or why a computer needs to be plugged in if it is wireless? That's what it is like to read the same trademark/copyright/patent goofs made over and over and over again.
Trademarks are solely for marks used in trade. ie "We bring good things to life", a slogan, an icon, a piece of IDENTITY. You get trademarks so that consumers will not be confused about who produced a product. If you stop using a trademark (or it becomes common, no longer distinct to your company), you can lose it. It's sole purpose is to protect companies from imitators.
Copyrights are for the right to copy creative works. ie, novels, poems, computer programs, paintings, etc. You never have to sell, buy or process anything to get a copyright. it cannot be lost no matter what, but you can give it away or sell it. It is to protect AUTHORS, not companies or money (at least in theory).
Patents are for novel inventions (and lately, processes). You can't patent a book, or a painting, or a slogan, because they don't do anything. It protects inventors, not writers or marketing folks.
Recursive: Adj. See Recursive.
Why do you think Verizon is picking up this feature? Because companies are leaving their current cellular provider for Nextel just for PTT.
It comes in particularly handy when businesses and oranizations have employees off-site. Everything from delivery to maintenance, sales to construction. It is a very valuable feature for both convenience and saving money.
Bottom Line: People will leave Verizon for Nextel, and they don't want to lose market-share.
Who wants a cellphone you can only use within 10 feet of a Starbucks?
Why are they implementing this as a push to talk feature?
It seems to me that PTT isn't going to save them much bandwidth because human conversation tends to be mostly half duplex anyway. Since it's a packet-switched network, it's not like you're using a dedicated circuit (like in a walkie-talkie or analog phone line) when you're not conversing. Keeping the connection up shouldn't cost much bandwidth at all. If they're using something like TDMA from the phone to the transmitter, you should use almost no bandwidth there keeping the connection open either.
Shouldn't packet switching and TDMA like technologies make the walkie-talkie limitations irrelevant?
I've always thought that this was a way of making the service just inconvenient enough to use that users don't burn so many hours. They don't want me spending my entire commute talking to my wife.
Jut wondering.
Assembly is the reverse of disassembly.
Hum, let me explain...
Well, the blackout story was yesterday. It is an event that happened in the past. Since then, time has ellapsed and the information got old.
In comparison, an article about Verizon going PTT is today's news. That's the kind of info you find on news sites. If you do not like that, you should visit archive web sites instead. Capite?
`jitter`jitter`jitter`
Fits my lifestyle
`jitter`jitter`
You'd think this guy copyrighted the term trademark or trademarked the patent process!
" The "walkie-talkie" feature so I can call my wife any time of the day when I'm out of town,"
How many times do you call hoping to catch her once, to hear a man's voice on the other end?
I use the PTT feature myself to call your wife any time of day when you are out of town. It rocks!
Yes, trolls are a welcome attraction on a slow Friday afternoon.
I didn't get the space-invading thingy in your post. Are you trying to link that to the ALL YOUR BASES stuff? I think you missed your post. It could have been such a nice one-liner.
So far, the only extra feature I've ever found useful on my phone are the forced-network commands (not all phones let you force Analog when you need to get a signal through) and VAD (Voice Activated Dialing) for when I am on the go. No comments about cellphones and cars please, I try to avoid such usage unless I'm getting directions.
However, a lot of features are rather cool, just not useful to the average person. A cellphone shouldn't be a PDA, and in most cases I'd rather get extra battery life than a slew of useless features.
However, if they could come up with a standardized interface for cellphones, perhaps they could enable them all to interact with existing devices a little better. It's hard to make something that uses a cellphone to dial-up internet connections when different cell manufacturers all have a different interface. I mean, at least let me have a car charger that works in more than 1 phone!
And for built-in features or operating system, how about flash-cards? Plug a new one in and have a cellphone upgrade.
Of course, most of these things will be avoided by cellphone companies, because interoperability mean s it is easier to switch to a competitor's phone, and making phones more upgradable would simply lose the profit from idiots who buy a new cellphone every year....
Somebody needs to look up "ironic" in the dictionary.
