Apple Announces FaceTime for iPhone 4 Video Calls

Seems pretty awesome.

Very Jetson's-esque.

Meh... I'm not too impressed. WiFi only is a huge drawback...

Useless feature. Video chat was never popular — for good reason.

Honestly, it wasn't worth the One More Thing announcement.

iPhone on Verizon, Safari 5 or Magic Trackpad would have been much more exciting. Really.

PBF said:

Honestly, it wasn't worth the One More Thing announcement.

iPhone on Verizon, Safari 5 or Magic Trackpad would have been much more exciting. Really.

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agreed.

cool feature nonetheless. but the fact that its only sustained on wifi is a bit lame (although i have a feeling is mostly AT&T's fault). The biggest issue i see with it is IPHONE4 to IPHONE4 exclusitvity . at least iphone 3g/s should be able to see Iphone 4 users or use they're back cams.

At least I'm glad there is definitely going to be a front facing camera finally! This is quite useless to me though unless I can chat with my iChat buddies, or at least Skype. Hopefully Skype or another third party (AIM) will be able to tap into the front camera. WiFi only is also a shame. If I'm going to be on a WiFi network I might as well just use my MacBook Pro.

Was glad to hear they are making FaceTime an open standard, though. That will open the door for other app developers on mobile and desktop. We will probably see an iChat update with FaceTime... eventually.

DylanLikesPorn said:

Useless feature. Video chat was never popular — for good reason.

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It was never popular because it wasn't easy to do. Now all you have to do is make a phone call and tap the icon. Anyone who knows how to make a regular voice call is going to know how to make a video call now. And since it's open, it won't be iPhone 4 to iPhone 4 forever.

So... no iChat to iPhone videochat?
WHY!?

iphone4 to iphone4 only over wifi only means NOBODY is going to use this.

The fact that video only works over WIFI is a major flaw. At the moment, the video is a gimmick. Not much better / useful than conferencing with Skype.

tens of millions of FaceTime devices

"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?

please remember its all carriers not just att.

I HAVE to think that Apple will get this working with at least iChat in the very near future. Otherwise, iPhone 4-to-iPhone 4 only, wifi-only makes this a gimmick, not a useful feature.

If they get it working with iChat, that would be GREAT for people like me who want to videochat with family while I'm traveling. I usually stay in hotels with wifi access, so the lack of cellular connectivity is less of a problem for me.

I knew this would be a complaint issue.

FX120 said:

Meh... I'm not too impressed. WiFi only is a huge drawback...

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It's better than no video chat at all.

Wifi only isnt surprising considering ATT can't even handle voice calls properly. But this is an epic fail on Apple's part. The best part will be watching the Apple fanboys dance around how lame this is. Wifi only. iPhone to iPhone only. Wow. Why not iPhone to iChat at the very least? What a joke.

Smaller screen, still no built in turn-by-turn navigation, awful phone service, idiotic pricing plans. Hi EVO, nice to meet you.

CoolSpot said:

iphone4 to iphone4 only over wifi only means NOBODY is going to use this.

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My wife and I will most certainly use this (talk to the kids). The wifi only is the only drawback right now but im sure this will change in due time...

Open Standard

They said it is an open standard so you would think that you will be able to use the front facing camera in a skype app or something like that.

Did he really say "carriers" in the plural ?

CoolSpot said:

iphone4 to iphone4 only over wifi only means NOBODY is going to use this.

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Yes, because nobody travels anywhere there are wifi networks available.

I'd bet you'll be able to connect to a desktop version soon also.

skyehill said:

Wifi only isnt surprising considering ATT can't even handle voice calls properly. But this is an epic fail on Apple's part. The best part will be watching the Apple fanboys dance around how lame this is. Wifi only. iPhone to iPhone only. Wow. Why not iPhone to iChat at the very least? What a joke.

Smaller screen, still no built in turn-by-turn navigation, awful phone service, idiotic pricing plans. Hi EVO, nice to meet you.

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You were never going to get one anyways, so just keep on trolling.

NorthZax said:

Did he really say "carriers" in the plural ?

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AT&T isn't the only network the iPhone is used on. Think the rest of the world...

MrCrowbar said:

So... no iChat to iPhone videochat?
WHY!?

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I'm guessing because iChat uses a user handle and not a number like FaceTime to establish/link the connection between devices.

Not a big deal though. I'm sure there will be tons of 3rd party apps that will bring us universal video chat.

DylanLikesPorn said:

Useless feature. Video chat was never popular — for good reason.

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agreed. another "magical feature that will change the world" from apple... too bad this one is a joke. every person on the planet that owns a mac can easily set up a video chat in a matter of seconds... yet virtually no one bothers.