Mozilla, AT&T show WebRTC phone-Web communications link
A demo at Mobile World Congress bridges browsers and phones for voice, video, and text-messaging communications.
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BARCELONA, Spain--Mozilla, Ericsson, and AT&T announced today they're demonstrating technology to place Internet-based voice and video calls that bridge traditional telephone services and the Web.
The demonstration, at Mobile World Congress here, uses the nascent WebRTC (Web Real-Time Communications) standard to set up browser-based communications between different devices.
The "proof of concept" links a Web app with a person's existing phone number and "shows how consumers can easily take and receive video calls from their mobile phones or desktop browser using WebRTC or share their Web experiences with friends or family who might be on a desktop PC or mobile phone across the other side of the world," Mozilla said in a blog post. "The demonstration also shows how Firefox can perform many functions usually confined to a mobile device, such as voice and video calls and SMS/MMS messaging."
The demo uses Ericsson network equipment called the Web Communication Gateway, Ericsson said in its announcement.