I just had my first conversation on WIRE, the new messaging app from the creators of Skype that launched today. Wow. It was just a simple conversation with a friend in Berlin. But the clarity, depth and richness of his voice coming out of the tiny speakers in my screen was so compelling that it made listening effortless and pleasurable. I never believe copy describing new levels of performance and quality that herald product introductions. Ive written too much copy like that myself. But I have to tell you that WIRE gave me the first digital app voice experience that achieves what telco pros describe as presence -- the experience of being co-present -- in the same space with the other person in the conversation. You can try the beta of WIRE yourself -- for computer, tablet or phone -- at https://wire/ . The UI is elegantly minimalistic -- what Amber Case likes to call calm technology -- with nothing to distract you from conversations and content. I only used the voice messaging on a computer today -- but WIRE claims to be totally fresh approach for all forms of messaging on all kinds of devices. I think it can also be used as a platform for watching videos and movies. That would be great because sound can totally transform the viewing experience. I wonder if WIRE will end up providing me with a new pair of ears. So now I know why Alan Duric was so cheerful on FACEBOOK this morning. Turns out Alan is the CTO of WIRE, and his Early Start exlamation was about launching WIRE and not about being the early bird that gets the worm. (Im told congrats are also due Koen Vos. Vos is the signal processing algorithms jedi who created Skypes super-wideband codec SILK. Was also co-creator of the widely used Opus codec. I dont know what kind of coding magic Vos used to produce the sound I just heard. All I know is that it made the earth move for me today.) Heres hoping WIRE takes off like a rocket. Because after my first conversation via WIRE, I never want to have to talk over Skype or carrier grade phone service ever again. P.S. For the geeks among us, Lee S Dryburgh, founder of the ECOMM (Emerging Communications) Conference, suggests this Guardian article on WIRE and todays launch at theguardian/…/wire-communications-skype-janu… Also Thanks to Aaron Day, my ace audio product designer in Berlin, whos been working on WIRE for a year and half without telling me. But this morning, he emailed me the link for the launch download, said we needed to talk.
Posted on: Thu, 04 Dec 2014 00:21:34 +0000
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