Bistri is finalist in Orange F4ST competition : inventing tomorrow’s broadband services with WebRTC
Orange is organizing a competition to reward the best innovations harnessing the power of broadband, developed by young and upcoming French companies.
Bistri is finalist in the Orange F4ST competition.
Bistri’s project is a WebRTC multi-user video conference, from different kind of devices : web, smartphone, tablet, and a connected TV.
More about the competition :
http://www.orangepartner.com/f4st
The competition is aimed at all French startups and SMEs. It is open to companies from all business sectors that could benefit from very high-speed broadband.
with 4G and fiber, new applications will soon come to light
A judging panel made up of Orange employees has selected the twelve products that best meet the following criteria: the solution’s innovative nature, its ability to harness the power of 4G and/or fiber, and the added value for the end client.
The six companies presenting the most relevant projects will be supported by Orange over a six-week period while the product or service is created.
The companies reaching the final will then present their product to a judging panel. After deliberation, three winners will be chosen in three categories:
- “at home”: the best product or service that harnesses the power of fiber
- “on the move”: the best product or service that harnesses the power of 4G
- a “grand jury prize” that rewards the judging panel’s favorite solution.
The F4ST judging panel :
President :
Delphine Ernotte-Cunci, Directrice Exécutive, Orange France
Members :
- Rémi Bastien, Research Director, Renault
- Thomas Blard, Journalist (watch the video)
- Olivier Duha, President, Croissance+
- Antoine Garrigues, Managing Partner, IRIS Capital
- Marie-Vorgan Le Barzic, Director General, Silicon Sentier
- Pierre-Yves Panis, Design & User experience Director, Orange
- Henri Seydoux, CEO, Parrot
- Jean-Marc Tasseto, CEO, Google France
WebRTC : Chrome and Firefox can now “talk” on Bistri
Another big day today, with the first WebRTC video calls on Bistri between Firefox and Chrome !
Firefox is the second browser after Chrome that has implemented the new W3C P2P communication standard, from the network protocol to the audio and video codecs. But the most important thing : the implementations are working together !
Any advanced user can enjoy this new experience on Bistri.
This is how to make it work.
1 - [UPDATE] Google Chrome > 26, you don’t need Chrome Beta anymore :)
If you have Chrome, check your version by typing “chrome://chrome/” in the address bar, it must be > 26
2 - [UPDATE : Howto with Firefox Stable/Beta]
If you dont have it yet, download Firefox Nightly
If you have Firefox Nightly, check your version by typing “about:” in the address bar, it must be > 22
Now you are ready to test WebRTC from Firefox to Chrome !
3 - If you want to try the interoperability on your own, just open and sign in on Bistri.com on Google Beta.
Then copy/paste your Bistri Link to be reached in the Firefox Nightly window. Your Bistri Link is displayed when your click on “Invite” on the right side of the header on Bistri :
4 - On Firefox Nightly, you are prompted with a question from the browser asking you if you let Bistri have access to your camera and mic.
Once you checked if the right inputs are selected, click on “Share selected devices”.
5 - When you receive an incoming call, Chrome let you choose the Webcam and the micro you like to use on the top-right of the screen.
As the video call starts, don’t forget to click on “Allow” on the top bar.
[UPDATE] If you have more than one audio audio input or camera, click on the camera icon on the right side of the url bar. More information here :
http://support.google.com/chrome/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=2693767
At this moment, if you have more than one audio input or camera, you have the opportunity to change the device that Chrome will use. You can also click on “Always allow this site to use this camera and this microphone”. Note that Chrome will never ask you again about this question, but you can change this option later in the settings of Chrome.
If everything is fine on your computer, you will see this desktop notification :
After a few seconds, tada !
You will see the WebRTC logo on the right.
Try the Fullscreen mode on Firefox by clicking on
If you have any question about how Chrome access to your Camera and Microphone, this a direct link on the Google Chrome documentation.
W3C Interview: Bistri on WebRTC for Video Chat Services
by Ian Jacobs, Head of W3C Marketing and Communications
IJ: How did you get started on this project?
AB: Two years ago I decided to create a web-based, peer-to-peer video call system based on the standards-track document that was just an early draft at the time. We raised funds and started following the WebRTC Working Group. To help us start building the product while the different editors were working on the implementation of WebRTC, we worked with Flash, using their protocols. Our first focus was on simplicity and interoperability, while we built our technology-agnostic platform.
IJ: Now you’ve moved to HTML5?
AB: Yes, the Bistri Web application is fully built with HTML5; we only use Flash as a fallback now. As Chrome support for WebRTC has increased, we have seen WebRTC take over the Flash calls.
IJ: What other technologies are you using?
AB: The tool includes text chat, video effects and screen capture as well. So we use XMPP (chat, signaling), HTML5 video, WebRTC, CSS, JavaScript, WebGL (for video effects), Canvas (for screen capture). We plan to use Rich Communication Services (RCS), which is promoted by telcos in Europe in particular.
New feature : be notified of new events in Bistri
Someone is sending you a file or commenting on your picture ?
Notifications allow you to not miss out on any event !
Find all the actions made by your contacts in the notifications panel :
- new comment on a file/picture
- new file added by one of your contact
- new friend joining on Bistri
Notifications are accessible in Bistri with a click on this icon : 
You can also see the notifications in the Facebook notifications panel if your gateway is activated.
You just need to click on the notification to access details about it.
Enjoy !
Happy New Year from Bistri!
New features : delete, download or forward a file
Dear Bisters,
We listened to you and implemented brand new features so that managing your files on Bistri is easier.
