FaceTime, wow.

[definitive]

yeah, it's a nice feature, but i don't know how useful it will be over time. on a side note, i wish the front camera was higher quality. after all, we're using wifi, so we might as well be able to push better quality video through it.

 

[Steviejobz]

I love it too. Had a bit of trouble getting it to work initially but it is awesome.

Cant wait for other apps to take advantage of video calling feature.

 

[diabolic]

Only thing I don't like about facetime is the wifi limitation.

Other than this, it is very well done.

I wonder how fast someone would burn through the 2GB limit with FaceTime over 3G. I'm pretty sure that's what Apple is trying to figure out with the carriers before allowing it.

 

[shakenmartini]

Which is AT&T's fault, just like MMS was AT&T's fault. I am so sick of AT&T.

Verizon is just as bad. All carriers suck iMHO.

I'm sure a JB work around will come soon to allow this on 3G

 

[skafia]

I just facetimed using a 3G MyWi connection and it worked surprisingly well!

 

[Stink Star]

Yea it wasn't first, but the ease of use factor is what makes this feature "magical" as Jobs says. NO setup and NO registration, simply place a call and hit 1 button and it just works. Even my techno retard dad could figure it out (he can barely turn the tv on and off). Sure the wifi thing is a slight setback, but my house and my work have wifi so I'm covered 75% of my usual day.

 

[SydneySuero]

cute kid man

 

[silroc]

While holding the lock/power button (at the top) press the Home button.

That will take a screenshot in any part of the phone (and it'll show in the Photos application).

thank you !

 

[Daveoc64]

Yea it wasn't first, but the ease of use factor is what makes this feature "magical" as Jobs says. NO setup and NO registration, simply place a call and hit 1 button and it just works. Even my techno retard dad could figure it out (he can barely turn the tv on and off). Sure the wifi thing is a slight setback, but my house and my work have wifi so I'm covered 75% of my usual day.

While I'm holding out a bit longer to pass judgement, I couldn't get FaceTime to work when I tried.

The phone rang and I accepted the call, but it didn't actually connect properly.

I then tried to phone my friend instead, but she couldn't answer my call either.

We've both used other types of services through our NATs.

(I checked and FaceTime was turned on in the menu of both phones).

 

[macrat]

yeah, it's a nice feature, but i don't know how useful it will be over time. .

It's really a personal thing and it's not for everyone. I don't think I would Facetime with my son but my wife and I would spend hours to Facetime with our granddaughter who is just now learning to talk (and she is a talker!) Looking back years ago, I would have like to have something like this when my girlfriend (now my wife) and I were dating and when I was away for a year in another country. For people that are intimately related the possibilities are endless 😉

No I will not Facetime with friends nor do they want to, each time they call or I call, unless of course I wanted to show them my new car and share the excitement of the moment or someone they know at the bar hahaha

 

[skafia]

As trivial as this sounds, some phones have FaceTime turned off in the phone settings, that happened to me.

 

[PNutts]

@ skafia

How cute!

+1

Thanks for posting.

 

[manhattanboy]

oh she's a cutie! actually made me giggle a bit. 🙂

Leave all negativity out of this thread please.

I am just amazed at FaceTime. I can not express how much joy this one moment brought me.

I know you weren't the first Apple, but this was my first and :beer: for you!

I found it impressive that a little kid could easily get Facetime to work.
That speaks brilliantly to how easy Apple has made this.

 

[PhoneI]

I agree. Facetime is awesome. Been using it like crazy the last few days. It's extremely easy to use, no app to launch, no sign in necessary.

 

[Small White Car]

never tried skype or msn messenger?

Yes.

This is way better.

All of those kind of software feel very impersonal. You're looking pretty far off the camera's axis...it kind of looks like you're both being interviewed by 'Dateline' or something. Add to the fact that you have a big screen with other programs and distractions and conversations always end up feeling like speaker-phone conversations; stilted, sporadic, and somewhat uninteresting.

Facetime, on the other hand, is pure Star Trek. It's a small piece of glass right in front of your face that's light enough to move anywhere and hold in any position. The camera is closer to the screen so you feel like you're talking TO the person. The 'flip-to-back camera' feature lets you easily show things off. I walked around the house using it, showing my wife things I was talking about. Even when I iChat with a small laptop, that would be cumbersome and difficult.

