WebRTC: Hello Firefox, this is Chrome calling!

[menotu]

Monday, February 04, 2013

Hello Firefox, this is Chrome calling!

For the first time, Chrome and Firefox can “talk” to each other via WebRTC. WebRTC is a new set of technologies that brings clear crisp voice, sharp high-definition (HD) video and low-delay communication to the web browser.

From the very beginning, this joint WebRTC effort was embraced by the open web community, including engineers from the Chrome and Firefox teams. The common goal was to help developers offer rich, secure communications, integrated directly into their web applications

To try this yourself, you’ll need desktop Chrome 25 Beta and Firefox Nightly for Desktop. In Firefox, you'll need to go to about:config and set the

media.peerconnection.enabled pref to "true”.

Then head over to the WebRTC demo site and start calling.

WebRTC demo site (very busy)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MsAWR_rJ5n8&feature=player_embedded

http://blog.chromium.org/2013/02/hello-firefox-this-is-chrome-calling.html

[Just17]

There is a long way to go before we see it on our desktops it seems.

Personally I do not like to use a browser for communications ......... we'll see if this can overcome my hesitancy ..... 

[dixonpete]

That vid was _very_ impressive. Seamless communication thru a browser? Bring it on!

[sling-shot]

Lots more potential for social engineered attacks ?

[tschommer]

That vid was _very_ impressive. Seamless communication thru a browser? Bring it on!

+1!

[menotu]

From arstechnica (MWC) - 24 Feb 2013

AT&T-Mozilla (and Ericsson) "WebPhone" gives a glimpse of the dumb pipe future

By combining Firefox's new WebRTC support, Ericsson's Web Communication Gateway, and AT&T's API Platform, Mozilla has demonstrated calls, text messages, and video calls all being made from within the browser in a proof-of-concept application AT&T calls WebPhone. WebPhone will be demonstrated next week at the Mobile World Congress conference.

With the right phone operator support, the plugin-free technology can potentially offer a full range of telephony services through the browser. This decouples traditional phone services from the phone itself, potentially enabling access to the phone and text messages from anywhere with an Internet connection and WebRTC-enabled browser. The demo is currently limited in scope, with AT&T planning to roll out an alpha version of the full API "in the near future".

http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2013/02/att-mozilla-webphone-gives-a-glimpse-of-the-dumb-pipe-future/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+arstechnica%2Findex+%28Ars+Technica+-+All+content%29