I thought we'd have flying cars and live on the moon, but apparently the future brings Wi-Fi walkie-talkies: Some speculation on the future availability of the revenue-enhancing push-to-talk service available over cell networks and pioneered by Nextel moving to Wi-Fi. With PTT, you have a group that you communicate with immediately, walkie-talkie style, by pushing a button on the phone. There's obviously no good reason that the underlying carrier method has to be cell based: an Internet gateway and a Wi-Fi chip could allow this kind of instant routing over any authenticated Wi-Fi hotspot or home/office network. The piece doesn't make it clear whether the FCC is approving Wi-Fi to Wi-Fi PTT or hybrids--Wi-Fi or cell on either end.
