Bistri, Video Calls 2.0 - Blog

Gartner Names Bistri as Cool Vendor!... the first WebRTC B2C solution

Wed, 22 May 2013 18:23:00 +0200

Bistri is the first WebRTC B2C solution named as Cool Vendor by Gartner.

Bistri, the fast growing cloud-based communication platform based on WebRTC, announce today that Bistri has been named as “Cool Vendor” in the Cool Vendors in People-Centered Computing 2013 report by Gartner, Inc.

The report notes that Bistri offers the most complete suite of communication tools using the new WebRTC technology inside the web browser. Bistri’s service includes in one single screen instant messaging, presence, notifications, voice and video chat, file transfer, and private storage space.

“We are honored to be highlighted by Gartner in the Cool Vendor Report just two years after we started to build Bistri from scratch” said Arnaud Budkiewicz, Co-Founder & CEO of Bistri. “We believe this validates the strength of the Bistri platform in delivering ‘one of the best current examples of a Web Real-Time Communications solution’”

“Our unique communication platform provides a simple and powerful way to communicate, by removing the need to download a software client or a plugin, or even registering. In the next weeks, we will open our platform to the developer community, publishing free APIs connected to our scalable backend, for an easy access to all the possibilities offered by WebRTC, even on mobile devices.”

Bistri will showcase the latest version of its communication services and some exciting upcoming features at Futur en Seine, in the Orange booth, June 13-16, 2013, and at WebRTC Conference and Expo, in Atlanta, Georgia, June 25-27, 2013.

In this video, Gartner VP Michele Cantara discusses what a Cool Vendor is, and why you should pay attention to them :
http://cdnapi.kaltura.com/index.php/extwidget/openGraph/wid/1_p77ajrv5

video platform video management video solutions video player

WebRTC : Chrome and Firefox can now "talk" on Bistri

Sat, 18 May 2013 20:40:13 +0200

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 - Google Chrome > 26

If you have Chrome, check your version by typing “chrome://chrome/” in the address bar, it must be > 26

2 - If you dont have it yet, download Firefox

If you have Firefox, check your version by typing “about:” in the address bar, it must be > 21

If you have Firefox Beta, check your version by typing “about:” in the address bar, it must be > 22

3 - If you have Firefox Beta > 22, you are ready to go, but if you have Firefox 21, you will need to activate a flag. Just type in the address bar : “about:config”, the flag is : “media.peerconnection.enabled”

Now you are ready to test WebRTC from Firefox to Chrome !

4 - If you want to try the interoperability on your own, just open and sign in on Bistri.com

Then copy/paste your Bistri Link to be reached in the Firefox window. Your Bistri Link is displayed when your click on “Invite” on the right side of the header on Bistri :

5 - On Firefox, 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”.

6 - 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.

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

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.

Enjoy Bistri, and feel free to write a feedback : http://support.bistri.com

First WebRTC statistics in the World!

Fri, 17 May 2013 11:59:00 +0200

A few days ago, has been launched WebRTCStats with AddLive, UberConference, Drum, Symonics, Twelephone, Apidaze and Zingaya as a start. The purpose of this web site is to provide a clear vision of the usage of WebRTC by the end-users. So if you are a vendor of a WebRTC solution feel free to contact us and join the movement by sharing your statistics.
For this first edition of WebRTC Stats, the data comes from Bistri and are based on 1,500,000 minutes of video calls.

First WebRTC Video Calls on a Mobile Web Browser, over 3G/4G

Tue, 14 May 2013 01:49:00 +0200

What an exciting moment to make a video call with a friend, outdoor, but what makes it unforgettable is to make it on a mobile web browser, without additional application.

On this picture, on the left side, Jerome is running Google Chrome on a PC. On the right, Arnaud is using Google Chrome Beta for Android on a Samsung Galaxy Note II 4G.

To save this moment, I made a screenshot with just one single touch on the screen of my smartphone. This is not a new “Smurfs” video effect as the WebGL library we are using to implement video effects is not working yet on this version of Chrome. It’s just a bug, but what a sexy bug !!!

