Portable telephone for conveying real time walkie-talkie streaming audio-video

1. A communications device comprising:

a display;

an integral camera;

a memory for storing a buddy list of members possessing enhanced communications devices having video receive capability;

a user interface coupled to the memory, the user interface allowing user selection of a member from the buddy list; and

a user status interface to the memory and to the user interface, the user status interface operable for determining an availability status of the member selected by the user interface and operable for causing an indication of said status to be displayed on the display of the communications device,

wherein the communications device is provided with a walkie-talkie mode, and supports half-duplex communications in the walkie-talkie mode for conveying real time streaming audio-video to at least one receiving device.

2. The communications device according to claim 1 , wherein the communications device is a cellular telephone.

3. The communication device according to claim 1 , wherein, when the communication device operates in the walkie-talkie mode, the communications device conveys streaming of video in real time to said at least one receiving device via a wireless network.

4. The communication device according to claim 1 , wherein the communication device provides real time video streaming in the walkie-talkie mode in a wireless network.

5. The communication device according to claim 1 , wherein the communications device is provided with a walkie-talkie-mode operable for conveying real time streaming audio-video simultaneously with capture of the audio-video to at least one receiving device.

6. The communications device according to claim 1 , wherein the integral camera is configured to operate in walkie-talkie mode.

7. A server for use in a telephone communications system, said server comprising:

a first interface adapted for coupling to a first communications device, the first communications device comprises a display and an integral camera and is provided with a walkie-talkie mode for conveying real time streaming video to the server, and

a second interface adapted to convey said real time streaming video and audio to a second communications device coupled to the second interface, the second communications device comprises a display adapted to display the conveyed real time streaming video, and

a third interface coupled to a presence server, for receiving data therefrom indicative of an availability status of a selected party and for conveying representative data to the first communications device.

8. The server according to claim 7 , further comprising a fourth interface coupled to a group level management server, for receiving therefrom group level management data indicative of predefined groups of members, wherein the server is responsive to said group level management data for conveying real time streaming video to a respective second communications device of each member in the selected group.

9. The server according to claim 7 , further comprising:

an animation processor adapted to receive an audio stream from a communications device having a walkie-talkie mode for conveying an audio stream only to the server, said animation processor being responsive to the audio stream for producing an avatar;

wherein the second interface coupled to the animation processor for allowing said avatar to be conveyed as real time streaming video to a receiving device having video streaming receiving capability.

10. The server according to claim 9 , wherein the animation processor is adapted to access a photograph of a sender of an audio-only message for producing an avatar representative of the sender.

11. A real-time audio-video communications system comprising:

a source client;

a target client;

a protocol converter coupled to the source client and to the target client via an access network; and

a server coupled to the protocol converter and via the access network to the source client and to the target client,

wherein the source client and the target client are provided with a display and a walkie-talkie actuator,

wherein at least one of the source client and the target client is provided with an integral camera,

wherein the server is adapted to convey real time streaming audio-video to the source client and the target client,

wherein the server is adapted to receive real time streaming video from the at least one of the source client and the target client, wherein a client providing the real time streaming video includes an integral camera and provides the real time streaming video in a walkie-talkie mode, and

wherein the source client, the target client, and the server support half-duplex communication in the walkie-talkie mode.

12. The real-time audio-video system according to claim 11 , further comprising:

respective AB presence units in the source client and the target client being coupled to a presence server for maintaining status information relating to the source client and to the target client; and

a Group Management Server coupled to the AB presence units via the access network,

wherein said presence server is coupled to the protocol converter and to the server and the Group Management Server for communicating with the respective AB presence units in the source client and the target client.

13. A server for use in a telephone communications system, the server comprising:

a first interface means for coupling to a first communications device, the first communications device comprises a display and an integral camera and is provided with a walkie-talkie mode for conveying real time streaming video to the server, and

a second interface means for conveying said real time streaming video and audio to a second communications device coupled to the second interface, the second communications device comprises a display adapted to display the conveyed real time streaming video and audio,

wherein the server and the first communications device support half-duplex communication in the walkie-talkie mode.

14. A method for conveying real time streaming audio-video in a communications network, the method comprising:

converting speech and video image of a source communications device using audio codec and video codec into the real time streaming audio-video;

selecting by a source communications device at least one target communications device; and

transmitting via a server the real time streaming audio-video to the at least one selected target communications device,

wherein:

the source and target communications devices support a walkie-talkie mode,

the real time streaming audio-video is transmitted in the walkie-talkie mode, and

the source and target communications devices support half-duplex communication in the walkie-talkie mode.

15. The communication device according to claim 14 , wherein the communications device is a wireless telephone.