Apple Announces FaceTime for iPhone 4 Video Calls

[l1nk3d]

So there is no confusion. I think this new iPhone is going to be great. I have had the 2G and 3G, after which I switched to the Nokia N900. The N900 is able to do forward facing Video over Skype and Google Talk, with more services to be added. I think it is a step in the right direction for Apple but I think they need to get other services up as quickly as possible. The new Droid Incredible has a forward facing camera as well if I am not mistaken.

Video calls have never taken off because it has never been on a convenient platform in the past. IMHO that has been the greatest set back. Look at the phones in asia. They have had video cell phones for years.

 

[baryon]

I love it, but why does FaceTime only work with WiFi? I know many people with so-called "3G phones" that were sold heavily a couple of years ago, these are NOT smart phones, and they only make use of the 3G network for video calls. They make two-way video calls over 3G, but no one ever uses the feature because it costs an incredibly high amount of money per minute. However, if you have an iPhone, you're paying monthly for 3G internet access, so what's the problem with transmitting video?

I'm guessing it would bog down the network, but then why do more traditional 3G phones get to have 3G video calls then?

 

[EricStriffler]

"Apple will ship tens of millions of FaceTime devices this year so there's going to be a lot of people to talk to."

They can't all be iPhones, so they must also be counting:
- Macs?
- iPod touches (needs camera, next gen)?
- iPads (needs camera, next gen)?

Thoughts?

I was thinking the same thing when he said "FaceTime devices", it would be AWESOME if you could video chat with someone over iPhone 4 AND iChat!

 

[ZebulonSWE]

Back in 2003

We used video chat in Sweden in 2003 (if it wasn't even earlier) using 3g. Seriously, haven't you in the US been using this before? No one use it here anymore though (except the hearing impared).

Otherwise, a good key note.

 

[cube]

And why doesn't it have STANDARD 3G video call?

 

[Nermal]

I thought the existing video call method was multi-phone - an open standard already? Any video conferencing phone can communicate with any other capable phone?

Correct. My Sony works with a friend's Samsung and I expect that it'd work with a Nokia too.

 

[martin1636]

People have been dreaming about video calling for decades. iPhone 4 makes it a reality...

I don't get it. What's the big deal about FaceTime?!?!
Video calling has been here for ages... webcams, skype... 3G video calls...
This is NOTHING NEW!

 

[caipirina]

i second the motion .. why not iphone 4 to ichat? do they really want us to buy 2 of them per family ??? I hope skype video chat will just work fine on them eventually

 

[Stella]

Are you sure that its fully open standard? I don't know where we are going with patents nowadays, but atleast it would sound logical why iPhone uses FaceTalk and not technology what other brands use.

I'm not sure. It was a guess because I had the impression any capable phone could video conference with any other capable phone.

There must be some one out there who knows? Anyone!?

 

[theITGuy]

I for one love this feature...my wife will have an iPhone 4 and would be nice to chat with her when I'm on the road...we also have a baby and would be nice to see him without having to use a laptop...i'm sure Skype and iChat will have hooks to Face Time in a few months...

-J.-

 

[peterja]

I think the quality of 3GPP video calls isn't worthwhile, but not allowing FaceTime over 3G you would think is only carrier concerns.

 

[charliehustle]

There are international carriers, after all...

I'm neither surprised nor upset over FaceTime being limited to wifi. HOWEVER, I'm REALLY surprised that it's only iPhone 4 to iPhone 4. I have friends and family on Verizon and AT&T who won't be getting the iPhone 4, but they all have macs... This severely cripples the reach of the feature. Where's the logic there?

Ya, I don't get it either. My guess is they're slowly going to incorporate all of them together, because I'm sure the next ipad will have a front facing cam, and it will suck if people on ichat couldnt talk to people on iphones or ipads..

anyways.. jailbreak will allow you to trick your iphone to thinking it's in wifi when it's no, so you'll be able to use this anywhere on 3G..

Thats how I tether to my iPad without wires.

 

[gillybean]

I don't get it. What's the big deal about FaceTime?!?!
Video calling has been here for ages... webcams, skype... 3G video calls...
This is NOTHING NEW!

Don't Webcams and Skype generally imply that you have to be sitting at your computer or carrying around a laptop in order to use the video chat?

If it's enabled on an iPhone then that's much more convenient because you can carry it around with you, e.g. to the living room, the kitchen, the bedroom, or use it easily from a hotel room.

 

[BruiserB]

Why use ATT for the voice part?

If you've got to be on wi-fi anyway, why not use wi-fi for the voice call as well and just have free video calls over wi-fi like Skype does? Will apps like skype be able to use the camera to add video to calls.....allowing iPhone to computer video calls over wi-fi? Will Skype have to change to a FaceTalk standard for this to happen?

