AT&T is the first U.S. carrier to launch support for Web Real-Time Communications (WebRTC). The announcement, which was made at the annual AT&T Developer Summit in Las Vegas, paves the way for voice and video calling from web browsers to mobiles and landlines without the need to install any software or plugins. The AT&T Enhanced WebRTC API is now available in an open beta program and offers several enhancements to the basic WebRTC standard.
Some highlights from AT&T Developer Summit and keynotes:
- Software-defined networking will drive the biggest transformation at AT&T in 30-years, said John Donovan, Senior Vice President, AT&T Technology and Operations. He said the open movement is essential to AT&T’s networking strategy, especially OpenStack, which is now deployed in 20 sites. Donovan also confirmed a 5-year, $5 million commitment to back ON.Lab’s open source, SDN Open Network Operating System (ONOS) for Service Providers.
- The AT&T NetBond ecosystem now includes 11 cloud service providers and is part of the AT&T Mobile Cloud. Sungard Availability Services and Blue Jeans Network are the newest AT&T NetBond members. Sungard AS will manage, backup, and recover data and applications. Blue Jeans Network will give people the tools they need to collaborate over video, virtually whenever and wherever.
- AT&T is expanding its Digital Life home automation services with new products from Lutron Electronics, Samsung, Qualcomm Life, and LG Electronics.
- Lutron Electronics will offer devices such as window shades and lighting controls, that can be programmed through the Digital Life app. Samsung Techwin’s newest Wi-Fi IP camera will also be added to the Digital Life camera automation offerings, providing high-quality images with Wide Dynamic Range (WDR), Samsung Light Enhancer (SLE) technology and advanced motion detection to reduce false alerts. Qualcomm Life’s 2net Platform and Hub is a medical-grade device connectivity platform and standalone gateway that allows customers to seamlessly transmit biometric data such as blood pressure or weight, via the Digital Life app. LG’s webOS Smart TV’s with AllJoyn capabilities could receive notifications and alerts from the Digital Life system – such as if someone is at the front door or even be alerted if there is a leak in their basement.
- AT&T Work Platform extends BYOD functionality by allowing specific data allotments and services to be charged to an enterprise while personal services on the device remain unchanged. This reduces the need to manually calculate employee stipends for personal devices. AT&T is working with MobileIron, AirWatch by VMware, and Good Technology to enable such capabilities.
- AT&T announced the commercial availability of the M2X Data Service, its first Internet of Things (IoT) managed service for developers. The company also unveiled a Beta Version of AT&T Flow Designer, which is a new cloud-based visual development tool aimed at speeding the development time required to build new IoT applications. Typical IoT-focused solutions can be complex as they require application integrations at the device, network and application layers.
- Subaru of America is the latest car company to join the AT&T Drive program for automotive connectivity.S TARLINK is the Subaru in-vehicle platform that provides hands-free connectivity, entertainment, and safety services to Subaru vehicle occupants. Subaru will offer owners STARLINK with a built-in AT&T 4G LTE communications module capable of offering features including stolen vehicle recovery, automatic collision notification, remote vehicle services such as lock/unlock via a smartphone device and monthly vehicle health reports.
- There were more than 4,000 attendees at the AT&T Developer Summit.