Why is is ironic that this feature is available on a Motorola phone?
if only it could be something cross-networkable like Sonim
you're expecting cross-network compatibility from a US company?!
welcome to the land of "freedom": "freedom" is available from company A for $0.69, and "freedom" is available from company B for $0.79. you can't share freedom "A" with freedom "B" users, though freedom "B" users can share for an additional $0.10 per use. got it?
Evolution Data Only will be over 2 Megabits.. currently in testing in the beltline area of Washington State..
:)
Also by Verizon Wireless not to be confused with Verizon
You can get info here
I bet you're the same kind of person who believes SETI@Home is wasteful and everyone should be working on curing cancer instead. Any why work for a coorporation when we should all be doing volunteer work for Greenpeace. And why buy that $3.50 cup of expresso when there are starving kids in some foreign land. Get over yourself.
Exactly. Look, what you do is this: Everyone should connect wires directly from your nearest AC outlet to your cable modem, and then post a reply to this comment with a subject line of "POWER FOR NE". Wait about 5 minutes so the comment can get fully charged with electricity, and the select "Subject". Important note: do *not* press "Preview", as that would waste all the power. Then disconnect the wires from your AC outlet. Slashdot readers in the NE can then read the replies to this comment to power up their PCs.
Imagine, if you will, sitting in a car with a hot member of the opposite sex...Okay, make that just a member of the opposite sex, since this is /.
Things are going well...VERY well. And then, with no warning, your phone makes a little BRRREEP noise, and a voice says LOUDLY, "Hey man, you get any on that date tonight?"
This is a technology that has few practical applications, and offers a whole WORLD of annoying possibilities.
Just my opinion.
ad logicam Claiming a proposition is false because it was presented as the conclusion of a fallacious argument.
You have used our copyrighted slogan "We bring good things to life (T)" in your post without crediting GE Corporation (Patent Pending #12335134). This message is trademarked (C) by SCO and used through a patent (R) legally licensed through (T) copyright act (Sonny Bono always Sucked act of 1970). The rights to this (R) post will expire with the heat death (C) of the universe.
SCO^H^H^HGeneral Electric(T)
Norris/Palin 2012
Fact: We deserve leaders who can kick your ass and field dress your carcass.
What's wrong with a global network that is expanding to the rest of the solar system within the next year. I think starbuck's managment thinks that investors buy their stock based on the number of stores they can see at any given time. Perhaps they are correct in that assumption. Our town of 25,000 just got two and they are across the street from each other. They are adding a third in two months.
Degaussing scares the bad magnetism out of the monitor and fills it with good karma.
"Because if he had something that just worked well for one purpose, it's not a fun enough toy."
Explains the death of the command line.
Not true:
Verizon: $59,99, 400 minutes (unlimited Push to Talk)
Nextel: $59,99, 400 minutes (unlimited Direct Connect)*
After that the plans leapfrog each other, Verizon going with the sleek $79, $99 options and Nextel picking the oh-so-stylish $69, $89 price points.
Pricing doesn't mention how 'high-speed' data will roll into this (which you can't get on Nextel)
Not true. Nextel offers Packetstream Gold, which give about 56k download speeds (but at a $54.99/month charge, it's expensive, too).
*Keep in mind that for Nextel nationwide Direct Connect there is a $10/month extra charge. Not sure about Verizon.
Have fun: Join D.N.A. (National Dyslexics Association)
It seems like the reason people like the PTT feature is because it connects within a few seconds, instead of the 10 or so it takes to make a phone call. Why does it have to take more time for the cell phone to connect a regular phone call than a PTT call? Also, it doesn't seem like the phones are really operating as "walkie-talkies" because they still send the data to a cell tower and back to destination cell phone....if they're going to bundle a walkie talkie, why not make it a real one that doesn't use your cell minutes? Also, last time I used it, PTT was only half duplex...what's the point of a phone if only one person can talk at a time? It's not as if they're short on bandwidth...in fact I'd rather trade off sound quality for full duplex.
Maybe someone who knows more about PPT can tell me why anyone would use this feature.
