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Skype Video Calling for iOS over Wi-Fi and 3G
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FaceTime over 3G (jailbroken) easily works as well as wifi as long as you have good coverage (this is on at&t). That's been my experience at least.
Useless? No. It still works.
I agree^^ I have had no reception issues, and mine comes out crystal clear....no problems here it's like i'm using it on wifi!
Really looking forward to trying this out especially as it works over 3g. I just updated have yet to try it out. 
Im glad it finally came out, not maybe Apple hurry to get FT going. Not they have been slacking, but I'm impatient.
List of promises for FT;
-one contact rings to your mac, PC, phone, iPad, iPhone, etc.... (right now iPhone4 uses your number, PC is unsupported, and everything else uses your appleID.)
-FaceTime over 3G
-FaceTime made an open standard for anyone to use.
List of promises for FT;
-one contact rings to your mac, PC, phone, iPad, iPhone, etc.... (right now iPhone4 uses your number, PC is unsupported, and everything else uses your appleID.)
-FaceTime over 3G
-FaceTime made an open standard for anyone to use.
Really looking forward to trying this out especially as it works over 3g. I just updated have yet to try it out.
Fascinating!
Have they fixed the crappy battery-eating backgrounding?
I suppose it's because it maintains a constant data connection, but I'm sure they can implement a better way could they not? I don't suppose Push Notifications would do it, but ... for god's sake. Keeping Skype open kills the battery (and the point of having it open in the first place).
I wonder when Android devices will get this video feature.
Hmmm.... what if they did use Push Notifications? Could they implement it in such a way where you would get a push of a video call with "Accept" and "Decline", and hitting "Decline" simply lets the caller's Skype time out? They'd just need a time limit for answering. Hitting Accept would open Skype and I suppose you'd have to hit Accept again when it's open, unless they have Skype automatically answer it or something. Hmmm....
And for chat messages... well... other IMs have been doing that for a long time so that's no issue.
I suppose it's because it maintains a constant data connection, but I'm sure they can implement a better way could they not? I don't suppose Push Notifications would do it, but ... for god's sake. Keeping Skype open kills the battery (and the point of having it open in the first place).
I wonder when Android devices will get this video feature.
Hmmm.... what if they did use Push Notifications? Could they implement it in such a way where you would get a push of a video call with "Accept" and "Decline", and hitting "Decline" simply lets the caller's Skype time out? They'd just need a time limit for answering. Hitting Accept would open Skype and I suppose you'd have to hit Accept again when it's open, unless they have Skype automatically answer it or something. Hmmm....
And for chat messages... well... other IMs have been doing that for a long time so that's no issue.
Maybe better would be FaceTime on the iPhone 4 or touch 4 where you can throw the incoming video and sound to the Apple TV while the iPhone/touch remains as the camera and microphone and controller.
I feel the same. One plus though is at least it works on 3G. So if out or something like that the non jailbroken people can take advantage.
Dumbest thing I've read all week. An optimized version for iPad would mean that you can have contacts and chat side by side while in call. Think the Skype 5 Mac beta only put it on the iPad. You can have your contacts on the left, your chat window in the bottom right and the call information in the top right all without needing to go through menus to see one or the other.
Oh good - so Skype is finally updated to where Tango has been for several months.
Will have to compare qualities...
In the meantime - Apple should be opening up facetime to 3G. Unless they don't want to because the performance is not up to Apple's "standards"
Will have to compare qualities...
In the meantime - Apple should be opening up facetime to 3G. Unless they don't want to because the performance is not up to Apple's "standards"
3G restricted FaceTime .... vs skype/sling etc...
AT&T found a way to stop having to meddle with developers in terms of bandwidth and total data usage already. AT&T took on too much bad press over doing so.
They indirectly addressed this by eliminating "unlimited data" and even "5GB" . They gave iPhone users a 2GB plan with extra charges after.
So you no longer hear AT&T pulling the rug under from companies like Sling or Skype . Because the user is responsible for and "will" pay for it.
And my point is there is no longer a reason for FaceTime to be WiFi only with AT&T unless Apples relationship with AT&T on the negotiating table has become a cluster mess of give and take, push and pull, resulting in agreements that make little sense. This appears to be the case ( from my armchair perspective)
AT&T found a way to stop having to meddle with developers in terms of bandwidth and total data usage already. AT&T took on too much bad press over doing so.
They indirectly addressed this by eliminating "unlimited data" and even "5GB" . They gave iPhone users a 2GB plan with extra charges after.
So you no longer hear AT&T pulling the rug under from companies like Sling or Skype . Because the user is responsible for and "will" pay for it.
And my point is there is no longer a reason for FaceTime to be WiFi only with AT&T unless Apples relationship with AT&T on the negotiating table has become a cluster mess of give and take, push and pull, resulting in agreements that make little sense. This appears to be the case ( from my armchair perspective)
Looks like the standards are being met and Apple have no excuses left not to just turn the switch on for 3G video in the next iOS update.
But it still maintains the constant data connection. That's where the problem is with the battery drain. I believe the pop-up alerts that one gets from Skype are not Push Notifications in the normal iOS sense. They're just alerts from the Skype app that appear anywhere you are, even if Skype isn't in the foreground.
Because Skype does not appear under the Notifications list under the Settings app, and I don't remember it alerting me that "Skype would like to send you Push Notifications", I don't think it's using actual Push Notifications. And it's obvious that the battery goes down much faster with Skype logged in and running in the background.
Even that hypothesis is incorrect, in either case it still drains the battery.
Also if it were indeed using Push Notifications, owners of iPhone 3Gs would have been able to stay logged in, and that is not the case. Every time I've quit Skype on my 3G it simply logs out.
Sigh
It's not Apple that "doesn't" want facetime over 3g.
It's AT&T who thinks their already strapped network will explode if they permit it.
But with Cydia and other things already doing it.
And now this.
Apple will just go "suck it up AT&T, exclusivity is ending. You had YEARS to upgrade your network and what did you do?"
It's not Apple that "doesn't" want facetime over 3g.
It's AT&T who thinks their already strapped network will explode if they permit it.
But with Cydia and other things already doing it.
And now this.
Apple will just go "suck it up AT&T, exclusivity is ending. You had YEARS to upgrade your network and what did you do?"
I don't think so. Facetime is great for getting my kids on with their grandparents, or me seeing my kids while on the road from my hotel. It is reliable, consistent in its high quality, and so easy to use. I don't need to make video calls generally while out walking around or driving. Sure, I will enjoy the ability to make a video call anywhere, but I will still probably make the vast majority of them while in a wi-fi network. Not interested in a laggy, delayed and pixelated video call. So Facetime will remain relevant.
I wish they could just enable it on a carrier-by-carrier basis. It shouldn't matter if AT&T can't do it, just block it for them and open it for the rest of the world
I don't think that's accurate. Is Facetime available overseas on 3g?
A few apps (Like Tango and now Skype) are 3G enabled. There's no reason or logic for ATT to not allow Apple to do the same with Facetime.
If Facetime isn't on 3G - most likely it's Apple holding it up. And/or Apple and ATT together. I don't believe it's JUST ATT
Are you in the US? I'd like to know where I can get a 15GB plan!!
Current AT&T plans are:
- DataPlus: 200 MB for $15, extra $15 for 200 MB
- DataPro: 2 GB for $25, extra $10 for 1 GB, extra $20 for tethering
Source: http://www.att.com/shop/wireless/plans/data-plans.jsp
That's been my experience as well.
FaceTime seems to have a lot of problems getting through NAT.