Web-based real time communications (WebRTC) is a market that's in constant expansion, as this comparatively new form of communications steadily expands. New features, new functions, new products and more are constantly in the offing, and that means plenty of news to discuss.
So with the weekend now upon us, it's a great time to settle in and run down some of the biggest news this week with our Week in Review coverage!
First came interesting news from the team of Google and Mozilla, who had already been spotted putting on some impressive tech demos as far as WebRTC goes. Now the duo is testing the waters as far as 3D gaming goes, with plans to host a set of games if the major browser makers are ready to support the concept.
The games will be brought into play with the help of a new version of JavaScript that's been highly optimized to allow developer code to do better in the confines of a Web browser.
Twilio brought out the next bit of news, as it took on a new rank as a Google Cloud Platform partner. This represented the first time that a voice and messaging service was integrated with the Google Cloud Platform, and allows Twilio to offer users its Twilio Voice, Twilio Client and Twilio SMS services.
With Twilio Client, for example, individuals can use Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) calling from any WebRTC-enabled browser, as well as from phones and tablets that can use WebRTC.
Next, we took a look at the idea of WebRTC in telecommuting, and discovered that when it comes to making successes out of telecommuters, WebRTC is a great way to help. With a huge variety of contact capabilities—voice, video, text and file sharing—available as part of the WebRTC environment, as well as instant messaging and screen sharing, the office experience is readily replicated. This in turn allows workers to be more productive despite the fact that they aren't actually in the office.
With more businesses using Skype as a communications service, and others stepping in on Google Hangout, FaceTime and others, it shows clearly the value that WebRTC could offer.
Then we got a look at what may be an unexpected use of WebRTC, as a group of Web hackers took advantage of PeerCDN's capabilities to build a complete P2P-based content delivery network (CDN). This design allows for what's being described as the ability to send data direction from one Web browser to another without intervening plugins or even JavaScript.
With WebRTC still in its early stages, however, the overall impact of this will be somewhat lessened until the service grows into its fullest.
Finally, we had a better look at the changing proposition of WebRTC, and the kind of impact that it was having on the face of communications in general. WebRTC serves as a way to bring several valuable communications techniques together under one central umbrella, all accessible from a Web browser and without the need for extra plugins and the like. WebRTC offers incredible potential, but early applications of this potential have proven less than successful. A medium that's still essentially getting started—and thus somewhat limited in scope—WebRTC has some way to go before reaching its fullest value.
It was a huge week for WebRTC, and that left our global online community constantly searching for fresh news to bring in. With plenty more likely to come, be sure to join us back here next week for more, and of course, every weekend for our Week in Review coverage!
