Forget texting - push to talk

Texting, picture messaging, voicemails and even old fashioned phone calls may have had their day - push to talk is the next craze likely to sweep mobile market.

Launched in Britain today, the system has taken the US by storm, dwarfing text messaging.

With fastchat, from Chicago-based company fastmobile, users push a button on a specially-equipped handset and record a voice message.

The voice is then digitised like an e-mail, said Tim Donnelly Smith of fastchat.

'When you speak into your phone, your voice is turned into data which is sent to a server and routed to your recipient via e-mail,' he added.

The recipient's phone then plays the voice message and its user can reply in the same way.

It is possible to have a conversation with anyone in the world at low cost - as long as people do not mind having to take it in turn to talk, walkie-talkie style.

Users sign into the system, which tells other users they are available to contact for conversations.

Cynics point out that the system is only one step removed from having a normal conversation. But both e-mail and text messaging encountered initial scepticism before becoming successful.

Fastchat works only on Nokia 7650 and 3650 handsets and the forthcoming Sony Ericsson P800. But most new phones coming on to the market will feature the facility.