 

[codeoverride]

I'd buy the phone if there's a way to get it without the data plan. Can I just put an ATT SIM card in it for voice? I'm happier with free WIFI and putting the extra $$$ toward my retirement

 

[Tampa Tom]

Apple bought the FaceTime trademark

Go to www.facetime.com and you will find: (wonder what Apple paid)
- - - - - - - -
Our Name - FaceTime

As you've probably heard, Apple has announced that it will use "FaceTime" as the trademark for its new video calling application

Our agreement with Apple to transfer the FaceTime trademark to them comes as we are rebranding our company to better reflect our capabilities. We will be announcing a new name in the coming months.

This announcement echoes our long held belief that the Internet is changing the way people communicate. Increasingly the Internet is about communications, collaboration and communities - whether it's social networking, instant messaging or now video calling, users are bringing these tools into the workplace.

FaceTime Communications helps businesses realize the benefits of the New Internet through enterprise solutions that provide unified security, management and compliance across the broadest set of applications and modalities

 

[Nuvi]

It's better than no video chat at all.

Why couldn't they allow the standard video chat on 3G network? It would have worked between any normal video chat enabled phone. Makes no sense.

 

[andiwm2003]

this feature is great and was expected.

however it only makes sense if you can use it to have video conferences with any other phone and most importantly with skype. and of course via 3G.

the fact that this feature is via wifi only make the omission of a webcam on the iPad even less understandable.

 

[BruiserB]

Why couldn't they allow the standard video chat on 3G network? It would have worked between any normal video chat enabled phone. Makes no sense.

I guess because not many people actually ever used this feature on their phone, but now ATT realises that Apple will actually make the interface usable to the point that lots of people will use this feature. Their network just isn't ready for the increase in traffic this would cause.

Also Apple has the motivation to create a new standard....for now it will encourage friends of iPhone users to buy iPhones to be able to video chat with them. By the time (and if) other producers decide to adopt the standard, Apple will have already sold millions of FaceTalk phones. Making it an open standard is a good PR move, but since the competition is unlikely to adopt it, it becomes a feature that encourages more people to get an iPhone.

 

[ajobes]

The thing I'm really interested to hear about over the next few days is how FaceTime will work internationally...

I travel overseas a lot and I can live with Wifi (most hotels give a decent service) but I'm not going to be too impressed to have to make an international charged phone call just to initiate the video call that is free over the hotel's Wifi.

 

[firstklass]

I caught that too.

We were talking about it in the office here and we think that iMacs and MacBooks will get a FaceTime app or iChat AV will be renamed to FaceTime.

The iPad will most likely get the forward facing camera on REV 2 also.

I knew it was going to be WiFi-only. Why are so many people bitching and moaning about this????? NO cell network could handle that kind of data stream from a bunch of users at the same time. Get real everyone! Even when traveling on the road and trying to iChat AV back home with my wife and son, we get a horrible choppiness to the video, IF we can even connect due to hotel router firewalls!

and lets not forget that AT&T has eliminated the unlimited data plan.... Can you imagine what it would cost a user if it was allowed to be used on there 3G network.

 

[flukes1]

So that's what this is for.

 

[gdbleb]

Really no surprise

You folks really didn't expect this feature to be available from AT&T did you?

We're in the midst of another shift in the wars/balance between computational power and telecoms capacity.

Remember Bob Metcalfe writing "Internet Collapses" back in the 90's?

It didn't happen then as the fiber rollout swallowed up the exploding demand for bandwidth back then.

Now it's happening to cellular wireless, (surprise surprise) struggling to support these new speedy mobile devices that are video-capable.

Big war for spectrum on the horizon.

 

[Reed Rothchild]

Was this really the "one more thing" moment in WWDC? Firstly, video phones have been around for eons. Not sure what's so special about that. Secondly, using such video phones for video calls is sub-optimal.

No matter how well it was dressed in the conference, it's always kludgey and inelegant (I'm sure Johnny Ives will vouch for me here). iMacs (or any desktop/laptop in existence) with built-in webcams work great for Skype type calls. Handheld video phone devices are only useful and practical for the equivalent of fart-app entertainment. Maybe iPhone video users will have a more sophisticated sensibility, but based on the legion of video phone movies posted on youtube et al I doubt it....

 

[Nuvi]

I guess because not many people actually ever used this feature on their phone, but now ATT realises that Apple will actually make the interface usable to the point that lots of people will use this feature. Their network just isn't ready for the increase in traffic this would cause.

Also Apple has the motivation to create a new standard....for now it will encourage friends of iPhone users to buy iPhones to be able to video chat with them. By the time (and if) other producers decide to adopt the standard, Apple will have already sold millions of FaceTalk phones. Making it an open standard is a good PR move, but since the competition is unlikely to adopt it, it becomes a feature that encourages more people to get an iPhone.

It could be popular but only if it would work on 3G. Wifi only and that feature won't be converting anybody.