[crxsitogo]

i have a class where i'm designing a product, walkie-talkies-for a power tool company (in theory)
what are some advatanges that a consumer would choose a walkie for a worksie, rather than say a nextel phone?
also, what features would you expect from a radio?
ie- 20 foot drops and not crack, battery (internal, etc..
any help will help.

 

[stick]

Walkie talkies can communicate to multiple people at a time without having to dial a number.... just pick up the walkie talkie and give someone hell over the radio. :lol:

 

[Stavros]

a good feature could be a hands-free option for operation. maybe a paging system? just throwing some random ideas at you

 

[crxfisher]

Walkie-talkie's are a one-time cost. No monthly fees.

 

[kellerscobra]

Is your product, in theory, going to compete against Nextel phones and the Direct Connect service? I work for Nextel in the Network Engineering group and can help you assist in what the Nextel phones can\can't do.

As mentioned above, the biggest advantage to a "regular" walkie talkie is that it's a one time fee and they're cheap.
Other advantages and must haves:
Extended battery life would be great.
Built to Military standards
Some type of encryption
GPS
Some type of contact list, so you can specify who you want to contact.

Here are some Nextel features that yours would compete against:

Direct-Talk, which is a off air walkie talkie feature. You don't have to have signal for the walkie talkie feature to work. Disadvantage - both parties require Direct-Talk phones

Group Connect - You can walkie talkie a group of people. You can either have a pre-defined group or you can do an ad-hoc group call.

NationWide and International Direct Connect - obviously both need to have service.

Sub-second call setup

 

[bobski]

GPS

It could be a nice feature on a very large worksite or maybe if the jobsite changes frequently, but would be a bit pointless on say, a building construction site. In a worksite with a small footprint, the GPS hardware would just add weight, interface complexity and cost. Garmin sells a combination GPS-FRS unit that lets you transmit your coordinates to another unit, allowing them to navigate to you... Might be worth looking at.
Anyway, I'll add rechargable batteries. A decent capacity lithium polymer battery and a drop-in charging station would be good features. That way when the end of the day rolls around, you can just drop the unit on it's charging station on your way out the door. It's more difficult to gunk up charging station contacts compared to your typical power adapter connector, and would allow for water resistance.

 

[crxsitogo]

since these will be concepts I'll go all out, ie, gps, military grade, and why just limit myself to audio communication, i'll have it do direct video. i'll post concept drawings once get some time.
these are all great advantages too!! thanks!!
i'll probably map out a menu structure as well, again, all this is theory and designing problems encountered with current devices-one of my friends in class was doing a portable dishwasher, say for a dorm room or office, and the teacher grilled her on having to solve issues-power, heat, water/waste management, to him the ultimate dishwasher would be where he would just throw the dishes and it and it does the rest (an he did an underhand pitching motion too) so, again, it's just trying to asolve issues.