Talky

Very interesting – a real-time, largely browser-based video, audio, chat, screen-sharing, etc system requiring no sign-up, no fees, no persistent data. Just pick a URL for a web meeting (webinar), and share it with 15 or more other people. It’s not exactly Adobe Connect, but it has all the main features needed for quick, easy web conferencing with no need for proprietary plugins.

There are no ads, it runs on most browsers that support WebRTC (best on Chrome, Firefox, or one of their many derivatives) and there are mobile apps for it. It’s not just a connection service for WebRTC – there are TURN and STUN servers involved too, so this costs a fair bit for the company to develop and run. It took me a while to figure out how they ever intend to make any money but I think it seems to involve a model much like that of BigBlueButton, with paid-for services like recording, app integration, broadcast etc available through TalkyCore. 

Like all WebRTC implementations, much depends on the browser and router, so this might not work for everyone all the time, but I think it looks very promising, especially now that Firefox has removed Hello from its browser.

Address of the bookmark: https://talky.io/

I am a professional learner, employed as a Full Professor and Associate Dean, Learning & Assessment, at Athabasca University, where I research lots of things broadly in the area of learning and technology, and I teach mainly in the School of Computing & Information Systems. I am a proud Canadian, though I was born in the UK. I am married, with two grown-up children, and three growing-up grandchildren. We all live in beautiful Vancouver.

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