Motorola today announced the availability of its commercial Push-To-Talk over Cellular (PoC) Clients for Symbian and UIQ mobile devices. The release of Motorola PoC Clients for both Symbian Series 60 and UIQ mobile devices will enable operators to bring PoC services to market faster with an extended range and choice of PoC devices, as development time to add the new PoC feature to existing Symbian and UIQ devices is reduced.

Motorola's PoC Clients enable mobile device users to experience walkie-talkie style communication with individuals or groups of friends or colleagues. A presence-enabled phone gives users the flexibility of mobile messaging combined with the familiarity of voice communication. The flexible PoC Clients are designed to work with today's leading Symbian devices, including handsets from different device manufacturers.

The Motorola PoC Clients have been designed with full operator customization in mind. Motorola's customization program allows operators to personally brand the client using corporate colors, logos and buddy icons. Other features, such as automatic configuration, allow end users to start using the application without entering a single setting. Also included are over-the-air installation and automatic updates.

"The Motorola PoC Clients are an important addition to Motorola's PoC portfolio as they offer operators the opportunity to increase take-up of Push-To-X services with the widest possible range of handsets," said Michael Krutz, vice president, core networks division, Motorola Networks. "In the coming months we plan to offer customers a series of additional features for the Symbian Client including Push-To- X services such as Push-To-View."

With the additional Motorola PoC Clients, operators will also benefit from Motorola's proven heritage. With over 65 years experience in Push-To-Talk, including mission critical and consumer two-way radios and now PoC, Motorola has been at the forefront of the industry with many major Push-To-Talk enhancements, deployments and innovations.

The Motorola PoC Clients will be distributed on a free-of-charge basis, subject to licensing agreements.

Push-To-Talk over Cellular Defined

Push-to-Talk over Cellular is similar to a walkie-talkie experience; it is a means of quick one-to-one or group communication. Instead of dialling a number to start a conversation, with one push of a button you simply go to a presence-enabled "contact list", where you can view which contacts are available and select the person you want to communicate with.

You can also create group calls so everyone on your contact list can hear your message simultaneously - just as in a telephone conference. Instead of having to call each recipient individually, a push of the button is all it takes to send a message directly to an entire circle of friends or work colleagues.

For network operators, PoC opens up a whole new realm of voice services, as it significantly enhances telephone service. Experience has proven that users with PoC features on their phone tend to use their handset more, potentially providing mobile operators with higher average revenues per user.