![]() There were stories about WhatsApp working on PTT back in May of this year. But in retrospect, it wasn’t going to happen. It’s too bad that BlackBerry couldn’t have beat WhatApp to the punch. I don’t think a stand alone PTT app makes any sense in a world of constantly improving mobile IM tools. They may not survive since WhatsApp has now baked this functionality into their service, and I expect BBM, iMessage and others will follow suit. They raised $30 million in funding last year, and they’ve done an amazing job with their app. Voxer is probably the best known PTT app around. Nextel had over 20 million paying subscribers in the US. These options need to all exist within BBM. And sometimes I’ll want the equivalent of a phone call or video call. Much of the time the communication will be back and forth, but no synchronous like a constantly connected phone call. Other times I want to hold down a button and talk, or fire off a quick 6-second video. Sometimes I’m going to want to send a text message. Text chat, files, push to talk, push to video, audio or video calls, screen sharing and more. Not a tool but a toolbox loaded with options. The future of BBM, as I see it, is a professional quality mobile communication toolbox. This, folks, is the past and not the future. Yet it’s exactly how something like voice notes works today, inside of BBM. Of course you can see how absurd this would be. If we send the message that voice notes is an acceptable substitute to PTT, we train the company to keep settling for less than the best. I often criticize them for accepting mediocrity. Seriously, this is the problematic attitude that I sometimes see within BlackBerry itself. Some of you argued that voice notes was good enough. ![]() I found the tool to be so amazing that it prompted me to write about why I think BBM should introduce push to talk. My first experience with a PTT app was Voxer. There isn’t even a “send” button to worry about. Push a button, hold the button, and talk. If you’ve ever used a Walkie Talkie before, or a Nextel PTT phone, then you understand the power of simplicity. Many of you took to the comments to blast WhatsApp for creating “a shortcut for voice notes”, an old feature. We all get that WhatsApp, while it is an app on our beloved platform, is also a competitor. The comments have been pretty harsh, which isn’t surprising considering this is an enthusiast site, and you all know BBM is going cross platform soon. Bla1ze already gave you a quick rundown on this news. Last night we got wind that the cross platform mobile instant messaging leader, WhatsApp, has been rolling push to talk (PTT) into the application.
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