One of my friends had a Verizon cell phone at work (Brooklyn). Everybody else's cell phones (and the office phone) weren't working but his Verizon cell phone was. He said that the only time it was down was 9/11. After noticing this I decided that if I get a cell phone it'll be Verizon and I'll reccomend it to friends.
Verizon seems to be not caring about Nextel trying to copyright a generic technical term.
/. editors' incompetence clouding the issue.
The article linked here talks about a trademark verizon is trying to obtain. The article was also corrected, because it initially called it a patent. Now this article links to it and calls it a copyright. Seriously, there's enough confusion about the differences between these things without the
here, let me save you the effort. as the parent implies, there is no irony present in this situation.
irony
Pronunciation: 'I-r&-nE also 'I(-&)r-nE
Function: noun
Inflected Form(s): plural -nies
Etymology: Latin ironia, from Greek eirOnia, from eirOn dissembler
Date: 1502
1 : a pretense of ignorance and of willingness to learn from another assumed in order to make the other's false conceptions conspicuous by adroit questioning -- called also Socratic irony
2 a : the use of words to express something other than and especially the opposite of the literal meaning b : a usually humorous or sardonic literary style or form characterized by irony c : an ironic expression or utterance
3 a (1) : incongruity between the actual result of a sequence of events and the normal or expected result (2) : an event or result marked by such incongruity b : incongruity between a situation developed in a drama and the accompanying words or actions that is understood by the audience but not by the characters in the play -- called also dramatic irony, tragic irony
The walkie-talkie feature on Nextel is the whole reason my wife and I switched. While it may sound annoying to some people it is like crack once you get your hands on it.
It's infinitely easier to push the button and just speak rather than finding the number, waiting for it to dial, waiting for it to ring and hoping someone answers.
It does take some getting used to. You don't want to call your wife and start dropping F-bombs while she's at the neighbor's house playing with their children. (Unfortunately, I know this one from personal experience.)
With other companies trotting out comparable services, the marketplace can't help but get better. Until now, Nextel knew if you wanted the service you had no choice but to go to them, so they tended to skimp on customer service.
Did you know they have no tech support on the weekends? Our service blanked on Saturday and there was no one anywhere to call to get it fixed.
Nextel, how business gets done...unless it's the weekend.
Finally, competition in the PTT arena and hopefully other manufacturers than Motorola will make the devices.
My experience in dealing with Nextel is much like dealing with any monopoly. They have a decent service but have no competition, and thus offer crappy phones at high prices.
This is a much needed kick in the pants for Nextel/Moto and I am happy.
I had to go to Nextel as it was the only one that worked at home...Verizon, Sprint, et all did not (yeah, I live out in the middle of BFE). My wife and I (and my family on my father's side) all have Nextel now, and the PTT feature is the main reason we have it. It annoys me to no end how people will just carry a conversation on one of those in public when they can choose to mute the entire conversation...all it takes is to turn off the group speaker and you can still carry on your conversation, although you *Gasp* have to hold the phone up to your ear to hear the other person.
... just stop saddling your kids with weird names like Darl, mmmkay?
Dear sweet Bob, no! I used to live in Ocoee, a western suburb of Orlando, Florida. "West Orange," as the area was known, was home to a disproportionately large number of people who worked in the building and construction trades. EVERYBODY, and I mean EVERYBODY, had a brick-sized Nextel permanently grafted to their hips; they were called "West Orange County passports" among some in the area. You know the frustration experienced by those who have to put up with yuppies and loud cell phone calls in public? Well, jack it up a couple of orders of magnitude higher in West Orange County. In stores, restaurants, coffee houses, anywhere, you couldn't go more than five minutes without hearing "BREEEEEEP! blah blah drywall blah blah Bobcat blah blah Sunbelt rentals blah blah framing inspectors BREEEEEEEP!" Yes, even at the movie theater, blue collar bubbas would be droning on about pouring concrete, and NOBODY CARED. Why? Everybody else was armed with a West Orange County passport. BREEEEEEEEP!
