6 ms·

Turn Any Web Browser Into a Phone With JQuery

73 points by dwynings 16y ago

peteysd 16y ago
Hmm. Not quite any browser. Only those that run Flash, it seems.
- alexyoung 16y ago
  If anyone is wondering how this might be done without Flash/Java, WhatWG have spec'd recording for the HTML5 Stream API but I don't think it's properly defined or implemented in any browser yet: http://www.whatwg.org/specs/web-apps/current-work/multipage/commands.html#stream-api http://www.whatwg.org/specs/web-apps/current-work/multipage/...
  - alanh 16y ago
    Why wouldn't Comet or various long polling techniques work? Or web sockets?
    - qeorge 16y ago
      They're referring to the fact that Flash is the only way to record audio from the user's mic at this time. The spec linked by the grandparent outlines an HTML5 API for accessing the microphone. Flash is also the only way to record video from a webcam at this time, as far as I know.
      - alanh 16y ago
        Technically Java applets (or custom browser plugins) should be able to work as well, but I don’t see much of an advantage over Flash (well, probably compatibility with 64-bit browsers). Certainly Flash is more common.
        akalsey 16y ago
        Java's security model is meaning a HUGE Java applet to do this. And a custom plugin requires that you get people to install it. Works if you're Google (that's how they do Voice in Gmail), but probably not if you're Joe's Bait Shop wanting to add a click to call application.
  - pshapiro 16y ago
    Here's something else that might be of some interest to you. Slightly off topic -- video chat implemented in HTML5. https://labs.ericsson.com/developer-community/blog/beyond-html5-conversational-voice-and-video-implemented-webkit-gtk https://labs.ericsson.com/developer-community/blog/beyond-ht...
  - akalsey 16y ago
    Among other things, it doesn't yet define what codecs would be used in the audio capture. There's also a lot of comments in the draft that amount to "we'll figure out how this part would work later." http://dev.w3.org/2009/dap/camera/ http://dev.w3.org/2009/dap/camera/ is probably a better link if you're interested in this stuff. Phono is intended to be a unified jQuery API for real time communications (audio, video, chat, screen sharing). The Flash movie is an implementation detail -- the API is intended to be implementable with other media capture methods when they're available, including HTML5.
owkaye 16y ago
I tried it. The website said it was ringing before my phone rang, then it said connected before my phone rang. Then my phone rang and I picked up, but no voice was transmitted in either direction. Interesting concept but it doesn't work for me.
varenc 16y ago
Works great for me. I wonder what people will use this for...
- 404error 16y ago
  Maybe for customer service?
  - akalsey 16y ago
    Or maybe you'd like to build the next Skype?
estel 16y ago
Some earlier comments: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1798036 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1798036
DTrejo 16y ago
Turn any phone into a video-game controller with nodaphone! Source: http://github.com/DTrejo/nodaphone http://github.com/DTrejo/nodaphone Demo: http://dtrejo.no.de/ http://dtrejo.no.de/ (Disclaimer: my project)
JoeBracken 16y ago
Neat application.
tlrobinson 16y ago
Can someone please explain the obsession with making everything a jQuery plugin. Why is $.phono() better than phono()? Has "jQuery plugin" just become a euphemism for "this project requires jQuery and add itself to the $ object"?
- ashearer 16y ago
  Technical rationale aside, it's been a brilliantly successful symbiotic marketing strategy for both jQuery and its plugins.
invisible 16y ago
I am very excited about the prospect of Phono Gateway :). I have a service that's begging for Phono (as a resell/addon), but I need Phono Gateway to deploy it internally as a proof-of-concept.

73 points by dwynings 16y ago

peteysd 16y ago

Hmm. Not quite any browser. Only those that run Flash, it seems.

alexyoung 16y ago
If anyone is wondering how this might be done without Flash/Java, WhatWG have spec'd recording for the HTML5 Stream API but I don't think it's properly defined or implemented in any browser yet: http://www.whatwg.org/specs/web-apps/current-work/multipage/commands.html#stream-api http://www.whatwg.org/specs/web-apps/current-work/multipage/...
- alanh 16y ago
  Why wouldn't Comet or various long polling techniques work? Or web sockets?
  - qeorge 16y ago
    They're referring to the fact that Flash is the only way to record audio from the user's mic at this time. The spec linked by the grandparent outlines an HTML5 API for accessing the microphone. Flash is also the only way to record video from a webcam at this time, as far as I know.
    - alanh 16y ago
      Technically Java applets (or custom browser plugins) should be able to work as well, but I don’t see much of an advantage over Flash (well, probably compatibility with 64-bit browsers). Certainly Flash is more common.
      - akalsey 16y ago
        Java's security model is meaning a HUGE Java applet to do this. And a custom plugin requires that you get people to install it. Works if you're Google (that's how they do Voice in Gmail), but probably not if you're Joe's Bait Shop wanting to add a click to call application.
- pshapiro 16y ago
  Here's something else that might be of some interest to you. Slightly off topic -- video chat implemented in HTML5. https://labs.ericsson.com/developer-community/blog/beyond-html5-conversational-voice-and-video-implemented-webkit-gtk https://labs.ericsson.com/developer-community/blog/beyond-ht...
- akalsey 16y ago
  Among other things, it doesn't yet define what codecs would be used in the audio capture. There's also a lot of comments in the draft that amount to "we'll figure out how this part would work later." http://dev.w3.org/2009/dap/camera/ http://dev.w3.org/2009/dap/camera/ is probably a better link if you're interested in this stuff. Phono is intended to be a unified jQuery API for real time communications (audio, video, chat, screen sharing). The Flash movie is an implementation detail -- the API is intended to be implementable with other media capture methods when they're available, including HTML5.

owkaye 16y ago

I tried it. The website said it was ringing before my phone rang, then it said connected before my phone rang. Then my phone rang and I picked up, but no voice was transmitted in either direction. Interesting concept but it doesn't work for me.

varenc 16y ago

Works great for me. I wonder what people will use this for...

404error 16y ago
Maybe for customer service?
- akalsey 16y ago
  Or maybe you'd like to build the next Skype?

estel 16y ago

Some earlier comments: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1798036 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1798036

DTrejo 16y ago

Turn any phone into a video-game controller with nodaphone! Source: http://github.com/DTrejo/nodaphone http://github.com/DTrejo/nodaphone Demo: http://dtrejo.no.de/ http://dtrejo.no.de/ (Disclaimer: my project)

JoeBracken 16y ago

Neat application.

tlrobinson 16y ago

Can someone please explain the obsession with making everything a jQuery plugin. Why is $.phono() better than phono()? Has "jQuery plugin" just become a euphemism for "this project requires jQuery and add itself to the $ object"?

ashearer 16y ago
Technical rationale aside, it's been a brilliantly successful symbiotic marketing strategy for both jQuery and its plugins.

invisible 16y ago

I am very excited about the prospect of Phono Gateway :). I have a service that's begging for Phono (as a resell/addon), but I need Phono Gateway to deploy it internally as a proof-of-concept.