Return of the walkie talkie

They were the favourite of Starsky and Hutch, and The Cannonball Run would not have been the same without them. Now it looks like the walkie talkie is set to make a comeback.

Mobile phone makers are set to release new phones with walkie-talkie capabilities, known as "push to talk", or PTT, in the next few months.

The new phones have a PTT button which allow users to send short voice messages either to a single person or a group of friends. Instead of being sent as voice calls, the messages are compressed and sent as data files - making them very cheap.

While technologies such as Bluetooth only allow you to reach people nearby, PTT messages can travel anywhere there is phone coverage - although operators will have to make changes before the system will work between different networks.

Orange plans to announce its service today, making it the first in the UK. But experts predict all networks will soon offer PTT phones, which could rival text messaging and dent the huge number of mobile voice calls we make each year.

The new service is expected to be far cheaper than both voice calls and texting, although most potential users will need to buy a new phone. Some users of "smart" phones can simply download the necessary software.

Jeremy Green, an analyst at Ovum, said: "The key will be the pricing - if this is cheaper than text messaging and voice calls, which I think it will be, then it could be extremely popular."

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