This morning, Sprint released the first details on its second CDMA-based push-to-talk platform following the unsuccessful rollout of QChat. The new platform will be known as Sprint Direct Connect and is set to launch by the end of the year.
The new service will carry over all features found on iDEN and will include new features such as group PTT with up to 200 participants, Land Mobile Radio support and interoperability between devices, along with presence notification. Sprint Direct Connect will launch first on phones from Motorola and Kyocera in the fourth quarter. In 2012, more features will be added to Sprint Direct Connect, such as international direct connect support. Sprint further states the phones will support “high-speed data, high-resolution cameras, and Bluetooth while the two handsets confirmed in the launch lineup will be an Android smartphone with a touch screen and QWERTY keyboard, as well as a rugged clamshell.
Sprint also confirmed that the new technology is being made possible by its Network Vision initiative, while stating that the footprint of this new PTT system will be three times bigger than the current iDEN network, covering 2.7 million square miles and 309 million POPs. Interoperability with its existing PTT device lineup has also been confirmed with Sprint also launching a transition program to the new CDMA-based Sprint Direct Connect network for those that still own iDEN phones later this year.
More information on Sprint Direct Connect will be revealed during CTIA 2011, being held next week in Orlando. Mobile developers have also been invited to learn more about the new platform, with Sprint offering a first look at the new network and platform during its Sprint Gets Rugged developer panel next week.
I think im going to offer to buy the iden nextel network since it seems like sprint is flushing the best push to talk service down the toilet. I just wish sprint would get their heads back on their shoulders, they have the best push to talk service and now their going to shut it down because they seem to think that by having a 1 network system for both voice and ptt they think they are going to save money. They are going to need to save alot more once they lose a crap load of customers. It seems to me that sprint is just nuts these days, I thought when they decided they were going to keep iden they were starting to see a pattern, that pattern is that iden is the shit and not one wireless carrier out there can beat it. Im all about the multimode base station idea they have but …….if your going to shut iden down, well the customers that run and pay your bills are going to evenually shut sprint down too. Believe me, ive been a nextel customer since 2000 and it is the best service ive ever had, if you just add iden to your multimode base station, Sprint, and come out with a hybrid again, like people want, then you, Sprint, would understand. You see people, its not about what they people want, sprint just wants to save money, which is totally understandable, but when your going to shut down the nations number 1 push to talk service and come out some wannabe, then your going to lose the game. The game is this, the purpose of the game is to win the game, but how are you going to win the game when your shutting down the best player in the game. I hope sprint and their executives are reading this. All that im saying is this, you shut down iden, your losing your own super bowl. Youve brought the best player to the game, now that player expand his horizons and show the competition whose in charge.
If this carries over all iDen features then this will be great however iDen customers are used to sub second connect speeds.
What will the speed be when using this new service?
Oh god, this is going to be a huge mess. How is this version going to be any different than ReadyLink or QChat? They might of well have called it ReadyLink 4G! 🙂
Although finally having an Android w/ PTT and decent data speed will be nice. I’ve been wanting one since Android first came out.
Good for Sprint. The sooner the iDEN network is shuttered and that valuable 800MHz spectrum is re-purposed, the better.
Im just a guy who knows what the hell hes talkin about when it comes to push to talk. I only have 2 of them from 2 different companies and right now im actually tryin the new qchat model. Ill start off by sayin this, verizon, please, my work has verizon ptt and it sucks, more like ptw (push to wait). Half the time it doesnt work, when the other party is talking to you, on the screen itll say that you are listening but cant hear anything. So thats verizon, doesnt work worth crap. I was currently on the nextel network and have the i680 model and worked great. Bought the qchat model phone 2 yrs ago and never worked in my area till just about 6 months ago so I decided to try it out. I will say it works ok but at the same time it goes out quite a bit. I have noticed that when someone sends me a picture, the push to talk shuts off and the pic will download. So basically one or the other, not both, if you want to see the pic someone sent you to your phone, your push to talk doesnt work. You know sprint claims that when they came out with the Hybrid models that they did not work, but if you see posts on the internet, people want them to come back out with Hybrid models. So basically they claim the hybrid didnt work when it did, they just want to shut out iden totally. They took over the company for its customers and are currently trying to run nextel into the ground. They tried qhcat before and it didnt work and I hate to say it to you sprint, its going to happen again. All sprint wants to do is cut down the cost of operating their system by by using a so called multimode base station, well if your not putting iden in the multimode base station, is it really Multi-mode. Hmmmmm I dont think so. I hate to say it to you sprint but your running nextel into the ground, trying to put iden customers on your cdma towers, but all in all, iden customers arent going anywhere, you might be but we are not. Real push to talk was not meant to be sent over the internet through a cell phone like they want to do. If so, i could just get heytell or something like that. Iden is the real push to talk and they want to shut it down. Hope they are ready because they are about to lose customers unless they make a real smart decision, which is to keep iden. They need to hire someone like me but I guess not
I think the only downsides to the hybrid phones were the lack of 900Mhz roaming and the battery life. Other than that, they rocked!