It is obvious that a substantial increase in data transmission speed of EDGE technology enables you to implement a GSM network and new services to improve the quality of service is already running. A famous example - Broadcast television directly to mobile phone screen. Prior to implementing this project in the EDGE network MegaFon worked, but rather as a demonstration of new advertising opportunities - look at the twitching figure and crumbling images were frankly sad. Now the feasibility of using the phone as such is still in doubt, but look it is already possible. Today's news - a system for monitoring passenger transport in Moscow and began commercial operation Push-to-Talk. For the first time the technology Push-to-Talk (Push-to-talk) appeared in Moscow for two and a half years ago as a joint project of the Beeline and corporations Nokia. Intended to equip these phones by drivers of a taxi fleets, but eventually the project, it seems, has not earned. Anyway, about the practical results we know nothing. With our material on this subject can be found here. Now in commercial operation in MegaFon launched public service, which can test any lucky owner of one of more than forty models from Nokia, the list of models is available here. This technology brief exchange of voice messages is well known and normally runs through the usual GPRS, but in a network with EDGE probability of fragments of speech should be much lower. A detailed description of the service and order connections look at the operator's website, the connection is simple enough, and especially to dig into the handset's menu is not necessary - necessary settings are automatically loaded special SMS-message.
Now about the practical benefits and costs matter. Conduct intimate conversations through such «GSM-radios" You would not expect, at current prices for mobile phone will be not much more expensive, and even cheaper. Push-to-Talk more useful for group communication, information, or when the team needed to quickly send to multiple people simultaneously. The second area of application - in roaming calls, especially internationally. Here to talk through the Push-to-Talk can be cheaper and much nicer than the correspond SMS-messaging. As for the cost services, the issue decided simply: Push-to-Talk in MegaFon works through Wap-GPRS and no separate fee for services is not charged, is charged only Wap-traffic. In other countries the practice per-second billing, and an unlimited number of messages for a monthly fee, perhaps in the future on principles such payment and will go with us. While one can only roughly estimate the price of the issue: when using codec AMR (5.15 kbps) second voice will eat 0.64 kilobyte traffic, ie 10-second message could well do the ruble and a half. Although we can talk briefly, today's young people certainly have not been shedding skills five-second free intervals. If you still regularly use the Push-to-Talk like, it makes sense to buy a MB Wap-traffic wholesale, in this case the transmission and reception will cost exactly half as much cheaper. Although still best to call. A completely different situation in international roaming, where the price of Wap-traffic is comparable with the Moscow 02.05 rub. 10 KB: for example, in Europe - 3.5 rub., the ski resorts in Austria - 2.0 rubles. (Even cheaper). Sometimes you might get lucky with a free test operation of GPRS (eg U.S.).If another GPRS-roaming service has been available not only to contract subscribers of MegaFon.
Megafonovsky "hedgehog" settle in Moscow trolleybuses
Fifteenth day of December the opening of the Ice Palace in Khodynka, and on the same day has been shown experimental system for monitoring the movement of public transport. At four points in Moscow were parked cars with special cameras on the roofs, the image is continuously broadcast on the screen in HQ bus "Mosgortrans. The data is transferred over the network GPRS / EDGE modem Siemens MC75. It is assumed that the system will quickly adjust the amount fed buses during public events.
