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Microsoft Backs WebRTC, Skype Could Go Plugin Free For Browsers
Microsoft has announced that they will be bringing realtime communication to web browsers, and they will do it without relying on plug-ins. The proposal from Microsoft was sent to the W3C WebRTC working group, and was centered around "Customizable, Ubiquitous Real Time Communication over the Web." The CU-RTC-Web proposal is considered the first real step toward the establishment of a web standard that would allow the creation of browser-based communications essentially allowing a browser version of Skype. Granted Microsoft is already planning to tie Skype into their rebooted Outlook.com email service, however it still requires a plugin. Should they succeed in finalizing the WebRTC standard however, it could lead to a non-plugin version. As it stands Microsoft isn't the only one involved in this, Google, Mozilla, Opera among others all have some stake in WebRTC, with all three having support for it in one way or another in their browsers. Microsoft on the other hand will be waiting for it to become a standard. That said, the company is also pushing for greater compatibility and with no predefined codec in order to improve legacy support as Microsoft is skeptical of Google's open sourced VP8 codec. Still it seems that the future of communication will be web-based and plugin-free to boot, with the possibility of interoperability between Skype, Google Talk etc being possible. For a more in-depth analysis check the source below.
Microsoft’s commitment to this kind of technology is a big deal for the future of Skype and other messaging applications. The company’s Skype unit has been working on a browser-based version of its voice and video calling software, and WebRTC could be key to making Skype accessible on a wide variety of browsers without the need for any applications or plug-ins. The technology could also help Skype open up its walled garden, and enable interoperability between users of Skype and Google Talk or other third-party services.
Posted by | Tue, Aug 07, 2012 - 02:09 PM
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