QwikChat

standards-based multimedia messaging

QwikChat™ is an instant messaging application and service that was initially released in 2001. It supports one-to-one (instant message) and one-to-many (chat room) communications. The increasing popularity of the Jabber (XMPP) platform caused me to temporarily put the project on hold. After some time, I realized that the world of video conferencing applications available at the time (2002) was small. I felt that Microsoft's NetMeeting was great as it was followed some basic Internet telephony standards like H.323, but it was too complex for the average user.

After putting the text-only version of QwikChat on hold, I started to develop QwikChat Video Conference, a video chat application. Its goal was to be easier to use than H.323 applications like NetMeeting, while still maintaining efficiency and functionality. QwikChat Video Conference uses JPEG to compress the video with user-definable levels of compression, and H.323 to transmit full-duplex audio.

Currently QwikChat Video Conference (QCVC) development is on hold due to the resurrection of the text-only QwikChat client. QwikChat version 2 will incorporate much of the technology used in QCVC, in order to create an all-in-one real-time, cross-platform messaging client.

Long ago, there was also a QwikChat server which implemented the QwikChat Protocol (QCP) and for which a Java applet and a Windows client were written. The server supported user-to-user messaging, chat rooms, administrative functions, as well as firewall-friendly HTTP-based file transfer. It is no longer in development, but one day it may see light again, if I decide to publish a reference server implementation of QCP.

As the release date for QwikChat version 2 is not yet known, you may want to check out QwikChat Video Conference (QCVC) in the meantime.

Version 2 Features

full Jabber/XMPP support
encrypted conversations (audio, video, text)
cross-platform support
- official: Windows, Linux
- unofficial: Mac OS X, BSD
standards-compliant: MPEG-4, AVC/H.264, SIP, SDP, RTSP, OpenPGP
IPv6 support: client-to-server, client-to-client

News

2006.03.02 - I've noticed a slight problem with audio & video support that is to be included in QwikChat 2. The cross-platform multimedia API, JMF, that I was planning to use, is obviously not being developed anymore by Sun, and I'm not too keen on using outdated software. I'm actively looking for a cross-platform audio & video capture API. I don't like the idea of writing a JNI wrapper...
2005.10.06 - QwikChat is back in development. A complete rewrite is in progress. Version 2 will support non-Windows platforms as well as standards such as XMPP/Jabber, SDP, SIP, RTP, RTSP, and more! Version 1 used H.323, which is difficult for NAT users. Version 2 will support more than just a JPEG-based video codec. AVC/H.264 is a codec candidate.
2004.04.11 - updated site. planning for a new permanent hostname like qwikchat.svc.unoc.net instead of the old qwikchat.virusexperts.com.

Status

The Qwikchat 2 core is under development. For more information, please visit the development page.

Legalese

Warning: QwikChat™ and QwikChat Video Conference™ are trademarks of Amir Malik. Other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.