Facetime for iPad

[HeyMardie]

Hi all,

I'm planning to get the iPad 2 when it comes out after anxiously sitting on my iPad-less hands for the past year. It's pretty obvious at this point that Facetime will be available on the new model. I'm definitely going to get the 3G model, but I assume that Facetime will still only be available on Wifi. This is a little premature, but here's my question: When Facetime does eventually become an option over 3G or 4G (as it clearly technically can, based on T-Mobile's ads), will that be a hardware or software update on the iPad? Forgive my ignorance - I'm a fairly competent Mac end-user, but I don't know how the innards work...

I'm planning to get the 2nd gen either way, since I don't want to wait anymore, but it'd be reassuring to know that I won't have to by a whole new iPad just to video chat...it's not in my budget to buy a new device every time one comes out, so I try to optimize. (Frankly, there's no free Wifi in New York City other than my apartment, the airport, and the occasional Starbucks...so Facetime over 3G/4G is what I'm really looking forward to.)

Thanks!
Mardie

 

[stridemat]

If 3G FaceTime ever became available then I would imagine it would be a simple case of a software update.

 

[Stealthipad]

The devices that do face time without WiFi are 4G. The iPad2 is only 3G from what I understand and a software upgrade would not add the hardware required to use 4G. If Apple gets a 3G face time, you could upgrade that. But that is a big IF with 4G coming on the next iPad3.

Jobs is saving that for the iPad3

 

[HeyMardie]

Thanks for your help. I really want a Facetime that's mobile (it kind of defeats the purpose right now when I can just chat from my computer at home), but I don't know if I can hold out for another year!

 

[saving107]

Considering their is an App in Cydia called "3G Unrestrictor" that makes the phone think that you are on WiFi wile on 3G, giving you high quality streaming of web videos and the ability to use FaceTime over 3G, I am going to say that it is a Software limitation and not Hardware.

 

[MrWillie]

It's software. AT&T didn't want FaceTime bogging down their network. But if you jail broke your iPad, it's a moot point anyway. All you get is two gigs of data a month, so you would exced that pretty quick. Hopefully iPad2 will work on networks other than AT&T.

 

[Weiser878]

On my jailbroken iPhone 4 I have an app called My3G and it lets me facetime on 3G or EDGE. Works great

 

[MrWillie]

On my jailbroken iPhone 4 I have an app called My3G and it lets me facetime on 3G or EDGE. Works great

Great, now how often do you use over 2gigs of data a month ? Remember she hasn't bought an iPad yet, so the biggest plan she can get will be a 2 gig plan.

So jail breaking to FaceTime over 3G is not an option for her is it ?

Okay, I know it uses an estimated 3 Meg a minute which would give you about 666 minutes a month. But how does ATT calculate usage, and what about other data usage. It can add up pretty quick.

Edit: Isn't iPad 2 rumored that it will work on carriers other than ATT ? Such as Ver and T-Mobile ? So it might not be an issue after all. (To all our buddies outside the US, I am talking about stateside).

 

[Vizin]

Edit: Isn't iPad 2 rumored that it will work on carriers other than ATT ? Such as Ver and T-Mobile ? So it might not be an issue after all. (To all our buddies outside the US, I am talking about stateside).

Verizon's CFO outright stated that there will be a CDMA iPad for Verizon. (this was last month)

I'd be surprised to see a T-Mobile iPad. It would require hardware tweaks (since T-Mobile uses non-standard 3G frequencies) and there'd be little point - since the iPad isn't contract-based, a TMO iPad would do little to win over existing TMO customers. (You could make the same argument for a VZW iPad, but many people shun the AT&T iPad due to their reputation for bad service)

 

[Zcott]

Great, now how often do you use over 2gigs of data a month ? Remember she hasn't bought an iPad yet, so the biggest plan she can get will be a 2 gig plan.

So jail breaking to FaceTime over 3G is not an option for her is it ?

Okay, I know it uses an estimated 3 Meg a minute which would give you about 666 minutes a month. But how does ATT calculate usage, and what about other data usage. It can add up pretty quick.

Edit: Isn't iPad 2 rumored that it will work on carriers other than ATT ? Such as Ver and T-Mobile ? So it might not be an issue after all. (To all our buddies outside the US, I am talking about stateside).

I jail broke my iPhone for ths very reason and despite a few FaceTime calls over 3G a week I haven't gone anywhere near 2gb yet.