The Making of Talkie: Multi-interface broadcasting and multicast

Part 2

TalkieTalkie is my newest product, a Walkie Talkie for iPhone and Mac.

In Part 1 of this series, I wrote about basic broadcasting. This works fine with one network device, but it’s worth discussing how to send through all devices, so you can communicate with others connected via, say, Ethernet and WiFi simultaneously.

So, in Part 2 I’ll write about the approach I took in Talkie for broadcasting from all network devices (a.k.a. network interfaces), so that one can communicate with others connected via WiFi, Ethernet (on a Mac), and any other network devices simultaneously.

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The Making of Talkie: Broadcasting

Part 1

TalkieTalkie is my newest product, the result of a collaboration with a good designer friend, Tim Churchward, who did the user interface.

Talkie is a little different from many of the other walkie talkie applications on the App Store (aside from the fact that much of it was written by me from our motorhome in Tunisia!), and I thought I’d write a little about some of the tech underpinning the app, and some of the choices we made. Along the way it may get a little tutorial-esque.

  • This first part will introduce our initial motivations, and will talk about basic broadcast communications — the broadcast communications part may be very familiar to some, in which case it may be worth skipping to the next instalment.
  • In the second part, I’ll continue the theme of networking, and will talk about what I ended up with for Talkie’s network code after addressing a couple of things, including switching to multicast.
  • Finally, I’ll talk audio, dual platform development, and anything else I think of along the way (Actually, I’m aching to talk about one particular upcoming feature that had me jumping up and down when I first thought of it, but for now, mum’s the word on that one.)
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A Tasty Pixel’s store and Talkie for Mac Premium

I’m happy to announce that the store is now open for business! We accept PayPal and all major credit cards, in four currencies.

Talkie for Mac 1.0 is now available, and can be registered to access the features of Talkie for Mac Premium:

  • Talk to others using the free version of Talkie for Mac
  • Push-to-talk calls with anyone over the Internet, coming next in Talkie for Mac 2.0

…On top of the features of the free version of Talkie for Mac, of course:

  • Zero-configuration operation: Start Talkie, and start talking
  • 12 distinct channels
  • Configurable global hotkey to transmit while performing other tasks
  • Unobtrusive interface
  • Incoming and outgoing audio indicators
  • Mute facility
  • Talk to others using Talkie for iPhone or Talkie for Mac Premium.
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Talkie for Mac is here

TalkieTalkie for Mac is here!

Note: Talkie has been retired since mid-2011. It may return at a later date. This post remains for historical purposes only.

The current features of Talkie for Mac:

  • Zero-configuration operation: Start Talkie, and start talking
  • 12 distinct channels
  • Configurable global hotkey to transmit while performing other tasks
  • Unobtrusive interface
  • Incoming and outgoing audio indicators
  • Mute facility

The application can be used with Talkie for iPhone for free, as well as with the registered version of Talkie for Mac, codenamed ‘Talkie for Mac Premium’.

To talk to others using the free version of Talkie for Mac, though, Talkie for Mac Premium is $4.99 — available as soon as the store is up and running.

So, go and grab a copy of Talkie for Mac now! Then, leave a comment below and tell me what you think.

Talkie for Mac Screenshot

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