VIDEO: Chrome & Firefox can now video chat

James Delahunty
6 Feb 2013 6:25

Video shows WebRTC promise.
Mozilla and Google have made further strides in WebRTC development, making it possible for Chrome and Firefox browsers to support video calls without a plugin. WebRTC (Real Time Communication) is a new set of technologies that brings clear crisp voice, sharp high-definition (HD) video and low-delay communication to the web browser.

Chrome and Firefox can now communicate by using standard technologies such as the Opus and VP8 codecs for audio and video, DTLS-SRTP for encryption, and ICE for networking.
Here is a video showing the first such video chat between Mozilla's Chief Innovation Officer, Todd Simpson, and Google's Director of Product Management, Hugh Finnan.

Awkward scripted geeky chat aside, Mozilla pointed out that because the functionality is now baked into the browser, users can avoid problems with first-time installs and buggy plugins, and developers can deploy their apps much more easily and universally.

To try this yourself, you'll need desktop Chrome 25 Beta and Firefox Nightly for Desktop. In Firefox, you'll need to go to about:config and set the media.peerconnection.enabled pref to "true".

Once you have done that, go to the WebRTC demo site.