In <[email protected]> matt weber <[email protected]> writes:
[ lots snipped ]
>>Motorola make a cellular phone which can also be used as a "walkie
>>talkie" to a same-brand phone, i.e. back-to-back operation without
>>involving the network. It doesn't use bluetooth for this though.

>If you are talking about the NEXTEL products, they look like a walkie
>talkie, they behaves like one, but they aren't. If the Nextel
>network goes down, it works just like any other mobile when the
>network is down. Not at all!!!

That *was* that case, but Nextel/Motorola have (has) recently announced a
radio unit which will, in fact, have direct unit-to-unit short range
communications. This was due to lots of pressure from the emergency agency
types, who understood full well the dangers of requiring a network
connection before the radios would work.

(For example, if you're both in the basement and out of range of the
tower, you could *not* communicate with each other, even if you were only
a dozen feet apart).


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› See More: direct, as opposed to "direct connect", was: Bluetooth phone