High Speed Internet Orange Contest : the Bistri project, based on WebRTC
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
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 !
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 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 !
Be the First to make WebRTC Video Calls
This is a big day today, with Google’s release of Chrome 23.
For a few hours now, we are really excited to see in real-time on the Bistri platform a number of users making video calls like never before, without Flash or plugin, and without any developer flag to activate.
- It just works -
We can never thank Google WebRTC team enough !
Google is the first browser that has implemented the new W3C P2P communication standard, from the network protocol to the audio and video codecs.
Anyone can enjoy this new experience on Bistri.
This is how to make it work.
1 - If you dont have it yet, download Google Chrome
If you have Chrome, check your version by typing “chrome://chrome/” in the address bar,
it must be > 23.0.1271.64.
Now you are ready to test WebRTC
2 - Make a video call with anybody on Bistri, who would like to test WebRTC with you guys.
He will have to setup is computer the same way as you just did.
If you want to try the demo on your own, just open an incognito window :
Use the keyboard shortcuts Ctrl+Shift+N (Windows, Linux and Chrome OS) and ⌘-Shift-N (Mac)
and copy/paste your Bistri Link to be reached in this incognito window. Your Bistri Link is displayed when your click on “Invite” on the right side of the header on Bistri :
3 - 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.
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.
If you have any question about how Chrome access to your Camera and Microphone, this a direct link on the Google Chrome documentation.
Bistri Live Video Effects & Snapshots
If you click on “Video effects”, you will enjoy several HTML5 Live Video Effets :)
You can also enjoy the quality of the HTML5 Full-Screen Mode, and make some snapshots :
Click on “Take snapshot” :
Ready? Make your best smile, 3-2-1
Tada !
If you like your snapshot, click on “Save” :
Now you can share your snapshot on Facebook, Twitter, or just send the link via email / SMS…
Bistri on the Chrome Web Store
Direct Link to install the Chrome Web App :
https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/djocffpkbjafgkadamogimdlkcddeiid
How to make a video call on Bistri
1. Select a contact on the left
2. Click on the green button
3. If it’s your first call or you didn’t got the Flash Player permission dialog, you should have to :
Allow bistri.com to access your camera & microphone.
Just Click on “Allow”, “Remember” and then “Close”.
If you can’t see yourself moving in the remote window (the small one), check your Audio/Video settings
If you want to try to make a video call using the future of Flash : WebRTC
this howto will help.
4. We’re connecting to your contact… (and searching the best channel for your peer connection)
Your contact will have a pop up to answer your Video Call… Of course he/she have the choice to Accept or Decline :(
5. Congrats ! You’re Video Chatting !
During the video call, several features let you :
All set, you’re now ready to have your first video call on Bistri.com !
If you still have troubles making video call, drop us a line, we’re here to help !
How to run the Bistri WebRTC Demo (Canary)
Dear Bisters,
Our dream is finally come true. P2P Video Calls in the browser, with no plugin nor flash at all ! A real standard solution, IETF, W3C working hard hand-in-hand.
Google implementation in Chrome Canary is the first we are able to test as a Proof Of Concept. We worked really hard several weeks to implement the Video Call API the best we could, on our production platform.
We are really excited to let you try our implementation :)
Requirements :
1 - Download Google Chrome Canary
2 - Modify the Chrome Settings :
Now you are ready to test WebRTC
4 - Make a video call with anybody on Bistri, who would like to test WebRTC with you guys.
He/she will have to setup is computer the same way as you just did.
If you want to try the demo on your own, just open an incognito window :
Use the keyboard shortcuts Ctrl+Shift+N (Windows, Linux and Chrome OS) and ⌘-Shift-N (Mac)
and copy/paste your Bistri Link to be reached in this incognito window. Your Bistri Link is displayed when your click on “Invite” on the right side of the header on Bistri.
5 - When you receive an incoming call, Canary let you choose the Webcam and the micro you like to use on the top-right of the screen.
Then click on “Allow”
As the video call starts, don’t forget to click on “Autorize” on the top bar.
Canary let you change the Camera / Microphone you will use for this video call :
At this moment, you can click on “Always allow this site to use this microphone and this camera”.
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.
If you click on “Video effects”, you will enjoy several HTML5 Live Video Effets :)
You can also enjoy the quality of the HTML5 Full Screen Mode.
Try the demo : http://bistri.com
and feel free to write a feedback : http://support.bistri.com
Developer : Aurélien Hiron http://bistri.me/aurelien
Credits : WebRTC, IETF Rtcweb Working Group, W3C WebRTC API, WebGL
A new office for Bistri
Bistri is moving to a new office in a beautiful and new co working space in Paris.
Here is a picture of our first meeting there :
