The Ribbit LG phone featured in the AIR Marketplace

Thursday, August 28, 2008 at 11:58am by Charles Freedman | located in Flash, AIR, Feature, Flex | No Comments | Trackback

I was browsing through Adobe’s AIR Marketplace site this morning, checking out the new apps developers have been building on the desktop runtime. I discovered that Ribbit developer community member Dhaya Benmessaoud has posted his VERY COOL Ribbit LG phone for all to download!

   

http://www.adobe.com/cfusion/exchange/index.cfm?event=extensionDetail&extid=1542018

If you’ve built a Ribbit AIR app, we encourage you to share it with our community, and of course, if you’re up for it, upload it to Adobe’s AIR Marketplace.

Slides from my Ribbit presentation at Flashforward 2008

Wednesday, August 27, 2008 at 2:51pm by Charles Freedman | located in Flash, Events, Flex | No Comments | Trackback

Here some of the slides, actually on the big screen, form my presentation at Flashforward. If you attended, please comment with your thoughts on the presentation.

My opening slide, “adding voice and messaging to Flash”

The theme of the conference was passion… here’s why I love working with Ribbit and Flash APIs!

These are the solutions we offer the Flash and Flex developer community to code with Ribbit.

Simple instructions on how to get a Ribbit developer account.

Finally, I showed some examples of Ribbit in action, including the always eye-popping AIR iPhone by Joe Johnston.

Special thanks to valued Ribbit developer community member cyancdesign for posting the slides on Flickr!
Check out official Flashforward photos by kidbombay.

Want to demo Ribbit for your company or client?

Monday, August 25, 2008 at 1:59pm by Charles Freedman | located in Flash, Events, Feature, Flex | No Comments | Trackback

I got a lot of requests at both 360Flex and Flashforward from developers and designers wanting to demo Ribbit for their clients, managers, companies and other assorted fellow humans.

Our free developer accounts are designed to give you this opportunity. All you need to do is register for an account, download the swc and code samples, and code out your demo. You can integrate Ribbit into your existing application OR build a new app around the Ribbit API.

Our team is here to help. Just email us for support at developersupport [at] ribbit {dot} com. You can bounce your ideas off of us, do a dry-run of your demo with us, or even invite us on the line when you demo Ribbit to your audience.

For support in addition to our documentation, we also have our community forums open and available to logged in developers at http://developer.ribbit.com/forums.

Not sure if Ribbit will work for you. Contact us and we’ll be happy to answer questions on how our platform can work for you.

Getting Started with Ribbit.

Tuesday, August 12, 2008 at 5:14pm by Wesley Leonardo | located in Code, General, Flex | No Comments | Trackback

If your not sure how to get started with Ribbit, here are a few simple steps.

1. Join the developer network here.
2. Download the code samples in the download section.
3. Install the code samples and check out the API documentation.
4. Code till you drop!!

It’s that simple to get up and running with Ribbit. Once you’re a developer, you get everything you need to add a simple phone to you Flex application. You get some great code samples that show you how to make calls, add a keypad, add and update contacts, and checking your voicemails. Another great perk of being in the Ribbit developer network is that you get to help shape the Ribbit API. Through our polls, forums, and user feedback, Ribbit can find out what’s really wanted from our developer community and the only way to get your voice heard is to register.

New Opportunities for Flash, Flex, AIR Developers

Tuesday, August 5, 2008 at 1:12pm by Charles Freedman | located in Flash, Feature, Flex | No Comments | Trackback

We are happy to report that demand for Ribbit application development is growing. As we anticipated, the innovative features of the Ribbit Service and Platform have generated interest not just from our growing developer community, but from business leaders and entrepreneurs alike.

Most of our enterprise customers (those customers looking to add Ribbit services to their new or existing applications) are not yet well-stocked with talented ActionScript developers. They are asking where to find good developers that know how to code with the Ribbit API. What better place to point them than our own developer community.

Whether deploying a Ribbit app with our AS Flex SDK, Flash components, on the web with Flash Player or the desktop with AIR, the enterprise customer will need access to a fairly skilled ActionScript developer that knows the Ribbit API.