From now on, you can :
- delete a file
- forward a file to another contact
- download the file on your computer
When visualizing a media, you will find those 3 functionalities :
How to delete a file ?
If you shared it with only one Bister, the file will be automatically deleted after you clicked on “Delete”.
If you shared it with multiple contacts, you can choose the specific sharings you want to delete :
How to forward a file ?
You can forward a file to anyone (from Bistri, Facebook, Gmail, Yahoo, Windows Live Messenger, VK) ! Even to an email address.
1. A panel is opening on the right hand side of the pop up :
2. Add a comment and select the contacts :
3. Click on “Send” to forward your file !
We hope you will enjoy these new features !
Enjoy Bistri, and feel free to write a feedback : http://support.bistri.com
Bistri panel participation during WebRTC Conf & Expo
Bistri was part of the panel “The Voice of the Endpoint” during the WebRTC Conference & Expo.
Key browser vendors discussed their plans for putting WebRTC into their products and how they support all of the functionality. The panel members talked about key user adoption issues and how the industry will support and integrate WebRTC.
Panel - The Voice of the Endpoint - Browsers and Application Coverage :
- Arnaud Budkiewicz, Co-Founder & CEO, Bistri
- Phil Edholm (Moderator), PKE Consulting LLC & UC Strategies.com
- Jan Linden Ph.D. , Senior Product Manager, Google
- Thomas Schiavone, Director of Product Management, Twilio
- Mark Weidick, Co Founder, TenHands
What can you say about WebRTC quality of service ?
Pretty good for desktop computer, but mobile devices need hardware codec for vp8 and opus : for now, the video frame rate is low and too much processor resources ( and also battery ) are used.
It’s a break for desktop and mobile interoperability.
How many end users will have a WebRTC enabled device by the end of 2013, 2014?
It will depend on browser’s implementation, interoperability between each other and native implementation on mobile devices.
Most of mobile WebRTC clients will be using native application at the beginning, and will be expended by futur OS support.
How are we going to assure interoperability between browsers and releases?
A version number could be added into PeerConnection object. We have to keep in mind that backward compatibility has to be in the core of the specifications.
How should we build notification into WebRTC (so that someone not on a site can be notified someone wants to interact)?
A solution can be to build a browser plugin using a peerconnection data channel with a dedicated server. When a push is received, the plugin will trigger an event to notify an opened web page.
What is the biggest development headache the implementers have with the current versions? How do we solve this?
For now, webrtc is splitted in two repositories : libjingle and webrtc. Only one webrtc library stored in webrtc repository would be better.
A more exhaustive documentation and more sample code pieces should be useful.
How do we assure that users understand when their node is transmitting audio or video?
For desktop : by turning the camera light on and showing information to the user (as it is already done in Google Chrome browser implementation )
For mobile phones : by using notification light (if any), otherwise a red blinking dot can be encrusted in a corner of the device screen.
How do we control rogue apps – for example one that send out two streams, one to the other party and one to a recording site?
It’s a complex issue : two streams can be sent at the same time if three people want to speak together.
Bistri awarded at WebRTC Conference & Expo
WebRTC Conference and Expo is the opportunity for companies, web application providers, investors and developers to understand the exciting opportunity that WebRTC opens and how it will challenge and change much of today’s communications landscape.
The Conference & Expo took place in San Fransisco between the 27th and 29th of november 2012 and Bistri was gold sponsor of the event.
The WebRTC demonstrations featured applications and solutions that utilize WebRTC today and Bistri took part of it ! Jas Dhillon, Phil Edholm, Carl Ford, Martin Geddes, Jason Hoffman and Blair Pleasant judged the demos to determine five award winners.
And one of those winners was Bistri !
Bistri received the “Beyond the Call” award for the best website implementation that uses WebRTC to communicate in a form other than a phone call.
Bistri video effects and possibility to take snapshot during your video call made a great impression on the jury !
Watch this interview by Blair Pleasant from UCStrategies after Bistri received the award !
New : Bistri introducing the Gallery
Dear Bisters,
Since we launched the private sharing functionality 5 months ago, you probably tried several times to find a picture or a document that you received or sent…
With Bistri, you can share any type of file up to 100 Mb (images, videos, music etc…), with multiple contacts.
From now on, you can visualize all the files shared with your contacts in a gallery of medias. The gallery is showing you all the files you sent or received via Bistri.
The gallery is always accessible with a simple click on this icon in the website header (or in the menu on Bistri mobile application) :
Once inside the gallery, you can filter it to see only the photos or the files shared.
Just click on an image or on a file icon to view it in big and/or download it.
It’s now super easy to see all your files in one place !
We are planning even more features to keep improving your experience with the gallery of shared medias :
- forwarding a file to new contact(s)
- viewing the comments made on a file and adding your own comments
Stay tuned !
Bistri become Gold Sponsor of WebRTC Conference 2012 and Expo in San Francisco
WebRTC Conference and Expo will take place at the South San Francisco Conference Center from Nov. 27 – 29. 2012.
This event, sponsored in part by Bistri, will focus on how WebRTC will transform today’s communications landscape by offering a broad new range of capabilities and business models based off of the WebRTC standard media engine.
This is a two track conference focusing on both the technical issues of WebRTC (standards, security, SIP integration…) as well as the business applications.
This three day conference will kick off with a Google WebRTC Workshop and Applications demonstrations.
Use this special registration link to receive your discount :
https://www.tmcnet.com/scripts/web-rtc/registration.aspx?theplan=WebRTC
View the complete WebRTC Conference and Expo agenda :
http://www.webrtcworld.com/conference/agenda.aspx
