Speaking is Back: Talko Makes Voice Communication Cool Again

We’ve had chat. We’ve had video calling. We’ve had image messaging. We’ve had Yo, and just recently, we’ve even had emoji messaging. But believe it or not, talking to each other might be the Next Big Thing in communication — and I’m only half-joking.

This week, the former Chief Technical Officer of Microsoft, Ray Ozzie, released his latest project to the world. It is called Talko, it is now available (free) in the App Store, and it is designed to make it easier for teams to work together by just letting people speak to each other. This can be live, in the standard Skype sense, or people who missed the call can listen in afterwards and add their own audio input. This is conference calling and voicemail for the VOIP age, and when you consider the increased efficiency of talking versus touchscreen typing, you can see why this is a genuinely good idea.


The app doesn’t rely on the talky “gimmick” either. It has been designed with the workplace in mind, and it provides a number of features to help you get things done. It allows for to-dos, bookmarks, photos and notes to be shared with your group, and tagged for easy organization. It is a slick interface in its own right, but it is made all the more impressive by the continued theme of audible productivity — most of the app’s functions can be voice controlled.

Of course, in its current form, Talko isn’t likely to replace Whatsapp as an everyday form of communication. But for the work-time niche at which it is aimed, it is a significant improvement on any other similar platform I’ve seen, and what’s more, the idea is now out there for other developers to build on.

So, in summary, I thoroughly recommend you check out Talko.

Talko is out now in the App Store, and is free to download.

Extra Time — Manual

While you’re here, the enthusiastic photographer in me has to tell you about another app released this week, called Manual.

The iPhone does an amazing job of judging exposure. But as anyone from a DSLR background will testify, auto settings simply can’t match the hands-on approach of adjusting shutter speed, ISO and aperture yourself. Manual lets you do just that, as well as giving you control over white balance and focusing. It even offers exposure bracketing.

On a phone?! Mind blown.

Manual is available via the App Store, priced at $1.99.


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