Founded in 2003, Priologic Software is a Canadian company that has in the past worked on projects to develop custom applications and enterprise platforms. However, as of this year, the company has shifted its focus toward WebRTC and has doubled down on the technology with the launch of Tawk.com at the WebRTC Conference & Expo taking place this week in Atlanta.
Tawk.com is a free browser-based video chat service that differentiates from similar offerings with a focus on security and anonymity. In light of PRISM, anonymity will indeed make Tawk.com an attractive alternative as compared to account-based chat services for many people.
"What’s really unique about Tawk.com is that we’ve removed the login to save startup time and preserve anonymity," said Doug Pelton, founder and CEO of Priologic. "Go to Tawk.com, name a room, send the room’s shortlink to friends, they join by clicking the link, you see their picture and accept the call. Connect in seconds. Skype and Google Hangouts require you join their club, give them personal information, then download and install a plugin or a program, minutes instead of seconds."
Indeed, since Tawk.com is based on WebRTC, users can enjoy a completely browser-based experience without the need to download or install anything. It also means that conversations are transmitted over HTTPS (HTTP over SSL), providing a level of security on par with online banking.
Actually, Tawk.com is based on Priologic's EasyRTC Enterprise platform, which the company unveiled earlier this year. This cloud-hosted platform allows developers to more quickly develop WebRTC applications while eliminating the need to use Google's App Engine or building an independent backend.
Furthermore, because Tawk.com only runs on WebRTC-capable browsers like Chrome or Firefox, it is aimed more at a younger demographic, since many users over 30 favor Internet Explorer, which doesn't yet support the standard. The service is also available on Android via Chrome, while iOS users can expect a Tawk app by mid-July.
Edited by
Alisen Downey
