Nextel Sprint is reinventing Push To Talk

From a news release from Sprint .

Push-to-Talk on New Devices Will Give Sprint Customers More Ways to Get Things Done at SprintSpeed .Sprint will expand Nextel Direct Connect portfolio in 2008 with exciting new handsets and expanded capabilities

Sprint (NYSE: S) announced today that the name Nextel Direct Connect will represent Sprint's product portfolio of push-to-talk service and devices regardless of network platform. Additionally, Sprint plans to expand the Nextel Direct Connect portfolio in early 2008 with new device choices and capabilities, giving customers a wider variety of phones to meet their productivity needs.

Customers purchasing or upgrading to a new Nextel Direct Connect handset will continue to have the capability to connect instantly, coast-to-coast, with the community of more than 20 million existing Nextel Direct Connect subscribers on the world's largest and fastest push-to-talk network.

Sprint Nextel demonstrated the use of Nextel Direct Connect on its CDMA network today at the Sprint Ahead Technology Summit, providing push-to-talk service between devices on the CDMA network and between devices on the CDMA and iDEN networks.

Sprint plans to introduce several new Nextel Direct Connect handsets in early 2008. A selection of devices from Sprint's leading manufacturers, with designs ranging from rugged phones that meet the rigors of military specifications to sleek new flip phones, will give customers new and exciting device choices with the same instant connection and reliability they have come to expect from Nextel Direct Connect. The new Nextel Direct Connect handsets are designed to offer new features, including online contact and group management, push-to-talk voicemail, a single number for voice and push-to-talk, and the nation's largest mobile broadband data coverage.

Compared to other providers, Sprint's expanded Nextel Direct Connect portfolio will continue to offer significantly faster call set-up times (less than one second) and interoperability with an existing community of more than 20 million users. In addition, the introduction of Sprint Mobile Broadband to new Nextel Direct Connect handsets will enable new capabilities for push-to-talk in the future.

This year, Sprint Nextel expects to invest more than $7 billion to enhance its networks and extend its industry leading voice and mobile broadband coverage.