Getting started with the OpenTok iOS SDK

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The OpenTok iOS SDK lets you use OpenTok video sessions in apps you build for iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch devices. This means you can use OpenTok video sessions that connect iOS users with each other and with web clients.

The OpenTok iOS SDK uses the same platform architecture and concepts that are used in the OpenTok JavaScript library and the OpenTok ActionScript library. However, you code iOS apps in Objective-C.

This article will explain the most basic parts of the OpenTok iOS SDK. It will also show how the functionality and concepts used in the OpenTok iOS SDK are shared in the OpenTok JavaScript and ActionScript library.

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Chatroulette on iOS with node.js, socket.io & OpenTok

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We’re going to create a implementation of chat roulette that works on iOS devices. We’ll use OpenTok for handling the video streams, node.js for the webserver, and socket.io for messaging.

In a previous tutorial, I covered how to build chat roulette on the web using JavaScript. This tutorial will focus on how to build it for iOS. Both the iOS and web app will be able to interoperate with each other.

Check out the web version of the app here.
Check out the GitHub repo here.

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AOTW: Introducing the New iOS TokShow App

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Eleven long days came and went before we heard anything at TokBox headquarters. On Monday morning, an Apple employee delivered the good news. We were proud parents of an Apple approved iOS app, TokShow.

After months of anticipation, we could finally shout from our rooftop (or tweet/Facebook/Pin/Tumble) that TokBox had built an SDK for video conferencing in iOS apps. The very first of its kind, bringing “face-time” to everyone.

All proud parents brag about their kids. So with that in mind, there is no more fitting App of the Week than the TokShow iOS App. Now, anyone can enjoy live video talk shows from their iPhone, iTouch or iPad.

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OpenTok iOS SDK : Behind the Scenes

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We’ve been working on this project for a few months and are pretty excited to showcase how it’s made and what it can be made to do. I’d like to share some stories that happened along the way.

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Live. In your app. Face-to-face on iOS

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Today, we are changing the face of iOS applications.

With the introduction of the OpenTok iOS SDK, we are bringing the power, emotion and engagement of face-to-face video to legions of Objective-C developers and to the apps they build.

15 months ago, we started a journey towards making face-to-face video a first-class citizen on the web. Between our developer-facing APIs and our end-user-targeted plug-and-play applications, OpenTok has brought life to more than 40,000 websites.

From day 1, we never thought that OpenTok was limited to the web — the web was just a good place to start. Face-to-face is all about making digital experiences more human. And what’s more human these days than the fluid, physical interfaces to smartphone and tablet apps? They are the perfect complement to the increased engagement, emotion and connectedness that face to face video brings to the party.

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iOS Developer Contest

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The OpenTok iOS SDK is now available! We’re kicking it off with a developer contest to see what kind of new, creative projects the community comes up with. Here’s some ideas to get you started:

  • Second screen coviewing
  • Video social discovery
  • Remote real-estate tours
  • Real-time hot or not
  • Video dating
  • Mobile customer service

The top 3 apps will each win an iPad 3.

All apps must be submitted by May 6, 2012 at 11:59 PM Pacific Daylight Time.

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Using video customer support on our launch day

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When I tell someone that we make an API for video chat, I always ask, “Can you think of a use case?”

Every time, without fail, I get the same response: “So… like for video customer service?”

In practice, few companies we’ve spoken to get excited about video customer service. It’s hard to see what value video brings in most support scenarios. Do customers really need or want to see the person on the other end? Are customers comfortable on camera? Is it worth the overhead for reps to be manning a video support queue? We aren’t sure.

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Adobe LCCS abandons ship

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Today, Adobe announced it will be end-of-lifing its LiveCycle Collaboration Services (LCCS) platform at the end of this year.

For developers and websites looking to integrate face-to-face video into their websites while avoiding the heavy lifting of building their own solution, our OpenTok platform and Adobe’s LCCS offering were the two leading Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) options. Now all the folks who chose Adobe – many of whom thought they were going with the “safe” alternative – are about to be left out in the cold.

At TokBox, business is booming. So how can it be that “changes in Adobe’s strategic direction” are moving them away from such a rapidly growing market?

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MashMeTV Offers Video Chat + Collaboration and More

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When the OpenTok API was first developed, the team wanted to find partners that appreciated the ‘out of the box’ offering. Why plunk a Brady Bunch style video chat on a website when you can customize it to best suit your design needs?

Over the past year we’ve been fortunate enough to find those rebel-rousers that are willing to mix it up and push the limits. One of our newest partners, MashMeTV has really taken our mantra of pushing the limits to…well…the limit. And for that, we dub them App of the Week.

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Rise of the Hack

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I didn’t know it could be someone’s job to attend hackathons. I hadn’t heard of a developer evangelist before, so a year ago when I stumbled across an opportunity to become one, I was drawn by its novelty.

The mission was to build a developer community from the bottom up by saturating the hackathon scene, gaining allegiance from the early-adopters, the enthusiasts, the hackers. The kind of people who geek out over a new JavaScript library, smother their MacBook Airs with stickers, and maintain wardrobes consisting primarily of startup t-shirts.

If the goal is to build a business on an API, were hackathons the place to start? I wasn’t sure. The tactic seemed so niche. But hey, if someone wanted to pay me to travel and build weekend hacks, that sounded fun to me.

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