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I wish apple would release FaceTime standard already

Natesac

Natesac

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
May 29, 2008
816
47
Dallas,Tx
Now as more and more phones and devices are being released with front facing cameras it would be a great time for apple to release the FaceTime standard as they said they would. It works great but it's almost a waste to keep it exclusive at this point. Once it hits android we will be able to use it a whole lot more.

Think they are waiting for after the holiday?
 
I doubt that it will reach other platforms. There's always other options as well though. Tango is a viable option.
 
Facetime is a proprietary format.

Video calling, which has been around for years, already has a standard. Several actually.
These are what every other video calling capable phone on the market uses.
And they don't need a WiFi connection to use it either.
 
Hope they do but they might keep it to apple products only so people keep buying their hardware.
Im surprised skype hasnt updated to use the front camera for videocalls. Hope more and more apps like IM clients and other stuff start taking advantage of the feature.
 
djransom said:
I doubt that it will reach other platforms. There's always other options as well though. Tango is a viable option.
Click to expand...

Jobs himself said they would release it as an open standard. I think it was the iPhone 4 keynote.

And tango is awful compared to FaceTime. FaceTime must have better protocols or something

We tested tango vs. FaceTime iPhone 4 on wifi to another iPhone 4 on wifi

It was night and day difference
 
Small White Car said:
There's nothing in the Facetime standard that says it has to be Wifi-only.

That's an AT&T decision to block it and has nothing to do with what standards the program uses to communicate with.
Click to expand...
Regardless... that is the only option available for Facetime at the moment in the U.S.
Unless of course you jailbreak. ;)
 
Applejuiced said:
True, thats an easy fix/update if and when AT&T allows it on their network.
And probably find a way to charge us extra for it:)
Click to expand...

T-Mobile already has an ad on TV making fun of this and they don't even have the iPhone to sell...they still think it's worth making fun of AT&T over.

Imagine if this ends up being Verizon's big promotion when they get the iPhone...Facetime on Verizon 3G...come on over!
 
rjohnstone said:
Facetime is a proprietary format.

Video calling, which has been around for years, already has a standard. Several actually.
These are what every other video calling capable phone on the market uses.
And they don't need a WiFi connection to use it either.
Click to expand...

All apple does it proprietary...and thats why Android is beating them in the mobile market and why Microsoft is winning in the computer business.
 
I just re-watched the end of the iPhone 4 keynote. Jobs says it will be released as an open industry standard. No details on when though. I'll shoot him an email.
 
Aren't they integrating it with iChat? I know there is a beta for Mac that lets you FaceTime from a Mac computer to iPhone, and it's said they are working on a Windows/PC version as well. So it does look like they are headed in the right direction.
 
Small White Car said:
That's an AT&T decision to block it
Click to expand...

If that were true, then 3G Facetime would be enabled for users in Canada, Europe, China, etc. AT&T doesn't dictate what happens outside of its network, and Apple hasn't shied away from releasing a capability on other networks even when AT&T isn't ready (remember MMS?).

This isn't to say that the standards behind Facetime are responsible, quite the contrary. But this restriction is still an Apple decision, not AT&T.

rjohnstone said:
Facetime is a proprietary format.
Click to expand...

Also not true. The standards behind Facetime are not Apple inventions, and are open. H.264 and AAC are royalty-free and available, and rest: SIP, STUN, TURN, ICE, RTP and SRTP - are already published IETF standards.

It's up to other vendors to look these up and implement the standards. They don't need to wait for Apple to hold their hands.
 
Last edited:
scaredpoet said:
If that were true, then 3G Facetime would be enabled for users in Canada, Europe, China, etc. AT&T doesn't dictate what happens outside of its network, and Apple hasn't shied away from releasing a capability on other networks even when AT&T isn't ready (remember MMS?).

This isn't to say that the standards behind Facetime are responsible, quit the contrary. But this restriction is still an Apple decision, not AT&T.
Click to expand...

Supposedly they are working with carriers to make it available over carrier data but not sure when it will take off and if they start releasing it on select wireless providers.
I know MMS and internet tethering took forever for AT&T so I expect for us to get it last again than the rest of the world:D
 
If I had to guess I would bet Apple is waiting for some kind of deal for FaceTime over cellular networks. If they were to release it now it would pop up on android phones pretty fast and the carriers for those phones would probably open up FaceTime over cellular before AT&T would do it for iPhones.

So we will probably have to wait for one of two things

1. AT&T opens up FaceTime over 3G (which, we know works fairly well)

2. Apple goes multi carrier in the U.S. And the new carrier is happy to provide FaceTime over cellular.
 
scaredpoet said:
But this restriction is still an Apple decision, not AT&T.
Click to expand...

Well, yes, Apple has technically turned off the switch but who do you think asked them to do it?

You think they just did it for no reason? Because they thought it would be funny? (Did they just forget?)

Or do you think it's more likely that ALL of those carriers you mentioned said "uh, hey, why don't you leave that off until we can think about it some more? Ok thanks."
 
Natesac said:
Think they are waiting for after the holiday?
Click to expand...

Considering they released a beta for Mac at least gives hope that they will incorporate Facetime into iChat as well as provide a Windows version. The use of Facetime as the video calling format has tons of potential considering the user base that is out there (and continuously growing).

Apple isn't always that swift at releasing new internal apps and I wouldn't hold my breath on when the iChat/Facetime final version is released. I would speculate that it will be released with 10.7 next summer. Seems likely that Apple will tack it on as a new feature of Lion.
 
rjohnstone said:
Regardless... that is the only option available for Facetime at the moment in the U.S.
Unless of course you jailbreak. ;)
Click to expand...

That's an unfortunate byproduct of the AT&T monopoly over the iPhone franchise. Jobs indicated a desire to try to convince 'carriers' (subtext: AT&T) to open it up for use over 3g.
 
scaredpoet said:
Also not true. The standards behind Facetime are not Apple inventions, and are open. H.264 and AAC are royalty-free and available, and rest: SIP, STUN, TURN, ICE, RTP and SRTP - are already published IETF standards.

It's up to other vendors to look these up and implement the standards. They don't need to wait for Apple to hold their hands.
Click to expand...
The core stack in Facetime is still proprietary.
This is why no other phone vendor can establish a Facetime session with an iPhone 4 client.
 
Small White Car said:
T-Mobile already has an ad on TV making fun of this and they don't even have the iPhone to sell...they still think it's worth making fun of AT&T over.

Imagine if this ends up being Verizon's big promotion when they get the iPhone...Facetime on Verizon 3G...come on over!
Click to expand...
Even Sprint is running commercials now showing video calls on their network.
I love their closing line in the commercial... "... and yes, it works over WiFi too."
 
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