Hello Firefox, this is Chrome calling!
For the first time, Chrome and Firefox can “talk” to each other via WebRTC. WebRTC is a new set of technologies that brings clear crisp voice, sharp high-definition (HD) video and low-delay communication to the web browser.
From the very beginning, this joint WebRTC effort was embraced by the open web community, including engineers from the Chrome and Firefox teams. The common goal was to help developers offer rich, secure communications, integrated directly into their web applications.
In order to succeed, a web-based communications platform needs to work across browsers. Thanks to the work and participation of the W3C and IETF communities in developing the platform, 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.
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”. Then head over to the WebRTC demo site and start calling.
For developers looking to include this functionality in their own apps, there are a few places you can go to get more information. You can look at the source code of the AppRTC demo, a library that makes writing cross-browser WebRTC apps a snap, and a document detailing some of the minor differences between browsers.
You can read more from Mozilla’s hacks blog here and view our first “Official” call at the video below:
Stable Channel Update
Dharani Govindan
Google Chrome
Google Chrome Blog: The HP Pavilion 14 Chromebook
It's an exciting time in computing. Now more than ever, you have so many choices when it comes to software, hardware and services. With Chromebooks, people tell us they love its ease-of-use, speed and security, and also enjoy having options when it comes to shape, size and price. So today we’re happy to announce that our newest partner HP is introducing the latest addition to the Chromebook line—the HP Pavilion 14 Chromebook.
This HP Chromebook is a great home companion that offers the built-in security, speed and simplicity you’d expect from a Chromebook on a brilliant 14” screen. Enjoy your favorite videos, photos and more in new detail, and with its versatile HDMI and USB ports, the HP Chromebook is easy to customize with peripherals. It’s less than an inch thick and powered by an Intel® Celeron® Processor, so you can work and play at full speed.
With popular products like Gmail, Google+ Hangouts, YouTube and Maps built in, the best of Google is always at your fingertips. With the new HP Chromebook, you can also take advantage of 100GB of free storage on Google Drive*, making it easy to backup stuff in the cloud so that it can be accessed anywhere and from other devices.
Starting today, the HP Chromebook will be available for $329.99 in the US at HPDirect.com and at other retailers soon.
Google Chrome Blog - For schools: the edu-fication of Chromebooks
2013 is already shaping up to be a busy year for the web in education. Earlier this month Lenovo announced the new ThinkPad Chromebook and this week, Jaime Casap, our Global Education evangelist announced in his keynote atFETC in Orlando, that there are now globally more than 2,000 schools using Chromebooks - twice as many as 3 months ago. For more details about what we announced at FETC and BETT in London, U.K., check out our Enterprise Blog. We’re looking forward to all that 2013 has in store!
Chrome Beta for Android Update
Chrome Beta for Android has been updated to 25.0.1364.64 on Google Play. This build will be rolling out over the next few hours. This update contains a number of fixes, including:
- Updated graphics architecture that greatly improves fast scrolling on large pages
- 163439 - yahoo.com page links are not working
- 166233 - Cannot submit comments on facebook posts or pictures
- 169616 - Keyboard pops up after Chrome is closed
- 170653 - Scroll position is reset momentarily when double-tapping in footer/gutter on some pages
Known Issues:
Beta Channel Update for Chrome OS
The Beta channel has been updated to 25.0.1364.63 (Platform version: 3428.114.0) for Samsung Chromebooks. Systems will receive this update over the next few days. This build contains a number of bug fixes, security improvements and feature enhancements.
Some highlights of these changes are:
Dev Channel Update for Chrome OS
The Dev channel has been updated to 26.0.1398.0 (Platform version: 3635.0.0) for all Chrome OS devices. Highlights among the numerous updates are as follows:
- Extended Desktop Mode enabled - please help test and provide feedback.
- Two finger swipe back/forward has returned!
Known issues include:
- Netflix.com does not stream video.
- The new Samsung Chromebook with 3G may have problems with the modem after returning from idle. Workaround: deactivate and reactivate the modem or reboot the machine.
- Audio is not working over HDMI.
If you find new issues, please let us know by visiting our help site or filing a bug. Interested in switching channels? Find out how. You can submit feedback using ‘Report an issue...’ in the Chrome menu (3 horizontal bars in the upper right corner of the browser).
Ben Henry
Google Chrome
Dev Channel Update
Beta Channel Update
The Beta channel has been updated to 25.0.1364.58 for Windows, Mac, Linux, and Chrome Frame. This build contains improvements in stability and fixes for few other issues including:
- [171725] Windows controls have red overlay
Jason Kersey
Google Chrome
Stable Channel Update
- Mac: r177690 Fix renderer crashes when using certain IMEs. (Issue 152566)
- Mac: r178517 Fix microphone input dropout with Pepper Flash. (Issue 168859)
- Chrome Frame: r178591 Fix renderer exiting in certain cases when opening a new Window from Chrome Frame. (Issue 171877)
Full details about what changes are in this build are available in the SVN revision log. Interested in switching release channels? Find out how. If you find a new issue, please let us know by filing a bug.
Dharani Govindan