Remember when you used to play with a walkie-talkie and tried to contact your next door neighbor? The coverage of those two AA battery-powered radios only had a range between two houses. Most of the time, your friend’s voice sounded crackled. At present, you can enjoy the convenience of walkie-talkie usage, with all the cool add-on features, thanks to the Motorola i850. It’s a mobile phone, but it does more than just make phone calls.
It was released in the United States in the second half of 2005, with Nextel as the original service provider. Subscribers could avail of the i850 for a $300 two-year plan with the network. The phone is blessed with Integrated Digital Enhanced Network (iDEN) capability, which Motorola pioneered. With the iDEN on the i850, users can have a two-way radio, alphanumeric pager, and data/fax machine, all on one phone. The advantage of iDEN is that it allows users to communicate, even when a cellular signal is unavailable. As the Motorola i850 has a push to talk (PTT) button, it can be a two-way radio for a range of six miles, depending on the terrain.