For the developer featuring Ribbit in the skillset, this is an incredible opportunity and will help meet the demand for new Ribbit applications being built. Ribbit is helping developers take advantage of this opportunity by doing the following:

- Outlining a comprehensive and efficient training program for developers. [Our first official training session will be part of Ribbit Spawn at 360|Flex, coming up August 17 in San Jose.]
- Planning a choice of Ribbit mini-application projects that, upon completion, will validate a developer’s proficiency with Ribbit.
- Rewarding skilled Ribbit Flash and/or Flex developers with a special certification status upon completing training and the mini-project requirement.
- Featuring new and established certified Ribbit developers on developer.ribbit.com, complete with contact, portfolio and skill information. [We are considering adding a ‘contact me’ widget, powered by Ribbit, which would allow perspective enterprise application projects to contact the developer, directly, to inquire about availability.]
- Showcasing the portfolio work (not just Ribbit projects) of certified developers.

Stay tuned for more news about these exciting opportunities. If you have ideas and suggestions on how we can structure the training programs to meet your needs, please contact our team.

Check out all the Ribbit buzz?

Tuesday, July 29, 2008 at 7:39pm by Wesley Leonardo | located in Events, General | No Comments | Trackback

The news is buzzing around the web about the recent purchase of Ribbit by BT. This is great news for us as this gives us a great platform to build and support our developer community. Check out what other people are saying about this fantastic news with some snippets from each blog.

ZDNet (Ryan Stewart): [ Now, with the acquisition, they’re going to become a major player. They have BT’s infrastructure and money behind them so they can scale, reach new customers, and offer more services. And they can start getting deals in areas that would have previously been off limits. ]Read the full article here 

TechCrunch:  [ Ribbit is a platform for creating voice-based applications over the Internet. BT will now be able to run those applications over its backbone network at a lower cost than Ribbit was able to lease those lines .. ] Read the full article here 

C|Net: [ Ribbit’s software allows developers to integrate voice features to Web applications, such as Salesforce.com, Facebook, and the iPhone. In the coming weeks, BT will integrate Ribbit with its 21CN network, which is available in more than 120 countries. ] Read the full article here 

ReadWriteWeb : [ Michael Boustridge, President, BT Americas said in the release about the deal: “The Ribbit platform makes it simpler, cheaper and faster to build communications functionality into applications, enabling developers to introduce new revenue-generating voice services in hours, rather than weeks. ] Read the full article here 

Mashable: [ Chuck Freedman, director of the developer platform at Ribbit, hopes that the developer community will be excited about “what BT brings to Ribbit in terms of features.” They can “continue developing their existing applications and add new features for the creation of Flash or AIR desktop applications, or Netvibes and Google Desktop widgets that allow others to call you directly, and have your voicemails transcribed and delivered to your email or mobile device via SMS,” said Freedman. ] Read the full article here

OnFlex (Ted Patrick): [ Ribbit has done an amazing job leveraging the existing API’s of the Flash Player for audio based telephony. With the acquisition by BT, they are now going global and extending the reach of lightweight ip telephony. ] Read the full article here 

InsideRIA (Andre Charland): [ Big news for one of the shining lights in the VOIP, Flex and AIR world this morning. Ribbit was acquired by BT. The purchase price was $105 Million. It seem like BT was interested in not only the technology but the platform and community that Ribbit has created. ] Read the full article here

SFGate: [ Seems the two companies were among the forerunners in this new telecom space, where voice is treated as a feature to be integrated into other applications. BT also has been looking down this road, opening its core processes to developers through a software developer kit. ] Read the full article here 

Demo: [ “Silicon Valley is emerging as a hotbed of telecommunications innovation,” said JP Rangaswami, managing director of service design at BT. “With Ribbit, not only do we extend our presence in the valley, but we also gain a groundbreaking platform, a growing community of developers, and a world-class team that share a common vision.” ] Read the full article here

International Business Times: [  Ribbit’s platform allows for Web browser-based phone calls, voice messaging and other uses. It can turn voicemail into text files, which are searchable. Developers have also integrated voice features into salesforce.com using Ribbit, and have built voice applications that run directly from Facebook or iGoogle. ] Read the full article here

Also check out this great video of Ryan Stewart interviewing Ribbit’s own Chuck Freedman.

As part of the Developer Platform Team, I’m excited at the commitment BT has towards out Developer Community. Keep an eye and ear out for all the exciting enhancements to come.

BT acquiring Ribbit means great things for our developers

Tuesday, July 29, 2008 at 8:06am by Charles Freedman | located in Flash, Feature | 1 Comment | Trackback

Ribbit has been acquired by BT!

