OnBeep is working to combine wearables, bluetooth, and smartphones

Jesse Robbins, the founder of Opscode, has launched a new startup called OnBeep whose purpose is as of yet, still a mystery. The startup appears to be working on ways to enable smart phones to pull double duty as walkie-talkie devices often used by first responders and blue-collar workers.

OnBeep , the stealthy startup launched by Opscode founder Jesse Robbins, is intentionally vague about what it’s up to, but some details are starting to emerge. The San Francisco company is working to combine wearables, bluetooth technology and smartphones to offer the sort of push-to-talk (PTT) capabilities provided by specialized radio devices often used by first responders, sources said. I would be willing to bet, however, that the walkie-talkie-like PTT capabilities will be one part of a multi-channel device, but I have no confirmation of that.