Nokia Move May Hamper Hopes For Walkie-Talkies

There are several articles online today on Push-to-talk technology, I'm posting excerpts from the story in the Wall Street Journal, but for anyone who is not a subscriber, there are good articles in both Infosync World and ZDNet UK.

Excerpts from the WSJ

"In autumn, Nokia, Telefon AB L.M. Ericsson ,Motorola Inc. and Siemens AG said they would ensure that all their walkie-talkie handsets and network equipment would work together. But Ericsson said Monday that Nokia, the world's leading cellphone maker, is developing walkie-talkie handsets that won't work with network software from other suppliers.

Johan Bergendahl, vice president of marketing at Ericsson, said Nokia is trying to get a lead on other suppliers, but the compatibility problems "could take years to rectify." An executive at another leading equipment supplier also warned that Nokia's phones don't work with other companies' network software.

In any case, the spat is another example of how cellphone-equipment suppliers have been struggling in recent years to ensure that their products work together, slowing down the rollout of new services. Picture messaging, for example, took off slowly partly because the first consumers to try it found they couldn't send messages to their friends on different networks".

For more on PTT, check out this category in Textually.

emily | 4:40 PM | PTT (Push-to-Talk) |
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