Author Topic: Hello, Hello!  (Read 4724 times)

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Offline Maik

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Hello, Hello!
« on: Monday, 20 October, 2014 @ 13:23:42 »
Quote
Firefox Takes on Skype With Browser-Based Video Chat

Mozilla is gearing up to take on services like Skype and Viber with a new browser-based video and voice chat feature called Firefox Hello. It’s available for testing inside the latest Firefox beta release, and it’s scheduled to get its public rollout in the coming weeks.

“Firefox Hello provides more value to Firefox users by making it easier to communicate with your friends and family who might not have the same video chat service, software or hardware as you,” Mozilla explains in a post on its blog.

In other words, you can use Hello to connect with loved ones regardless of your setups. Other than the Firefox browser, it requires no additional software or plugins, and you don’t even need to create an account. What’s more, Hello lets you chat to anyone with a WebRTC-enabled browser — including those who use Chrome or Opera instead — and voice and video calling is absolutely free.
http://www.technobuffalo.com/2014/10/19/firefox-takes-on-skype-with-browser-based-video-chat/

Offline Maik

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Re: Hello, Hello!
« Reply #1 on: Monday, 08 December, 2014 @ 18:03:59 »

Offline TonyKath

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Re: Hello, Hello!
« Reply #2 on: Monday, 08 December, 2014 @ 23:33:52 »
I didn't even know what it was let alone where!  Turns out it's a way of making voice/video calls via a web browser.  https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/firefox-hello-make-receive-calls-without-account

I was a bit baffled about whether you needed a FF account or not.  They said you didn't but then again you might.  It's still very new and not all FF versions have it yet - so I don't have the button with FF33.1.1 but see I'm getting an update as I type this.  The documentation is a bit limited as well.  And you'll need at least a microphone/webcam, but they can be pretty cheap these days.  Saw a webcam for about £6.00 in Tescos the other day.  Might be very handy for GGi folk.

Tony

Offline Maik

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Re: Hello, Hello!
« Reply #3 on: Tuesday, 09 December, 2014 @ 02:04:31 »
Thanks for that link, Tony. I figured out what it was from the first two links (above) but it added some useful info. Even though I've got FF 34 (came out last week, see here) I haven't got the Hello button yet - seems Mozilla are rolling it out gradually as they're still wondering if their servers will be able to cope with the traffic
 :x-iroll:

Quite like to give it a whizz, since Microsoft bought Skype they haven't done much with it for Linux.

Logitech make pretty good webcams, cost a bit more than six quid but are reasonably priced on Amazon. Think most/all have a built-in mic. I've got a fairly basic one, works OK with Skype (on Windows and on Linux). Of course, you only need a webcam for video calls - but they are more fun than voice-only calls!