4 ms·

The important feature is that on the iPhone it will actually work. Also, there will be enough distribution to actually establish video calls on a regular basis

by paul 16y ago

The important feature is that on the iPhone it will actually work. Also, there will be enough distribution to actually establish video calls on a regular basis (because both ends have an iPhone).

buster 16y ago
It was very easy on the Motorola too. And it worked with every other UMTS phone not only between Motorolas. I mean, it's not that hard to pick a contact and instead of "call" press "video call".
- megablast 16y ago
  I had a motorola e1000 with video chat. The difference this time might be that I will actually have other people to talk to. Not that I particularly want video chat, and I would be surprised if it does catch on that much. A nice aside every now and again, but it is not going to replace what we have now.
trezor 16y ago
Except you have to call first to verify that whoever you are calling is on wifi. In Europe where wifi is something you have to search for and 3G is something which is everywhere, this renders the feature absolutely useless.
- protomyth 16y ago
  Going by the comment on "working with carriers", I believe folks in Europe will be able to video chat over 3G in the not-too-distant future.
  - buster 16y ago
    No, you don't get it. Folks in Europe have been able to videochat since the first UMTS phones came out.
    - protomyth 16y ago
      I'm sure you have. I was just referring to the iPhone 4's video chat. Carriers will determine when it will work over 3G. I expect European carriers will take the lead as they did with the tethering.
- snom370 16y ago
  I don't have to search for wifi at home or in the office, and that's where I spend most of the time. Even so, I'm pretty sure Apple has thought this through, making it quick and easy to discover if someone is online, and even invite them through push notifications. They did mention that they "had some details to work out" with the operators, which means that we will probably see video calls on 3G at some point in the future.
  - lutorm 16y ago
    At home and in the office are also exactly the places where I'm also at a computer which runs skype and can already video chat. No compelling advantage there.
    - snom370 16y ago
      It's a bit easier to move around your home with a phone, so I'm guessing this is going to be used more frequently just because it's more convenient. Same with Skype now that the iPhone supports multitasking.
  - eelco 16y ago
    Not all 3G technology supports a data connection when there is also a voice connection.
- rimantas 16y ago
  Except you have to call first to verify that whoever you are calling is on wifi. My guess is that you won't need to do that: if both sides are using Face Time capable devices and are on WiFi they will get videochat option, if not — it will be deactivated. In Europe where wifi is something you have to search for and 3G is something which is everywhere, this renders the feature absolutely useless. Nobody has Wi-Fi in their homes and offices? Must be some different Europe from where I am. Sure people do have computers with Skype installed at those places, but iPhone video chat will give much more flexibility. It would be pretty tough to show "look what my cat is doing!" using iMac or even Macbook compared to just switching to rear facing camera and pointing it at the cat.
  - buster 16y ago
    On the other hand you'll have to hold the camera in front of you for an hour instead of just looking into the camera of your laptop ;)
- ekanes 16y ago
  You're absolutely right, but I think video calling is actually very tightly targeted. If you watch Apple's launch video, it's all about family members who love each other but are separated. (Eg. it's not 20-somethings video calling each other to find out where tonight's party is..) And on that admittedly narrow front I think it'll be a smash hit. Right now when my wife or I are away from home, we record videos on our iphones of the other one with the kids (JUST like in their video) and have the kids say hi to the other parent.. and then email them to each other. :) Edit: phrasing.
  - enneff 16y ago
    Exactly. The only time I have ever wanted to use video chat was to talk to my partner and kid whilst on the road. They nailed it, as usual.
- sounddust 16y ago
  I live in "Europe" (France to be exact) and wifi is extremely easy to find if you live here. Two of the three biggest ISPs here turn every customer's wireless router into an access point to share with other customers. The result is free Wifi within 500 meters of almost any residence in the country. In addition, two of the three carriers offer unlimited Free wifi to these access points with the iPhone plan, even if you're not an ISP customer. So you're doubly covered. I checked the iPhone plans of the UK and Germany, and they both offer free Wi-fi access with the iPhone plans. Regarding your other point, I think it was clear from the UI of the phone call that a voice chat icon will appear when video chat is available and you can switch to it at any point.
lutorm 16y ago
This would seem useful if you could do it over 3G. As someone mentioned, that's been done in Europe for something like 5 years. Otherwise, being able to video chat over wifi -- skype (and ichat, though ichat seems much more picky about firewalls) has done that for years, too. Yeah, true, now you'll be able to do it without your laptop (but still have wifi), but it's not like it's some kind of revolutionary leap...
- buster 16y ago
  Also, now that they aren't using the already existing technology UMTS, but they have been preventing Skype video calling for years (iirc). When they do video calls, why didn't they just enable skype and instantly have a much bigger userbase and also that would potentially include videocalls between all platforms skype runs on. Edit: Well, ok. The former iphones had no second camera.
  - snom370 16y ago
    And they _have_ enabled Skype, and even demoed it running in the background when introducing iPhone OS 4. So I'm guessing that they will allow video camera support for Skype as well, although you can never know with Apple.
    - buster 16y ago
      ahh, ok, didn't see that, apologies! Good news, then! :)
crocowhile 16y ago
It worked on my 6-7 years old sony ericcson with 3, back in Europe. Plus, it was free for any 3 users and didn't require WIFI but 3G. I never used it. Maybe jobs will manage to change people habits, though, and times are different. When I had that (bulky) phone skype was not offering video conferencing yet.