Some additional technical details? Most operators block peer-to-peer traffic over 3G/4G and in that particular case video calls need to be streamed using a TURN server. If you are using Bistri behind a firewall, on a secured network or an enterprise network, the flow will probably go through our TURN infrastructure.

In few weeks the Bistri APIs will let developers use the Bistri Infrastructure to build their own applications. Their imagination will be the limit.

Arnaud
CEO, Bistri

Bistri become Gold Sponsor of WebRTC Conference and Expo 2013 in Atlanta

Sun, 12 May 2013 20:00:00 +0200

The second edition of the WebRTC Conference and Expo will take place at the Cobb Galleria, Atlanta, GA, USA, from the 25th to the 27 of June, 2013.

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.

Don’t miss the Google WebRTC Workshop
[RSVP Required] :

This code, WRTCAB4 will offer a 20% discount for all online registrations:
http://www.webrtcworld.com/conference/registration.aspx

Google experts and engineers will overview the Google WebRTC implementation and how to write applications to run with the Chrome browser that is in the market today. These experts, many who created the WebRTC concept and the open source WebRTC code base that Google has released will discuss the ins and outs of their WebRTC implementations and answer your questions. A must attend for anyone looking at how to deploy WebRTC services in 2013.

Come and visit us on the Bistri exhibition booth, 47.

Bistri will participate to this Pannel session :

New Solutions for Enterprise - Thursday, 9:50-10:30am
Many early WebRTC developments are focused to enterprise. This session will focus on the offers that are being developed and delivered, with focus on why the new entrants believe their offers should change the interpose landscape. The focus will be on how WebRTC and the underlying adoption of Web and JavaScript programming enable new entrants to deliver capacities more rapidly. emphasis will also be given to the issues that make these offers different from traditional telephony and when they are appropriate for enterprise users.

and is planning to make an amazing demo!

Getting Real - 16 WebRTC Demos - Wednesday, 4:30-5:45pm
This popular session promises to be exciting in 2013 as it was in 2012. In 2012 the winners were exciting displays of how WebRTC could be used and led to many new opportunities. With an open invitation to the WebRTC community to show off their products and developments, this will be an opportunity to have your WebRTC application seen and evaluated. A panel of judges will evaluate the 16 participants with awards for best in classes based on rapid fire 10 minute demos. The judges will include entrepreneurs and Venture Capitalists.

Last year at the WebRTC Conference & Expo in San Francisco, Bistri won the “Beyond the call” award :

View the complete WebRTC Conference and Expo agenda :
http://www.webrtcworld.com/conference/agenda.aspx

Bistri Button : One-Click WebRTC Video Calling

Fri, 26 Apr 2013 11:14:00 +0200

Create and customize your own Bistri “click-to-call” button then add it to any web site in few easy steps!

From now on and if you decide so, anybody can know your presence even before clicking on your Bistri button and then make a video call, start a chat conversation, or send files up to 100Mb each. And all that can happen in one click without the need to register or create and account.

You can customize the size of the button, choose to display or not your online presence on Bistri, and modify the label of the button. This is what it looks like:

and then… wait for the calls :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FIfbghHdG1s

It’s that easy!

Sign-In with Google+ on Bistri

Wed, 24 Apr 2013 18:08:00 +0200

From now on you can create your Bistri account in one click with your Google credentials, right from the Bistri home page:

Google is showing the following pop-up window requesting your approval to let Bistri access your basic information and also “View and send chat messages”. This permission will let you see your Google contacts and their presence immediately in Bistri without having to invite them. Totally seamless.

Your Google contacts will show up like this:

A new Google+ icon is located at the botton of the left panel:

One click and you can customize your connections with your external accounts :

If you already have a Bistri account you can also enjoy this new feature by activating the Google+ gateway without providing your password. Then you can sign in to Bistri with one click.

Bistri at the pre-conference WebRTC Workshop on the 22nd April 2013 - IMS World Forum, Barcelona

Mon, 22 Apr 2013 08:26:00 +0200

This year’s IMS World Forum is shaping up to be an excellent event, with a solid focus on WebRTC (Web Real Time Communications) :

a pre-conference WebRTC Workshop on the 22nd April, supported by Bistri
a half a day of the main conference dedicated to WebRTC

Read all the details about this workshop on the Alan Quayle Blog :
WebRTC at the IMS World Forum, Barcelona, 23-25 April 2013

This highly focused workshop will bring together deep technical and deep business thought leadership on WebRTC with Jose de Castro and Alan Quayle, providing attendees with a unique independent workshop.

