This weekend, I went to the first Redecentralize Conference. I thought it was a good mix of traditional tech talks and sessions where we discussed how to make people aware of why the net needs to be decentralised. There were a lot of interesting people and we had some really thought-provoking discussions. Sessions in the main room were filmed and can be found here.
I did a talk on Matrix in one of the tutorial rooms, and it was great to see people with lots of questions and comments in the session. If you missed the talk - or have further questions: the FAQ might have the answer, or maybe the Spec itself - and there's always #matrix:matrix.org where you can find me and the whole matrix team.
At the end of day-panel on the first day, the question "are there any projects that are ready for mass adoption" was posed, and Ira picked Matrix as her answer, which was great to hear. We have come a long way in the last year, and I think Matrix now has "enough" features to be a realistic option for your IM/VoIP and group chat needs.
I really enjoyed redecentralize and hope it will be repeated! Thanks to the redecentralize.org gang for arranging it!
Following from the addition of voice and video calling in the previous release, we have added some new features and fixed more bugs - and released v0.5.1 of the Android version of the Matrix Console app.
Please note that installing this update will log you out of the app and require you to sign in again!
This release includes:
Support for self-signed certificates
Support for recording and sending video messages
We have improved the performance when you resume the app
We fixed a bug where a picture/video would disappear after rotation
Fixed several reported issues/crashes - for the full list look at the CHANGES files in the console and SDK projects
A weekend of intense prototyping and hacking at TADHack-mini Chicago is over, and we were very happy to again see some really interesting projects using Matrix!
Team 'Vivo' - Nestor Bermudez and Arin Sime - used Matrix, Tropo, and Telestax to create an Apple Watch app that notifies your loved ones when you are having a heart attack. Find more information here - and a recording of their presentation here. This project won the Telestax prize.
Charles Solar and Jiang Shuyang used Matrix and Flowroute resources for a platform independent app called 'Samaritan' which allows users to post help requests like "I got a flat tire!" or "My computer crashed!". Others can then call / text / video chat with them to solve their problem. A video of their presentation can be seen here. This hack won the Flowroute prize.
Vladimir Beloborodov demoed his award-winning Matrix-hack from WebRTC Paris: using Matrix just to set up a WebRTC connection between his iPad and robot, thus proving that you can have a robot with telepresence functions without having to depend on a remote server - see his demo here.
Adnan Baleh, Caterina Lazaro, Javier Garcia, Ernesto G. Grabwosky, Sergio Gil and Marion Le Callonnec - Team 'ProbatioNerds' - created a mobile Matrix app to control the provided Trossen Robotics HR-OS1 Humanoid Endoskeleton robot over the Internet - even making it dance the Macarena! Presentation video can be seen here. We awarded team 'ProbatioNerds' the TADHack Matrix prize - an HR-OS1 - and we hope the team and the robot will keep learning new tricks and moves!
[caption id="attachment_1307" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Daniel presenting the HR-OS1 to team 'ProbatioNerds' (Photo courtesy of Alan Quayle)[/caption]
We keep being impressed by the quality of projects developed at TADHacks - remember, in practice you only have around 12 hours to work on your hack. Congrats to all who participated - and thanks to Alan for arranging it!
The Matrix bandwagon goes on, and we have several conferences and events lined up in the next few weeks.
First up is TADHack mini in Chicago, October 3-4, where Matrix is sponsoring and handing out prizes to the best two hacks using Matrix in some way or another. The previous TADHack mini and the Global TADHack were both excellent events where we saw some really cool hacks - we are looking forward to see what people will put together this time!
Also in Chicago, a couple of days later, is the IIT Real-Time Communications Conference & Expo - October 6-8 - where we will be exhibiting and speaking about the problem of fragmented communication.
At the same time, we will also be represented at Elastix World, in Bogotá, Columbia, October 7-8, where Matthew is one of the keynote speakers! Matrix is also sponsoring this event.
Finally, we will be in Orlando, Florida for AstriCon, October 13-15. Matrix is sponsoring this conference as well, and we also have a speaking slot.
If you are going to any of these events, please do say hi - we are looking forward to talking to both old and new acquaintances! See you there!
After a successful visit to OSCON in Oregon last month, Matrix is this week represented at Clue Con in Chicago. We have a speaking slot later today - see the full schedule here. However, this time, we will be calling in remotely from London, but what better way to demonstrate video calling than by using it?
More upcoming events include Fosscon in Pennsylvania (August 22nd), where we have two talks scheduled, and ElastixWorld in Columbia (Oct 7 & 8), where we are participating as a keynote speaker. We hope to see you there!
Super-quick post just to announce that we have released a new version of the Android Matrix Console. This version fixes a problem where the Playstore wouldn't let some Android devices install the app just because they don't have a SIM card, due to a required permission that wasn't really needed anyway.
Over 800 hackers all over the world spent this weekend working on hacks and prototypes in the Global TADHack hackathon. Some were working from home, and others gathered at one of the 14 official locations. Matrix were physically present at the London and Lisbon locations, and we also handed out two prizes (a massive amount of tessel modules) to the best hacks using Matrix in some way or another.
After a hectic weekend, over 90 different hacks were submitted and presented. There was a live stream available (archive here) so that everyone could watch all the submissions. We were of course particularly interested in Matrix-related hacks, and there were several:
Matt Williams continued his Project Clearwater/Matrix integration from TADHack-mini London earlier this year; this time he added support for IM{'<->'}SIP MESSAGEs.
Sacha Nacar and Mike Dauphinais wrote a sign-language interpreter that uses Matrix for conversations.
Igor Pavlov made it possible for users of Lytespark to be contacted via Matrix and OpenMarket's SMS AS when they are offline.
Phani Pasupula showed a PoC for using Matrix as a platform for starting a Dialogic XMS conference.
In the end, we had to pick only two of these awesome hacks, which wasn't easy. We are really encouraged by seeing the Matrix ecosystem grow bigger - and more bridges to various existing systems being built; this is exactly what Matrix needs!
We awarded our two prizes to Igor for his use of OpenMarket's SMS AS, which adds a new and very wanted feature to Lytespark - and Sacha/Mike for their inventive sign-language -> Matrix translator. Congrats to all of you! We were also happy to see Phani win one of Dialogic's prizes with his hack!
Below you can watch our two winners' presentations:
This weekend, I went to the first Redecentralize Conference. I thought it was a good mix of traditional tech talks and sessions where we discussed how to make people aware of why the net needs to be decentralised. There were a lot of interesting people and we had some really thought-provoking discussions. Sessions in the main room were filmed and can be found here.