Once the iPod Touch effectively becomes a complete VoIP (video too!) phone, what's the point in having cell service? I bought an iPhone 4, but it may very well be my last cell phone purchase, other than a cheap prepaid one for my car. Now if a cell company released a prepaid data plan with a mifi-like device with the data non-expiring based on date, what's the point in paying for an expensive cell plan for MOST people?
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FaceTime for iPad and iPod Touch to Be Linked to Email Addresses?
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I know I keep saying it, but I really hope they do an AppleTV with FaceTime on it (and maybe gesture based interface using the camera...)
I just hope it lets you specify the email address instead of using my apple id. I never give out my apple id to anyone, ever. Nor will I ever. I like that a person has to guess both my id and my password to hack my account. And I'd rather tell friends and family my normal email address than my apple id address for them to call me.
Allowing one FaceTime call to ring your iPhone, your iPad, and your Mac at the same time sounds pretty damn cool to me.
Here's hoping Apple gets it into all of their iOS devices and into Mac OS X by this time next year... then enables a voice-only version and the ability to dial phone numbers once it's too embedded so deeply that AT&T can't do anything about it. Free calls over your home WiFi network should be the norm
Here's hoping Apple gets it into all of their iOS devices and into Mac OS X by this time next year... then enables a voice-only version and the ability to dial phone numbers once it's too embedded so deeply that AT&T can't do anything about it. Free calls over your home WiFi network should be the norm
Now that almost no one uses AIM these days; iChat is completely useless to me. Why in heaven's name has Apple not distributed the darn App throughout their devices? They should create their own service and link it to everyone's Apple ID, so that way we could actually use it. I would totally use iChat over Skype, over any IM if it were widespread.
Practically everything in Mac OSx is useless to me though. I would happily remove iLife from my computer if it didn't come bundled as is.
Practically everything in Mac OSx is useless to me though. I would happily remove iLife from my computer if it didn't come bundled as is.
Facetime has no ability to communicate with cellular users on devices that don;t support facetime or dumb phones.
I don't think that most people have access to wifi all day. I work for a large software company where we do have wifi, but they block the ports that FaceTime uses, so even people with wifi can be easily as bad off as those without. I haven't had a "land line" at home since 1998, but I don't see my cell service going obsolete any time soon.
Nice way to discover people's email addresses and the relationships between people without facebook-type application for Apple.. I wonder if you get iAd spam unless you opt out..
So Apple have your geo-location, your call behaviour, your email personal address web..
So Apple have your geo-location, your call behaviour, your email personal address web..
Nothing stopping you from registering 'idontusethisaddressforanythingbutfacetime@freeemailservice.com'
Nothing stopping you from registering 'idontusethisaddressforanythingbutfacetime@freeemailservice.com'
Hehe true..
You don't need to know which device to call. Simply "call" the email address and all of the devices that are on a wifi network will "ring", and you can pick up the device that you're next to.
Makes it easier for the caller to get in touch with you
I hope this happens. But until then, I'm happy with Skype. If the iPad & iPod touch get front facing cameras (and microphones), then Skype could work on all iDevices, Macs, and PCs. That gives good competition to FaceTime.
They could make FaceTime for Windows. After all, they made iTunes, Safari, and Quicktime for Windows. Do I see it happening? Probably not. I say that because iChat never came to Windows, so iChat never had a chance At least for me, because I have very few friends with Macs.
What's wrong with paying for things? If they did that, the Mobile Me service would almost be worth it for me. But even then, I don't think I'll be going back to Mobile Me. All I used it for was iWeb and publishing to Mobile Me. Then I discovered Rapidweaver & real hosting Now my website rocks for half the price.
But you are right, a lot of people would complain. I don't see it happening though, as Skype would kill them, so to speak. As I mentioned, Skype will work for video chat on iPod & iPad if they get the front camera. Competition is good.
They could make FaceTime for Windows. After all, they made iTunes, Safari, and Quicktime for Windows. Do I see it happening? Probably not. I say that because iChat never came to Windows, so iChat never had a chance
At least for me, because I have very few friends with Macs.What's wrong with paying for things? If they did that, the Mobile Me service would almost be worth it for me. But even then, I don't think I'll be going back to Mobile Me. All I used it for was iWeb and publishing to Mobile Me. Then I discovered Rapidweaver & real hosting
Now my website rocks for half the price. But you are right, a lot of people would complain. I don't see it happening though, as Skype would kill them, so to speak. As I mentioned, Skype will work for video chat on iPod & iPad if they get the front camera. Competition is good.
I never thought of this problem before! Using e-mail addresses seems simple, that's what other services like MSN use, and Skype uses a single username. I would love FaceTime to be compatible with computers and not just portable devices, however, I'm afraid that Apple will make it compatible with iChat. The problem with iChat is that no one I know uses it because most people have PCs.
Yes, but to use FaceTime on an iPod Touch will presumably required a phone-like speaker and microphone, and there are plenty of other VoIP services out there. Additionally, the VoIP multitasking capability of iOS 4 was needed. For those who primarily use their cell phones at home and work, an iPod Touch with a VoIP may suffice.
In my opinion, Apple together with Google (Google Voice - a great service) are close to commoditizing cell service into strictly data transmission and ending the ability of the cell companies to price discriminate (charge higher prices to higher demanders). With the near-ubiquity of wifi in populated areas, together with the new iPod Touch and Google Voice, cell companies will soon be crying to Congress for protection.
Imagine a world of complete pay-per-byte cellular service. Almost everything goes through a broadband band + wifi, but then you have pay per byte when traveling. It's got to be scary to the cell companies -- there is very little need for most people to access the cell networks MOST of the time.
Prediction: Once all devices (iPad, iPod Touch) are upgraded to have both a front facing camera and iOS 4 with multitasking, there will be a Facetime app (like Skype) that will simply run in the background of devices. If you get a call, it will route it to all devices running that app and signed in to a specific account. It would work like Google Voice (calling multiple devices at once) but obviously more complicated a process since each device does not have a telephone number.
Umm... what?
Um... okay, this just boggles my mind.
Let's think about this problem as it might have been encountered, say, 120 years ago.
So, er, yeah. Maybe you would just, you know, RING ALL OF THEM, and let the receiver sort it out? Or is that 'rather complex' too?
-fred
Um... okay, this just boggles my mind.
Let's think about this problem as it might have been encountered, say, 120 years ago.
So, er, yeah. Maybe you would just, you know, RING ALL OF THEM, and let the receiver sort it out? Or is that 'rather complex' too?
-fred
I don't think email is the best way to implement this. Right now, when people "email" someone, they use their email address. When they "call" someone, they use a phone number. Combining the two would make things confusing for a lot of users. I say that Apple should let users register their devices with their phone #, so whenever someone with a Facetime-compatible device calls you, all of your devices that are registered under that number will ring (assuming they are compatible with Facetime too). If someone without a Facetime-compatible phone calls you, only your normal phone will ring. Apple could do with Facetime what Google has done with Google Voice.
rather annoying if you want to call your daughter and your other kids and wives machines all rang in unison in different locations and buildings.
the simple answer is to register different email addresses
Just rather enjoying sharing 2 phones with one itunes account so only have to pay for apps once.