Loudtalks

This is a second iteration of Deepwell experiment. The previous one (the attempt to use it as a test contact) was unsuccessful and resulted in a bunch of support emails, which sounded nearly schizophrenic: “…sometimes I hear voices, how do I hear myself?”

We let “echo” do what it’s supposed to do and moved Deepwell robot over to “voices” username. After a little modification now it could be used to meet new people in quite unusual way.

Here is how to use it:

1. Add “voices” to your contacts
2. Select “voices” in your contacts list, push F7 button and speak something about yourself for 5-20 seconds.
3. Release F7 button and hear the message from another user, which will be randomly picked up from the queue.
4. Watch the status line as it tells you, who was the author of the message you are hearing
   
5. If you like, what you hear, add the user to your contacts and as soon as he approves your request — you can talk!
6. Repeat steps 2-5 until as necessary :)

Since this feature is experimental and just launched you might notice that there are few messages in the pipeline. That’s normal and if anybody will find it useful, there will be many more interesting people to meet there soon!

(update 11/6/2007: Based on feedback from users, we replaced “DeepWell” build with a normal echo, which repeats back whatever you say to it. DeepWell moves over to “voices” username)

Today we launched the first bot in Loudtalks network. It’s name is “echovoices” and it’s added to all new users’ contacts automatically. You can add or remove it manually too.

The first purpose of this bot is to help users testing Loudtalks themselves before inviting friends. It does that in somewhat unusual way. The best way to experience “DeepWell” project is to login to Loudtalks, add “voices” to your contacts and tell something to it.

If you just want a spoiler here is what it does.

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Changes list:

1. Feature rollback: don’t force microphone boost. Added few versions back it fixed some users’ problems with low sound level, but also created them for others (too high noise). We are working on more intelligent solution. In the interim please use a manual procedure for adjusting your microphone level, when necessary
2. Automatically set Busy mode, when sound is muted. You won’t miss any message anymore because your sound was off. This is especially convenient, when your laptop has the hard mute button (my Thinkpad has the one)
3. Bugfix: Busy network conditions sometimes caused flashing contacts online status back and force.
4. Better handling of concurrent speech and interruptions. It means when you speak to someone and incoming message arrives it won’t be lost or played immediately (which would create potential privacy breach). Instead it’s queued and will be played after you finish speaking.

Download the new release

Enjoy and as always we are looking for your feedback and suggestions.

P.S. If you are a new user and noticed a weird “echo” contact in your contacts list don’t pay much attention just yet :) We are testing it right now and it’s a little buggy. The stable version is expected tomorrow along with the announcement. And no, it’s not your typical “echo test application”.

The new minor release is here.

Changes list:

1. New UI languages — Finnish and German. Kudos to Maria Dubovaya and Andreas Giesen for their generous contribution
2. Click and hold on the contact can be used to start talking
3. Updated look of Speak button — now it lights red, when active
4. Bugfix: Race conditions, when logging in from multiple locations

Download the new release

We are still tweaking network algorithms so if you experience any issues with connectivity or contacts visibility, please let us know.

We are starting a private beta testing of Loudtalks for Windows Mobile. If you have a device running Windows Mobile 6.0, Windows Mobile 5.0 or Windows Mobile 2003, and willing to try the first mobile Loudtalks before anyone else, drop me an email at alex@loudtalks.com

Here is how it looks on HP iPAQ rx3715:

Loudtalks 0.9.0.28 for Windows is released today. Here are release notes.

1. Preferred UI language is detected automatically during setup
2. Automatic re-connect after network connection is restored
3. Custom status messages
4. Bugfix: Installation in Windows 2000 failed with IPHLPAPI.DLL error

To set the custom status message right-click on the text on the status bar and edit it.

Status messages are saved per status, so you may set different text for each state — Online, Away, Busy and Headphones.

To update just download the new setup and run the installation wizard (you don’t have to uninstall the previous version or exit Loudtalks)

Download the latest release

Today we released a major update. Here are the changes:

1. Added support for UI localization. English, Russian and Spanish (beta) languages are included
2. Group channels support
3. Logout progress indication
4. Sound capture device is configured automatically (fixes no sound problem some users reported with 0.9.0.25)
5. Updated versions can be installed without terminating Loudtalks
6. Better look of initial screen, when contacts list is empty
7. Improved installation experience for the new users
8. Misc. reliability fixes

Let’s dig into some of the new features.

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I created the Loudtalks group at Facebook. If you are using both Loudtalks and Facebook please join.

I’m not sure how useful this would be but it won’t harm so why not give it a try.

After testing Loudtalks with several users (thanks guys!) I realized that we need to do a better job communicating how the software works and all cool features we have. This guide (based on version 0.9.0.24 0.9.0.26, updated) explains Loudtalks step-by-step.

Download and Installation

The download is less than a megabyte and would take ~20 seconds on DSL connection. Once you received the file, launch it and follow the wizard.

If previous version of Loudtalks is running during installation, it will be terminated automatically.

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We released a minor Loudtalks update today (version 0.9.0.20), which improves sound quality (makes it suck less) under bad network conditions (read — TechCrunch40 WiFi network).

If you want to try Loudtalks quickly, feel free to add me to your contacts.

1. Login to Loudtalks
2. Go to “Tools > Add a contact…”
3. Enter “alex” and click Next, and then Finish

Leave Loudtalks running and when I come online I’ll add you and we can do a quick test.