4 ms·

The FaceTime thing is epic. That said, it just gets more and more dangerous to go out and get hammered and start drunk-dialing people . . . The number of post-b

by weeksie 16y ago

The FaceTime thing is epic. That said, it just gets more and more dangerous to go out and get hammered and start drunk-dialing people . . . The number of post-bender apologies that I usually have to make will probably go up by at least 50%.

NZ_Matt 16y ago
It's only iphone 4 to iphone 4 so it's basically useless most of the time.
- tel 16y ago
  I'd say that iPhone users have many friends who are also iPhone users, anecdotally.
- tvon 16y ago
  Jobs: "we’re going to make FaceTime an open industry standard." Should be interesting.
  - gokhan 16y ago
    They have to. It will be dead otherwise, based on the current prerequisites (iOS4 to iOS4, only on wifi)
    - FluidDjango 16y ago
      I seem to recall he said the "only on wifi" was a temporary thing - while "we work with cell carriers" (I noted the plural: carrierS).
      - jodrellblank 16y ago
        Hello from outside America; we don't have AT&T.
        tsally 16y ago
        Hello from inside America; you don't really want AT&T.
      - tibbon 16y ago
        I have to wonder how long it will take to work out with AT&T. Skype and tethering took a year for AT&T to get around to.
  - jokermatt999 16y ago
    That was easily the most interesting part of the keynote to me (Android user). I already assumed that video calling from Apple would push something similar forward in the rest of the phone community, but the fact that they're going to make it an open standard is phenomenal. Of course, we'll see what they mean by "open standard" after the recent debacle with Safari's "HTML5 Demo", but I'd like to remain optimistic. Webkit was a nice gift, and hopefully this will be something similar.
  - deleted 16y ago
    [deleted]
  - antidaily 16y ago
    like the MiniDisplayPort.
  - earcar 16y ago
    It's actually based on already existing open standards, see http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2010/06/apple-wwdc-2010-384-rm-eng.jpg http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2010/06/apple-...
    - tvon 16y ago
      True, but being based on open standards doesn't necessarily mean that the end result won't have anything proprietary in it. Jobs saying they are going to make FaceTime an open standard seems to imply that they are adding something of their own to the mix.
  - masklinn 16y ago
    There was a slide pointing out that it was based on existing technologies already.
  - kilps 16y ago
    What have all the other video-calling capable phones been using thus far? Is there no existing standard?
- turtle4 16y ago
  Worse that that, you have to be calling someone else with an iPhone, and you -both- have to be using wifi. Don't get me wrong, it is a step up from what they used to have available, but that is kind of a tall order for general consumption.
  - stcredzero 16y ago
    Still more convenient than chat on net-books/laptops. Calling on a phone is very convenient and if you can, add video.
    - jonknee 16y ago
      Except it's not hands free, laptops have the camera in a pretty good position without any additional effort.
      - stcredzero 16y ago
        But to be in that situation, you've already committed to sitting.
        jonknee 16y ago
        So yes, it will be perfect when I'm standing up near my WiFi hotspot and want to video chat with someone I know who has the same brand new phone as I do and is also standing up near their WiFi hotspot. I'm quite surprised that it's not at least compatible with the video calls in iChat. 3G will definitely happen, but they have a built-in base of millions of users on iChat that could have helped kick things off.
        stcredzero 16y ago
        ...or the cafe, or the coworking space, or at your friend's house. Since the call comes first, it's a fortuitous enhancement you sometimes add to an ordinary call. Your way, you are either already sitting and working, or you had to plan ahead. Big diffence.
- DannoHung 16y ago
  For now. Looks like they want to push it as a video chat standard, so, it's gonna be on any Android phones with video camera capacities, front facing or not.
someone_here 16y ago
The N900 has skype and google talk video calling already, and people don't call that epic. It also works on 3G, unlike the iphone.
- weeksie 16y ago
  The iphone ecosystem is much larger, at least within the circle of people whom I will have to apologise to for dialing them up and showing them various parts of my body.
- cwilson 16y ago
  You and many others are missing the point of why this is epic. When was the last time a device with so much market penetration and insane adoption rates allowed video chat in such a simple way? The reason it is epic is because this is the first time it'll actually work. Who cares about N900s? Does my grandma know what an N900 is?
  - someone_here 16y ago
    Does your grandma have an iphone 4G hooked up to Wifi, and a friend that has an iphone 4G hooked up to wifi? My father has an N900, and he video calls europe every day. I didn't need to show him how to use it or anything.
    - cwilson 16y ago
      She doesn't, but I'm guessing she will as soon as she sees that nice commercial that shows grandparents talking to their grandkids. Hooked up to Wifi? Is that hard to do? Or are you making the point that it's wifi only for now. Jobs specifically stated that they are working with carriers to support it. That means it's coming. Baby steps. This is what Apple does. We don't always get the full package with iteration 1, but when it does come they do it right (see copy/paste, see multi-tasking). I don't know a single person who owns an N900, and I don't know a single person outside of a very small group of tech friends who knows what one is. I'd guess that 80% of the people in my friends/family/work circles have Apple devices, most of which are iPhones.
tibbon 16y ago
Due to your comment I just registered FaceTimesFromLastNight.com
blub 16y ago
"FaceTime" is Apple's code name for video calls. We've had videocalls available in Eastern Europe for 4-5 years at least - on most phones. Nobody uses it. It eats the battery very fast and is more of an inconvenience than a feature. Except for the father videocalling mother + baby use case I can't think of a single instance where I would want the other person to see what I am doing OR where I would want to see what they are doing.
kmfrk 16y ago
I wonder how the caller screen prompts you. It's not that I don't like talking to my friends, but I want to retain the option of faceless conversation---preferably without ending the call altogether. I'll leave this chat to chummy family and spousal conversation and celebrities, because there are only so many times of the week where I look good.

