Which API is right for me?
Within our Developer Tools for PC/Mac, there are multiple methods to connect to our headsets. These methods differ based on the platform(s) you'd like to work with and the language(s) you'd like to code with:
1. ThinkGear Connector (TGC)
Runs as a background program, allowing your program to get ThinkGear data from a standard TCP/IP socket
- easiest (The TGC daemon app provides UI for setting up and maintaining the COM port connection to the headset for you)
- Platforms: Any platform that can communicate through sockets (The TGC daemon program itself must run on a Windows or Mac OSX system though)
- Languages: Flash, or any language that can communicate through sockets (which includes almost all popular programming languages)
2. ThinkGear Communications Driver (TGCD) for Various Languages
Link a shared library: .dll or .bundle
- moderate (You have to call functions from the shared library)
- Platforms: Windows, Mac OSX, Windows Mobile, or any platform that can use functions from a .dll or .bundle
- Languages: C/C++, C#, Java (through JNI), or any language that can call shared library functions
A J2ME .jar library
- moderate (You have to call functions from the .jar library, and only for J2ME platforms)
- Platforms: J2ME
- Languages: Java
3. ThinkGear Communications Protocol
Specification Document tgam1_communication_protocol_-_copy.pdf
- harder (You have to open and read from the serial I/O port, and then parse the incoming data stream)
- Platforms: Any platform that can open and read from a serial I/O (or UART) port
- Languages: Any language that can open and read from a serial I/O port