Why should they? If a competitor tries to claim "like the Joy of a Root Canal" as their slogan, would you stop them? PTT is a pain, no one wants to have to push to talk. Sure, Nextel doesn't own the concept or term (Hams amoung others have been using it for decades), but Verizon would be much better off trying to spin it into a positive concept (how about"Automatic privacy mute on button release") than in trying to stop Nextel from laying claim to something they should not want.
I'm an American. I love this country and the freedoms that we used to have.
There are three of us out of a company with about 20 Nextel phones who are looking to switch to Verizon. The Nextel network and converage is horrible.
Sometimes on normal phone calls the static is horrible....if we have coverage at all. Verizon in the same area has crystal clear calls. We are looking to switch for that reason alone.
Do these phones have bluetooth? Among the three of us, we all have at least one reason for wanting a bluetooth enabled phone.
Anyone know?
Thanks,
-Pete
Soccer Goal Plans
** Attention Nextel Users **
:) Of course, I have an i95cl, so ymmv.
Use the Call Filter feature of Styles to do things like filter out 2-way calls or alerts, and even limit *who* can call your phone! Yes, when you put the call filter into "Some Phonebook" mode, you can actually choose who in your phonebook (up to 5 people) are allowed to call you. Pair that up with the Datebook feature, and when you have a recurring meeting each day or week, you can force the phone to go into that "restricted incoming" mode automatically for the length of your meeting and never have to remember to switch your phone to vibrate.
How many people here see the rush of people to put their phones in vibrate when that one idiot forgot to switch his before the meeting? I never have to do that, nor do I ever have to run out of the room to answer calls. I automatically shunt my friends to voicemail during the meeting, week after week
Intelligent Life on Earth
I use nextel and love PTT. It's fast and I know I'll never go over any minutes.
But here's the thing.. Just like my neighbors letting their dogs piss on my grass.. those same people don't use "PRIVATE MODE" for PTT. It's simple.. you push one button and you put the phone to your ear and PTT works just the same. I ALWAYS use private mode with PTT unless I'm in the privacy of my own home or in an area with no people.
What Verizon doesn't tell you:
Them: calls you.
Me: picks up phone.
them: what's your 20? need assistance?
Me: 3rd and Maple. no. Thanks.
hangup.
If you want to talk in short bursts, there's no reason you can't do it on a phone call. The only difference in the end is that you aren't necessarily holding your phone to your face when waiting for the other end to answer. If you don't like that, use a speakerphone to being the conversation.
All you are doing is using a different paradigm to talk, less chit-chat. So do it on a regular phone.
The only advantage for PTT is that the phone starts yelling at you before you pick it up. This can be invaluable if your hands are full. Great for construction types.
That's the only advantage. But the social problem of people carrying around devices on their hips that just starting yelling at random is severe.
- Too stupid to find out what kind of Pop-Tarts the S.O. wanted before going to the market.
- Too lazy to hold the freakin' phone to her/his ear.
The feature may be useful in the construction industry, but it has zero use otherwise (for otherwise normal people).* As is generally the case, my opinions do not reflect those of my employer.
...since Verizon's just using Voice over IP, these phones will not be subject to the nasty "nextel effect"
Ever see a Nextel phone ring next to a TV/CRT? Makes for an interesting effect which we locally have dubbed the "Nextel effect"
Think about this for a second.... Nextel and their PTT is actually a step BACK in technology. It's only half-duplex for crying out loud which in and of itself is highly annoying. To beep someone, you still have to pull their ID out of your phone book, so why not call them and have a full-duplex conversation?
Where did you get this information?
When I signed up for my cellphone *plan* 3 years ago, my phone came with the plan. However, I'm fairly sure that the phone was still paid for, and the telco was taking the hit in order to snap me in a 3yr contract.
At about 2.5 years, the stupid little startac phone took one last jump from its holster (the plastic holster it comes with really sucked) onto a concrete floor and split in half. Repair price was >$100.
So, I went out and bought a new phone, a compact LG with which I am rather satisfied. However, with a $300CAD price on a refurb, and a $500CAD price on a new phone, I can't see how phone companies are taking a loss on these. Open them up, not a lot of components here, other than the main chip - at $500 I'm thinking that some companies at least are pulling decent profit on these phones.