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Cingular, the nation's largest wireless carrier, has been promoting its push-to-talk walkie-talkie service with ads that show the technology as something not unlike instant messaging (IM), but for voice. Users can set up buddy lists, and there are icons to let others know their availability or lack thereof (smiley face or red-X, respectively). Sprint Nextel is also moving out into the mass market with some new handsets, including the Motorola i870, which debuted in October with a built-in music player and large color display. The i870 is for people who want push-to-talk abilities for business and personal use. Sprint Nextel will also add features that appeal to consumers, such as the ability to gain access to sports scores, stock quotes, and other content. However, push-to-tall functionality users, in contrast to text messaging users, cannot communicate with each other if their services are from different carriers. Social implications are another frightening prospect, since push-to-talk is frequently used with the speakerphone on. A 2005 Forrester Research survey on the popularity of some cellphone features among younger consumers indicates that push-to-talk is not high up on their lists of desired features, and falls way below a camera, instant messaging (IM), and color screens. ReadyLink users will be moved to the better Nextel Service, and Alltel also offers a national push-to-talk service called Touch2Talk for the business market. Verizon Wireless has said its push-to-talk service is useful mostly to the business market, while text messaging and in-network free mobile-to-mobile calling provide the low-cost and instant communication consumers desire.
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