Apple Still Pursuing iChat 'Answering Machine' Technology?

[EagerDragon]

Nice

Would be nice being able to leave a message. I do not know how many times I connected to talk to someone in a hurry and they were not online and I had no way to leave a message.

I assume there will be security measures so you can only get messages (voice and video) from those in your buddy list. Without it, it is spam city.

 

[iMacoo7]

Apple has a winner if they include video and front-facing cameras in the next iPhone.

The world is full of teenaged girls that can't resist snapping a shot or two of their naked budding bodies. Now they will be able to do it with video. Stand ready to see more of Miley making mimi-vids for her 20 year old lover accidently making their way to the late-night internet.

Thats another factor to consider, Allot of teens use the iphone and video chatting is alive and well amongst teenagers and some older generations.
I think the main factor most forum members are overlooking is that Apple is trying to "takeover" the business aspect of things with the iphone. I know a good bit of professionals that use video chatting for company meetings as well as conversing with overseas business contacts.
There are millions of iphone users and to implement this into the "Pro" model of the iphone would be welcomed by many.

I have noticed allot of members saying that they would not use the feature set nor care for it, but once something like this hits , then its..... Oh yea... It is pretty cool to use from time to time...

 

[ricksbrain]

The "puck" is heading toward tele-presence, not text messaging and email. Humans like face-to-face interaction, even though some say they like text messaging or (insert current tech here). If technology can make humans feel as if they are together, though they are far apart, it will succeed and move forward.

Video chat is a logical part of this progression. Inching forward to make video chatting more common, easier to use, and relevant to daily life is only part of the process, too.

When did Bell invent the telephone and how long after did AT&T keep asking people to reach out and touch someone? Decades. The tech was there, but needed to be adopted, improved, and solidified as a legitimate means of communication. Sometimes, things move fast, but sometimes not. With video chatting, the tech is here, but in its infancy, especially in terms of adoption beyond bedroom-refuged-teens. It needs to be close enough to what people use now to be acceptable and approachable, but enough of a move forward to be interesting and a step forward. Pony express-->...-->tele-presence. Step by step is how it goes.

 

[SandynJosh]

When did Bell invent the telephone and how long after did AT&T keep asking people to reach out and touch someone?

The resistance to the early phone went something like this, "No self-respecting man would be caught talking to a box on the wall."

Now, of course, with a cell phone and a blue tooth ear piece, we all can get caught talking to ourselves while getting groceries....or is the price of tomatoes that have us talking to ourselves?

 

[MrCrowbar]

Now, of course, with a cell phone and a blue tooth ear piece, we all can get caught talking to ourselves while getting groceries....or is the price of tomatoes that have us talking to ourselves?

Yea, what's up with tomato prices? It's ridiculously high right now.
I like video chatting with my people. iChat rarely works through routers (home users almost always go through a router) and video chat only works from mac to mac. And very few people have AIM or iChat acounts in Germany. If iChat want to succeed, there needs to be a version for Windows (and Linux) and the routing issue needs to be resolved. When working, the audio and video quality is oustanding compared to Skype and it looks much nicer too, especially conference video calls.

 

[babyj]

There is a big problem with messaging services (such as iChat) and mobile phones, whether it be text or video chats, which is the same problem there is with VOIP (such as Skype) - it bypasses the current revenue streams for mobile phone companies.

If you send a text message via iChat it goes as data rather than sms, if you make a phone call via Skype it goes as data rather than a call. Until the mobile phone companies find a solution to this so that they still get their revenue they will be fighting it every step of the way.

The obvious solution is moving to a flat rate with no usage charges (for most services, they'd still charge for calls to land lines in less developed countries for example) or to charging based on data sent and received. We're getting closer to it, its possible the iPhone will help to force the issue or at least be one of the first to get the new methods of charging - Apple have the platform to do it which most others don't.

There is also the problem of all the different messaging systems, everyone will need to agree on a common platform before things like this become standard. You can see Apple working it out with Google and Yahoo and other smaller providers, but I don't see Microsoft joining the party anytime soon.

 

[twoodcc]

i think this is a cool idea. i would like to see this in snow leopard and the next iPhone

 

[W1LLk]

Impressive. And were not even in the 21st century yet.

Actually, this is the 21st Century, Fox wasn't called 20th century Fox decades ago to try and sound futuristic. The year 2100 will be the beginning of the 22nd century. FYI

 

[MikeTheC]

Yet another software patent that we don't need.

 

[jbernie]

There is a big problem with messaging services (such as iChat) and mobile phones, whether it be text or video chats, which is the same problem there is with VOIP (such as Skype) - it bypasses the current revenue streams for mobile phone companies.

If you send a text message via iChat it goes as data rather than sms, if you make a phone call via Skype it goes as data rather than a call. Until the mobile phone companies find a solution to this so that they still get their revenue they will be fighting it every step of the way.

I though thats why they charged so much for things such as txt messaging and data plans and the like, must have been mistaken. Given how many minutes you can get with some of the basic plans in the USA there really isn't any incentive to use Skype for the local calls and for international I pay $4 a month and call my family in Australia at 7 or 8c a minute which might possibly be a bit more than Skype but it doesn't break the bank by any means.

 

[scottness]

Would this be anything like Skype's voicemail? Think we can get an iChat phone number? I doubt it...

 

[acidedge76]

This Exists

The "video answering machine" technology has existed for years now. It is employed on Ojo videophones used by deaf and hard-of-hearing people worldwide. They can leave sign language messages via video for people they call. Apple may be the first ones to use it for video IM purposes, but it shouldn't be too hard to adapt for the application.