The announcement is huge for our developer community. The joint platform means we’ll be able to deliver more features to the developer community. In addition to existing telephony services like making/receiving phone calls, checking/recording/reading voicemail, speech to text, and managing contacts, new & notable features will include:

- SMS/Text messaging >> Send SMS and text messages for a Ribbit application.
- Inline Registration >> The ability to create new users without leaving your application
- uPhone API Set >> Allows multiple logins and calls from a single deployed widget on any web page
- 3rd Party Call Control >> In addition to placing a call directly from your app, the user can also place a call from their device to someone else’s.
- Call Flow Management >> Telephone user interface management (press 1 for…) and call scheduling
- Text to Speech

The Ribbit API has thrived on Flash. We’ve offered an Actionscript 3 SDK since day 1. The language, access to microphone and sound, and the wide distribution of Flash Player have allowed our developers to deploy apps on the web AND desktop, through AIR.

The Ribbit Platform will be opening up to new technologies. The team is carefully coding new APIs, code libraries and sample apps that will help us meet the wave of new developers and help them continue to build amazing things on our voice platform.

As of today, our community is already over 5,000 worldwide developers strong. Many applications are set to change the way we all communicate on the web. Our mission together is the continued growth of the platform. BT and Ribbit recognize that the developer is our most important partner.

Flashforward 2008 Session Announced: Bringing Voice and Messaging to Flash

Sunday, July 27, 2008 at 8:02pm by Charles Freedman | located in Flash, Events | No Comments | Trackback

If you were waiting to join us in San Francisco for Flashforward 2008, you can wait no more. I am officially taking the stage in the main auditorium at 2:00 on August 20 (Day 1 of the festival) and delivering a session called: “Bringing Voice and Messaging to Flash“.

I am very excited to be attending and speaking at my first Flashforward conference.  In case you have not heard, this year’s conference will try out a unique single track format, which means all of the 800-1200 attendees will be seeing everything!

If you have not purchased your ticket, we invite you to use this discount code FFCOM100 to save $100.

Register here:  https://store.flashforwardconference.com/

I hope to see you there. Now for the description of my recently announced session “Bringing Voice and Messaging to Flash“:

Director of Ribbit’s Developer Platform, Chuck Freedman will explore an evolution in web communication. With the growing demand of RIA and voice-over-the-web solutions, developers finally have a full suite of communication APIs to add to Flash. Coding with Ribbit, Chuck will demonstrate how to send SMS messages from your application. Explore features that let users check voicemail, listen to and even read their messages. You will see how to easily make and receive calls from Flash so customers can call you (or your client) without leaving the web page or picking up the phone. Chuck will reveal a killer app that can do it all — something you too will quickly be able to build after experiencing this session.

Top 5 reasons to attend Ribbit Hands-on at 360Flex

Friday, July 25, 2008 at 11:06am by Charles Freedman | located in Flash, Events, Flex | No Comments | Trackback

Here’s are a few reasons why you should attend the Ribbit Hands-on event on August 17!

5. It’s Free, if you are attending 360 Flex in San Jose

4. Be the first to get the NEW Ribbit Voice Components for Flex

3. Be the first to see the NEW Ribbit Beta 2. 5 features in action, including SMS

2. Learn the latest Ribbit tricks and tips from Ribbit Developer Platform leaders Chuck Freedman and Wes Leonardo

1. Discover the profitable opportunities that await skilled Flex and Ribbit API developers!

Sign up now! See you there.

Mark Your Calendars, Summer Spawn Is Here

Thursday, July 3, 2008 at 2:09pm by Wesley Leonardo | located in Events, General, Flex | No Comments | Trackback

Come join us this summer for Ribbit’s Summer Spawn 08 on Sunday, August 17, 2008 at the 360|Flex Conference in San Jose, Ca. If you weren’t able to attend our 1^st spawn event, you can check it out here, but this one won’t be the same. This one is more jam packed with information and new enhancements to Ribbit’s technology.

Recently, Ribbit has released a set of Flash Components, and to not leave out the Flex community, we are coming up with a set of Voice Components for Flex that we will be releasing at this full day of training. With the Voice components, you will be able to drag and drop Ribbit’s technology into your Flex applications and customize them quickly and easily. Not only are we coving Ribbit’s new Voice Components for Flex during the day, but we’ll also cover more Flex specific topics like creating custom components, using AIR, and even a primer on PureMVC which the voice components are built on.

All of this is FREE, yes I did say FREE. If you are attending 360|Flex then you can join us live in San Jose, Ca. If you haven’t gotten your tickets yet, get them quick because it will surely sell out soon. You can get 360|Flex tickets here.

If you can’t make it to 360|Flex, don’t worry, we will be broadcasting this live so you can get all this great information from the comfort of your own home.

Click the link below to find out more information and register for this great event.

http://developer.ribbit.com/spawn2008/

Get out of the heat and join us for Ribbit’s Summer Spawn 08.