Orange goes push-to-talk

Jan 13 2004 - 01:44 PM ET | Push-to-talk

Euro wireless carrier Orange announced that it will begin push-to-talk (PTT) service in 10 European countries this year. The UK will get the technology, dubbed Talk Now, first. PTT is red-hot in the US, so this will be an interesting story to watch. The company promised that Talk Now will allow users to: * Create buddy lists that can be used to facilitate instant conference calling * Know when contacts are available to talk and when they are busy * Speak to or message a contact who has selected themselves as available * Record a conference call and send it to others if they are not available * Send a voice message to other Talk Now users at the touch of a button Pricing was not announced, but the service will work on the Treo 600. Further handset compatibility will be announced closer to launch.

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