Walkie-talkie style phones launched in NZ

After watching push-to-talk explode in popularity in the US, Vodafone and Telecom are introducing similar services here, hoping that the ability to hold cheap, group conversations will have similar mass appeal.

Push-to-talk (PTT) handsets can be held to your head like a regular phone or used with a headset. But the common method of use is to hold it in front of your mouth just like a walkie-talkie. For group conversations (up to five people with Telecom and a claimed 20 with Vodafone) it is also necessary to see the phone's screen so you know which other PTT user is speaking.

It's easy to imagine how useful the service could be. With the press of one button you can open communications to a group of your contacts and send them a voice message which they will all instantly receive. It has to be great for co-ordinating social lives or long-distance gossiping with friends.

It's as simple as making a regular call. A tone sounds after which you speak your message into the phone. Your recipient's phone will then come to life and blurts out the message - potentially embarrassing if you're in a public place. The Telecom PTT service worked smoothly.

We had less success on the Vodafone network using two Motorola handsets. Some snatches of conversation came through crystal clear while other parts disappeared. PTT is a data service which converts your voice signals into data and sends them over the mobile network.

Vodafone's network is less capable of sending data at high-speed than Telecom's, which may explain the degraded quality. A massive network upgrade under way at Vodafone may fix that. At the moment the services do not work between the Vodafone and Telecom networks.

Using PTT demands a unique type of phone style due to its one-way walkie-talkie nature. There's no one there to finish your sentence for you. It feels like conversations should end with an obligatory over.

Will it catch on? Among business users and youths I think so. But its radio-like style may be too much for some.

Kiwis are generally pretty discreet on the phone - unlike Americans, who want everyone to know they're on the phone and in the midst of an important conversation.

Telecom and Vodafone bring the services to market supported by a good line-up of phones and more will be coming in the next few months. Telecom's Sanyo 7400 ($599) is a clamshell model at the top of the range.

Its biggest virtue is its nice big screen. The phone is also light and the keyboard spacious. There's a built-in camera with LED flash. Photo quality is what you would expect from a VGA camera - reasonable at close range only.

The phone has a nice way of previewing video clips and pictures you are about to send via email or video message.

There's a built-in media player configured by Telecom to play streaming video clips such as TV news reports and music videos. Only ads pushing the yet-to-be released service are running at the moment but streaming video has potential. There's a good quality speaker phone and voice-dialling that taps the phone's contacts list.

The Sanyo 4920 ($199) is an entry-level phone with push-to-talk as its big feature. The phone would be reasonably stylish were it not for the ugly aerial mounting protruding from its back.

A large button on the side is used for initiating push-to-talk conversations.

You can access the internet via WAP - not that you'll want to. Bluetooth and infra-red connectivity are not included.

The Motorola v303p ($699) feels more solid and better engineered than its Sanyo rivals. It boasts a crisp high-resolution screen and a stylish body. But while it has Motorola's impressive design, its features are limited compared with the 7400.

There are no slots for media cards, no Bluetooth and a bland multimedia suite. The push-to-talk interface is, however, slick and easy to use and the quad-band phone has a nice exterior LCD that displays the time. Two powerful speakers provide loud and clear PTT conversations. Nevertheless, you'd expect a bit more for the price.

Push-to-talk phones

* Pros: An easy way to stay in touch with several people, cheaper than making mobile phone calls.

* Cons: One-way nature of calls is unnatural, not very private.

* Herald ratings: Sanyo 7400: 8/10; Motorola v303p: 6/10; Sanyo 4920: 6/10

* Prices: $10 a month for 300 PTT minutes with Telecom; $20 a month for unlimited minutes with Vodafone.