Mozilla integrates video chat service in beta Firefox
Mozilla has announced Firefox Hello. This experimental service allows users of the beta client to make phone calls and video calls from the browser without having to create an account or install additional plugins.
Firefox 34 beta users can click the speech bubble in the top right corner of the screen to activate the Hello service. They can then invite users to chat via a link. By default, users as ‘guests’ can anonymously video or telephone those they have invited and by default WebRTC media streams are encrypted.
Login is not required, but when a user logs in, they can speak directly to other Hello users with Firefox accounts from a contact list. Those contacts can also be imported via a Google account. The Hello feature currently only works with the American test version of Firefox.
Video calling or VoIP will also work if the person the user wants to chat with is using a version of Chrome or Opera that supports WebRTC. Mozilla reports that the Hello service is built on TokBox’s WebRTC platform. This is an American company that came into the hands of Telefónica in 2012, which states that Mozilla is collaborating with this provider for the video chat service.