by paul 16y ago

The important feature is that on the iPhone it will actually work. Also, there will be enough distribution to actually establish video calls on a regular basis (because both ends have an iPhone).

buster 16y ago

It was very easy on the Motorola too. And it worked with every other UMTS phone not only between Motorolas. I mean, it's not that hard to pick a contact and instead of "call" press "video call".

megablast 16y ago
I had a motorola e1000 with video chat. The difference this time might be that I will actually have other people to talk to. Not that I particularly want video chat, and I would be surprised if it does catch on that much. A nice aside every now and again, but it is not going to replace what we have now.

trezor 16y ago

Except you have to call first to verify that whoever you are calling is on wifi. In Europe where wifi is something you have to search for and 3G is something which is everywhere, this renders the feature absolutely useless.

protomyth 16y ago
Going by the comment on "working with carriers", I believe folks in Europe will be able to video chat over 3G in the not-too-distant future.
- buster 16y ago
  No, you don't get it. Folks in Europe have been able to videochat since the first UMTS phones came out.
  - protomyth 16y ago
    I'm sure you have. I was just referring to the iPhone 4's video chat. Carriers will determine when it will work over 3G. I expect European carriers will take the lead as they did with the tethering.
snom370 16y ago
I don't have to search for wifi at home or in the office, and that's where I spend most of the time. Even so, I'm pretty sure Apple has thought this through, making it quick and easy to discover if someone is online, and even invite them through push notifications. They did mention that they "had some details to work out" with the operators, which means that we will probably see video calls on 3G at some point in the future.
- lutorm 16y ago
  At home and in the office are also exactly the places where I'm also at a computer which runs skype and can already video chat. No compelling advantage there.
  - snom370 16y ago
    It's a bit easier to move around your home with a phone, so I'm guessing this is going to be used more frequently just because it's more convenient. Same with Skype now that the iPhone supports multitasking.
- eelco 16y ago
  Not all 3G technology supports a data connection when there is also a voice connection.
rimantas 16y ago
Except you have to call first to verify that whoever you are calling is on wifi. My guess is that you won't need to do that: if both sides are using Face Time capable devices and are on WiFi they will get videochat option, if not — it will be deactivated. In Europe where wifi is something you have to search for and 3G is something which is everywhere, this renders the feature absolutely useless. Nobody has Wi-Fi in their homes and offices? Must be some different Europe from where I am. Sure people do have computers with Skype installed at those places, but iPhone video chat will give much more flexibility. It would be pretty tough to show "look what my cat is doing!" using iMac or even Macbook compared to just switching to rear facing camera and pointing it at the cat.
- buster 16y ago
  On the other hand you'll have to hold the camera in front of you for an hour instead of just looking into the camera of your laptop ;)
ekanes 16y ago
You're absolutely right, but I think video calling is actually very tightly targeted. If you watch Apple's launch video, it's all about family members who love each other but are separated. (Eg. it's not 20-somethings video calling each other to find out where tonight's party is..) And on that admittedly narrow front I think it'll be a smash hit. Right now when my wife or I are away from home, we record videos on our iphones of the other one with the kids (JUST like in their video) and have the kids say hi to the other parent.. and then email them to each other. :) Edit: phrasing.
- enneff 16y ago
  Exactly. The only time I have ever wanted to use video chat was to talk to my partner and kid whilst on the road. They nailed it, as usual.
sounddust 16y ago
I live in "Europe" (France to be exact) and wifi is extremely easy to find if you live here. Two of the three biggest ISPs here turn every customer's wireless router into an access point to share with other customers. The result is free Wifi within 500 meters of almost any residence in the country. In addition, two of the three carriers offer unlimited Free wifi to these access points with the iPhone plan, even if you're not an ISP customer. So you're doubly covered. I checked the iPhone plans of the UK and Germany, and they both offer free Wi-fi access with the iPhone plans. Regarding your other point, I think it was clear from the UI of the phone call that a voice chat icon will appear when video chat is available and you can switch to it at any point.

lutorm 16y ago

This would seem useful if you could do it over 3G. As someone mentioned, that's been done in Europe for something like 5 years. Otherwise, being able to video chat over wifi -- skype (and ichat, though ichat seems much more picky about firewalls) has done that for years, too. Yeah, true, now you'll be able to do it without your laptop (but still have wifi), but it's not like it's some kind of revolutionary leap...

buster 16y ago
Also, now that they aren't using the already existing technology UMTS, but they have been preventing Skype video calling for years (iirc). When they do video calls, why didn't they just enable skype and instantly have a much bigger userbase and also that would potentially include videocalls between all platforms skype runs on. Edit: Well, ok. The former iphones had no second camera.
- snom370 16y ago
  And they _have_ enabled Skype, and even demoed it running in the background when introducing iPhone OS 4. So I'm guessing that they will allow video camera support for Skype as well, although you can never know with Apple.
  - buster 16y ago
    ahh, ok, didn't see that, apologies! Good news, then! :)

crocowhile 16y ago

It worked on my 6-7 years old sony ericcson with 3, back in Europe. Plus, it was free for any 3 users and didn't require WIFI but 3G. I never used it. Maybe jobs will manage to change people habits, though, and times are different. When I had that (bulky) phone skype was not offering video conferencing yet.