by weeksie 16y ago

NZ_Matt 16y ago

It's only iphone 4 to iphone 4 so it's basically useless most of the time.

tel 16y ago
I'd say that iPhone users have many friends who are also iPhone users, anecdotally.
tvon 16y ago
Jobs: "we’re going to make FaceTime an open industry standard." Should be interesting.
- gokhan 16y ago
  They have to. It will be dead otherwise, based on the current prerequisites (iOS4 to iOS4, only on wifi)
  - FluidDjango 16y ago
    I seem to recall he said the "only on wifi" was a temporary thing - while "we work with cell carriers" (I noted the plural: carrierS).
    - jodrellblank 16y ago
      Hello from outside America; we don't have AT&T.
      - tsally 16y ago
        Hello from inside America; you don't really want AT&T.
    - tibbon 16y ago
      I have to wonder how long it will take to work out with AT&T. Skype and tethering took a year for AT&T to get around to.
- jokermatt999 16y ago
  That was easily the most interesting part of the keynote to me (Android user). I already assumed that video calling from Apple would push something similar forward in the rest of the phone community, but the fact that they're going to make it an open standard is phenomenal. Of course, we'll see what they mean by "open standard" after the recent debacle with Safari's "HTML5 Demo", but I'd like to remain optimistic. Webkit was a nice gift, and hopefully this will be something similar.
- deleted 16y ago
  [deleted]
- antidaily 16y ago
  like the MiniDisplayPort.
- earcar 16y ago
  It's actually based on already existing open standards, see http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2010/06/apple-wwdc-2010-384-rm-eng.jpg http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2010/06/apple-...
  - tvon 16y ago
    True, but being based on open standards doesn't necessarily mean that the end result won't have anything proprietary in it. Jobs saying they are going to make FaceTime an open standard seems to imply that they are adding something of their own to the mix.
- masklinn 16y ago
  There was a slide pointing out that it was based on existing technologies already.
- kilps 16y ago
  What have all the other video-calling capable phones been using thus far? Is there no existing standard?
turtle4 16y ago
Worse that that, you have to be calling someone else with an iPhone, and you -both- have to be using wifi. Don't get me wrong, it is a step up from what they used to have available, but that is kind of a tall order for general consumption.
- stcredzero 16y ago
  Still more convenient than chat on net-books/laptops. Calling on a phone is very convenient and if you can, add video.
  - jonknee 16y ago
    Except it's not hands free, laptops have the camera in a pretty good position without any additional effort.
    - stcredzero 16y ago
      But to be in that situation, you've already committed to sitting.
      - jonknee 16y ago
        So yes, it will be perfect when I'm standing up near my WiFi hotspot and want to video chat with someone I know who has the same brand new phone as I do and is also standing up near their WiFi hotspot. I'm quite surprised that it's not at least compatible with the video calls in iChat. 3G will definitely happen, but they have a built-in base of millions of users on iChat that could have helped kick things off.
        stcredzero 16y ago
        ...or the cafe, or the coworking space, or at your friend's house. Since the call comes first, it's a fortuitous enhancement you sometimes add to an ordinary call. Your way, you are either already sitting and working, or you had to plan ahead. Big diffence.
DannoHung 16y ago
For now. Looks like they want to push it as a video chat standard, so, it's gonna be on any Android phones with video camera capacities, front facing or not.

someone_here 16y ago

The N900 has skype and google talk video calling already, and people don't call that epic. It also works on 3G, unlike the iphone.

weeksie 16y ago
The iphone ecosystem is much larger, at least within the circle of people whom I will have to apologise to for dialing them up and showing them various parts of my body.
cwilson 16y ago
You and many others are missing the point of why this is epic. When was the last time a device with so much market penetration and insane adoption rates allowed video chat in such a simple way? The reason it is epic is because this is the first time it'll actually work. Who cares about N900s? Does my grandma know what an N900 is?
- someone_here 16y ago
  Does your grandma have an iphone 4G hooked up to Wifi, and a friend that has an iphone 4G hooked up to wifi? My father has an N900, and he video calls europe every day. I didn't need to show him how to use it or anything.
  - cwilson 16y ago
    She doesn't, but I'm guessing she will as soon as she sees that nice commercial that shows grandparents talking to their grandkids. Hooked up to Wifi? Is that hard to do? Or are you making the point that it's wifi only for now. Jobs specifically stated that they are working with carriers to support it. That means it's coming. Baby steps. This is what Apple does. We don't always get the full package with iteration 1, but when it does come they do it right (see copy/paste, see multi-tasking). I don't know a single person who owns an N900, and I don't know a single person outside of a very small group of tech friends who knows what one is. I'd guess that 80% of the people in my friends/family/work circles have Apple devices, most of which are iPhones.

tibbon 16y ago

Due to your comment I just registered FaceTimesFromLastNight.com

blub 16y ago

"FaceTime" is Apple's code name for video calls. We've had videocalls available in Eastern Europe for 4-5 years at least - on most phones. Nobody uses it. It eats the battery very fast and is more of an inconvenience than a feature. Except for the father videocalling mother + baby use case I can't think of a single instance where I would want the other person to see what I am doing OR where I would want to see what they are doing.

kmfrk 16y ago

I wonder how the caller screen prompts you. It's not that I don't like talking to my friends, but I want to retain the option of faceless conversation---preferably without ending the call altogether. I'll leave this chat to chummy family and spousal conversation and celebrities, because there are only so many times of the week where I look good.