Skype and iChat feel like you're video chatting on a computer.

Face-time feels like you're chatting with a person.

That's a slight semantic change that makes a HUGE difference. Computer video chatting is a house cat. Facetime is a lion. They're so far apart from each other it's startling.

 

[PNutts]

Beware anonymous Facetime requests.

/hijack

 

[bbotte]

That is awesome, being a father too, this is really cool to me too. I'm glad I have this tech in my generation, and that it's being put to "good" use at times by some people. Cheers!

 

[skafia]

Now to FaceTime the wife :O

 

[truciet]

Which is AT&T's fault, just like MMS was AT&T's fault. I am so sick of AT&T.

You do know it's other carriers too? T-Mobile, O2, Telus, etc etc...

Jeez people these days just like to follow the trend of bashing...🙄

 

[bushbaby]

Thanks for all the positive comments guys, I guess the ones who posted negative comments overlooked the part where I said "Apple, I know you weren't first..."

Can you use video chat using skype, msn or iChat on a phone?

Thanks @jyj!

So she was amazed by the first call, stared at the screen without talking... I called her the 2nd time and she was glued to the iPad watching Toy Story 2, and he said "I don't want to look at daddy!"

Lol 🙂

😀 That is really cute.

While I'm holding out a bit longer to pass judgement, I couldn't get FaceTime to work when I tried.

The phone rang and I accepted the call, but it didn't actually connect properly.

I then tried to phone my friend instead, but she couldn't answer my call either.

We've both used other types of services through our NATs.

(I checked and FaceTime was turned on in the menu of both phones).

Do the apple tester number thing. They will help you make it work.

Yes.

This is way better.

All of those kind of software feel very impersonal. You're looking pretty far off the camera's axis...it kind of looks like you're both being interviewed by 'Dateline' or something. Add to the fact that you have a big screen with other programs and distractions and conversations always end up feeling like speaker-phone conversations; stilted, sporadic, and somewhat uninteresting.

Facetime, on the other hand, is pure Star Trek. It's a small piece of glass right in front of your face that's light enough to move anywhere and hold in any position. The camera is closer to the screen so you feel like you're talking TO the person. The 'flip-to-back camera' feature lets you easily show things off. I walked around the house using it, showing my wife things I was talking about. Even when I iChat with a small laptop, that would be cumbersome and difficult.

Skype and iChat feel like you're video chatting on a computer.

Face-time feels like you're chatting with a person.

That's a slight semantic change that makes a HUGE difference. Computer video chatting is a house cat. Facetime is a lion. They're so far apart from each other it's startling.

Very well said. It is the scifi future I've always dreamed of.

 

[makefunnyfaces]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_0 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/532.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0.5 Mobile/8A293 Safari/6531.22.7)

FaceTime would be wonderful.... if anyone (I knew) other than my family had an iPhone 4. *Sigh* Hopefully some of my friends will get it at some point, or maybe I'll have more Apple fanatic friends in college.

Oh, & that is seriously too cute! 🙂 You have one adorable kid there.

 

[SPeditor]

Cute pic!

1. Any way to record/save the FaceTime?

2. Is there a way to attach the iPhone somewhere so you don't have to hold it up? When I tested this on the Apple Support call it seemed that she had it up without holding it. Yeah, I forgot to ask. I'm thinking long video call makes arm tired from holding up in front of me. I guess I could keep switching arms. 🙄

3. Imagine having a video of yourself play when you can't answer the iPhone, saying you are not available. Kind of like the audio calls. Not a question, but an interesting idea.

 

[ARF900]

Which is AT&T's fault, just like MMS was AT&T's fault. I am so sick of AT&T.

In all fairness none of the other international carriers are allowing it either, that would be very taxing on their network. I dont see any verizon phones doing this...

I dont why people hate on AT & T so much, ive had my phone for almost 2 years, and ive never dropped a call, and ive only ever had one call fail (and that was in an electrical storm) even in my basement i get perfect reception and i dont even have to use edge that often (Although even that seemed usably fast when I have had to use it)

 

[aforty]

That's really nice. Can't wait to use mine 🙂

 

[chromey]

Are you nude in this picture?