Providing a deep-dive quantified analysis of the WebRTC status, enabling attendees to understand what is likely to emerge over the next 18 months to 2 years, in this complex rapidly emerging ecosystem and what it will mean to their business.

Providing attendees with a series of WebRTC demonstrations, to share their experiences on implementing WebRTC, and provide ample networking opportunities at the end of the workshop to discuss and consolidate what has been learned through the day.

High Speed Internet Orange Contest : the Bistri project, based on WebRTC

Thu, 11 Apr 2013 10:27:00 +0200

Always excited in facing new challenges, the Bistri team rearrange the product roadmap in order to run the Orange F4ST contest with something big :

A multi-user HD video conference, between 4 different devices : a smartphone, a tablet, a computer, and a connected TV. The mobile devices use an Orange 4G LTE connection, the computer will be used in an enterprise environnement, and the TV at home, on a very high speed fiber connection.

A single click on a link and you join the conference, like always with Bistri. On the mobile devices, it works in the browser, if you have Chrome Beta for Android, but in the future versions of Android, the WebRTC technology will be available in the default browser. We also have a native app to minimize the usage of the CPU and the battery life.

But… that was not enough !

On the beta version of Chrome, the screen sharing is also available, the other participants can see your screen as they where in front of it. It is magical, nothing to install !

Last but not least, all the screen flows are recorded, even the screen that has been shared, in one single video, that you can send or post anywhere.

In the next months, all these features will be released on the Bistri production platform, to let anyone enjoy them !

Arnaud

WebRTC Revolution Has Started!

Mon, 18 Mar 2013 09:59:00 +0100

We created Bistri on the bet that WebRTC technology would be available to everyone within 2 years after the creation of the first IETF and W3C specifications.

The WebRTC revolution has begun. It’s future is bright!

Thanks to Bistri, a growing number of users are enjoying WebRTC video calls with superb audio and video quality. The complexity of setting up a call is hidden. It just works!

Although Bistri’s main focus is WebRTC, today we use a total of 4 protocols to run video calls covering all real life use cases.

3 months after the launch of Google Chrome 23, these are the first WebRTC Statistics from Bistri. Based on the 1500 successfull video calls made daily on Bistri, here is a breakdown of the protocols used:

72 % RTMFP
17 % WebRTC
10 % RTMP
1 % RTMPT

And, if we take a look at peer-to-peer (P2P) protocols WebRTC and RTMFP only:

81 % Flash
19 % WebRTC

More WebRTC statistics are coming soon…

Arnaud Budkiewicz
CEO, Bistri

Bistri just hits 1,000,000 users!

Thu, 14 Mar 2013 19:19:00 +0100

Bistri is finalist in Orange F4ST competition : inventing tomorrow's broadband services with WebRTC

Tue, 26 Feb 2013 19:08:00 +0100

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.

Tweets about “#F4ST”

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

Mon, 18 Feb 2013 18:08:00 +0100

Another big day today, with the first WebRTC video calls on Bistri between Firefox and Chrome !

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.

Enjoy Bistri, and feel free to write a feedback : http://support.bistri.com

W3C Interview: Bistri on WebRTC for Video Chat Services

Mon, 11 Feb 2013 11:51:47 +0100

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.

Read the full article on the W3C Blog

New feature : be notified of new events in Bistri

Mon, 14 Jan 2013 18:21:19 +0100

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!

Mon, 07 Jan 2013 02:43:19 +0100

Happy New Year from Bistri!

New features : delete, download or forward a file

Fri, 21 Dec 2012 18:24:27 +0100

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

Sun, 16 Dec 2012 23:13:00 +0100

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.

http://www.webrtcworld.com/conference/testimonials.aspx

Bistri awarded at WebRTC Conference & Expo

Mon, 10 Dec 2012 19:56:00 +0100

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

Wed, 21 Nov 2012 17:56:00 +0100

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 !