OpenTok API and Hangouts Platform: Birds of a feather, which one is better?

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At TokBox we can almost feel the excitement that developers are feeling for this year’s Google I/O conference, afterall our office is just a few blocks away from the Moscone Center. This afternoon we got to see Google tell developers about their Hangouts Platform and we were pretty excited to see what they had to offer.

It’s no secret that OpenTok and Hangouts share a lot of the same functionality, but we thought it would be really helpful for developers in our community if we pointed out some place where they differ. Afterall, for developers it should always be about using the best tool for the job.

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AngelHack SV June 2012

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Ankur and I had ALOT of fun at AngelHack Silicon Valley that took place a few days ago. We took pictures!

We gave out Tons of Free Swag, spoke to developers about how you can put video chat into your application through our OpenTok API, gave a live-coding demo about how easy it was to use it in your own site, and then hacked and helped out developers who needed help throughout the night.

We answered all sorts of questions: Rails, NodeJS, Sinatra, iOS programming, PhoneGap, every question was handled. If you don’t know already, we’re friendly. You don’t need an OpenTok question to come talk to us.

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AngelHack 2012 Pre-Hack

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Today we got a BIG ASS delivery from Amazon. YOU can win it this weekend at AngelHack, best use of OpenTok Platform takes home the prize!

Here are some unboxing pictures to salivate over:

Today, a Big Box from amazon showed up in our door step.

Out of curiosity, I opened the Box. And it turns out to be the Prize we’re giving out this Sunday for AngelHack!

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Hollywood Hack Day 2012 Was Awesome!

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Last Week, I told you I would go to HollywoodHack day, and listed out all the sponsor API and cool things you can build. Well, long story short, I went and it had a GREAT Turnout!

Look at the schedule here.

At the end, there were 24 finished projects, and 170 people attending presentations. List of Hacks!

Who won the TokBox Prize? I gave it to TuneClash. GO PLAY IT!

If I had more prizes, I would have given it out to these projects as well:

Simple Casting: Helping aspiring actors/actresses land gigs in Hollywood.

Social Jam: A Global Music Collaboration. SocialJam unites musicians and music lovers to share impromptu musical collaborations. Users can create profiles, rate, store and share jams.

Celepedia: Gossip and look up information, latest news about celebrities!

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OpenTok iOS SDK v1.1 released

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We’re happy to announce that we’ve released a new iOS SDK binary full of some critical bug fixes, feature enhancements, and support for the iPhone 3GS.

To get started, head over to our GitHub repository.

To learn more about what new features are available, read on.

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Fun With Core Graphics in iOS

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Several partners have been asking us about the options around getting access to media streams as they come and go from an iOS device. While more robust media access features are further off, I wanted to take some time to explore the options an iOS developer can play with today.

The UIKit view hierarchy integrates with a fairly simple animation and compositing API. Every instance of UIView is backed by an animation layer (CALayer), which can be accessed (and manipulated) without much complexity. A neat thing about CALayer is that you render its contents at any time using the renderInContext: method. Most often, your render target is the window, which is managed by the UIKit view hierarchy, so none of this knowledge is particularly compelling. Unless of course, you wanted to render the contents of the animation layer to a bitmap in memory to perform, say, facial recognition with the iOS 5 CIDetector.

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Hollywood Hack Day – PREGAME

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HELLO HACKERZ!

I’m super excited for Hollywood Hack Day.

One year ago, I went and built something using the OpenTok API. I fell in love with Tokbox and I work here now. This weekend I will go as a sponsor, and will be giving out a prize for the best use of OpenTok.

Out of sheer excitement, I have compiled a list of all the sponsor APIs that you can use to take your apps to the next level. Go through it, and see what ideas you can come up with to bag a few API prizes!

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Startup Weekend Chicago

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A few days ago, I wrote about going to Startup Weekend Chicago. I kept my promise.

On Friday, we started off with a series of inspiring speeches. I managed to snatch 2 minutes of fame telling everyone about the awesomeness of OpenTok.

We pitched ideas and formed groups throughout the rest of the night. There were 65 pitches, and by the end of the night everyone consolidated into 14 teams.

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iOS Developer Contest – 2012 Winners!

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In march we announced our iOS Developer Contest to celebrate our OpenTok iOS SDK.

Today we officially announce our winners! Out of all the super awesome submissions, 3 teams will be receiving an iPad 3. Without further ado, here are the winners:

1) An iPad3 goes to Romotive! Romo is a robot that you attach iphone/ipod into, and you will be able to control it from the browser! You can also broadcast your video onto the iphone and see what Romo sees on your browser. Welcome to the new age of telepresence! These guys are serious, you can order their robots Today. Read their blog!

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Tools for Startup Weekend ( Or Hackathon )

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Click here If you don’t know what a Startup Weekend is.

We are sponsoring Startup Weekend Chicago this weekend, and I’m super excited because I get to go!

I’ve been to a few in the past year, and I complied a list of helpful tips so you can get the most out of your fun-filled weekend. 54 hours is not a lot of time to launch a startup. Work Efficiently.

TOOLS:

Remember, there’s an API/Platform for almost everything. Here’s a list of some of the popular ones so you don’t have to go out searching.

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