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" They do sophisticated things, like browse the Web and take photos. So what&amp;#039;s compelling about the new Nextel i730, whose most interesting feature is its ability to be a walkie-talkie? For the last couple of years, I&amp;#039;ve seen cable guys, electricians, and Verizon repairmen (way too many of them) using the Nextel system, and I just couldn&amp;#039;t understand why. How hard is it to push a speed-dial button on a cell phone and wait for a ring or two?  When Nextel announced that its system worked coast to coast, I asked Esquire to get me some phones. There are a few hours in the day when my assistants, Joi in East Hampton, New York, and Mary in Los Angeles, are out of contact with me. I know how uncomfortable that makes them. I thought the new i730 might be the solution. I also gave one to the wife to take to New York City, where she goes once a week for cultural nourishment and haircuts.  When you&amp;#039;re in walkie-talkie mode, the phone chirps out a little beep when you&amp;#039;re done talking, so you don&amp;#039;t have to constantly say &amp;quot;over&amp;quot; at the end of every sentence, as if you&amp;#039;re sending in the Third Battalion. Sweetie kept ignoring my voice coming out of her purse: &amp;quot;Sweetie, you there?&amp;quot; Chirp! &amp;quot;Sweetie, when did it rain?&amp;quot; Chirp! &amp;quot;Was it last Thursday or Friday?&amp;quot; Chirp! &amp;quot;Sweetie, are you okay?&amp;quot; Chirp! She got home that night and threw the phone down on my desk. But Joi, Mary, and I think it&amp;#039;s pretty cool. You have a list of names and groups, and you simply select the people you want to connect with, press the push-to-talk button, and you&amp;#039;re on. &amp;quot;Mary, any calls?&amp;quot; &amp;quot;No.&amp;quot; &amp;quot;No? Not even Joel Silver?&amp;quot; &amp;quot;Wait, Barry, my phone&amp;#039;s ringing. This might be him.&amp;quot; &amp;quot;Mary?&amp;quot; &amp;quot;Hold on, Barry.&amp;quot; &amp;quot;Mary? Joi?&amp;quot; &amp;quot;Barry, stop talking. It&amp;#039;s Heavy D. Do you want to talk to him?&amp;quot; &amp;quot;Did he hear me?&amp;quot; &amp;quot;Well, yeah.&amp;quot; &amp;quot;Okay, I guess.&amp;quot; If you think this seems more like chaos than simplification, you&amp;#039;re not exactly wrong. And, yeah, I could speed-dial Joi on a regular cell and ask if any new gadgets arrived via FedEx. But somehow, that feels too desperate. The walkie-talkie feature makes it seem an afterthought. It&amp;#039;s like talking, not calling. Of course, the i730 has a color screen, can connect to the Internet, and works as a regular cell phone, too. But there&amp;#039;s something wonderfully immediate about a coast-to-coast walkie-talkie that lets your whole group be in on the conversation. Except for Sweetie, who is more than happy to be left out of the loop. $300; nextel.com. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.esquire.com/news-politics/a2620/esq0104-sonnenfield/>