It’s the end of another week, and time to take a look at some of the top stories we’ve been following in the growing world of WebRTC. These stories show that WebRTC still has some growing pains as an emerging technology.
There seems to be something of a “Betamax vs. VHS” war shaping up in the world of different WebRTC standards, according to an article by contributing editor Doug Mahoney. The two major standards for WebRTC are data channels, which are less reliable, and WebSockets, which aim to offer reliability. The latter is supported on Internet Explorer and Safari, both of which actually lack WebRTC support. Will we see a repeat of the “Browser Wars” of the ‘90s?
Since WebRTC is a relatively new technology, lots of people are still trying to figure out if it will become a part of their daily lives like email or whether it’s just a fad. A survey earlier this year found that two-thirds of IT professionals had no plans to implement WebRTC, despite the buzz it’s been getting. Steve Anderson wrote that WebRTC is simply in the earliest stages of the Product Adoption Curve, where the market is still early adopters. WebRTC’s biggest user base may still lie ahead.
Pexip, on the other hand, sees a lot of potential in WebRTC, releasing a new software suite called Infinity Connect. It lets Windows, Mac and even Linux users hold video conferences through their browsers. Infinity Connect even supports Safari and Internet explorer, which do not support WebRTC themselves.
The ease of use of WebRTC, especially the lack of a need for a separate client, is why WebRTC has gotten so much attention in the tech press. According to Doug Mahoney, it’s the obvious choice for videoconferencing today. The only downside is that it only supports Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome, limiting its potential user base, but that could change.
Be sure to follow WebRTC Solutions for all the latest news.
