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what is the point of a front facing camera?

Applejuiced said:
They could put a better camera and also add a front one. It doesnt have to be one or the other right?
An updated notification system would be software, dont know about the finger print thing :D
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not sure if Apple can add that much hardware without making the phone bigger and heavier.

Don't worry. We don't have a say.
 
Applejuiced said:
Yes, I highly doubt they would go that route.
It would be nice but knowing Apple and all their ipods and iphones never have an external SD storage space I think they will keep it the way its been.
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Otherwise you wouldn't "have" to upgrade every time the storage capacity increased. lol
 
drewsof07 said:
Otherwise you wouldn't "have" to upgrade every time the storage capacity increased. lol
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haha, no kidding. Moreover they couldn't charge you an extra 100 bucks for extra memory. Maybe in the past this was valid concern, going from 16gig to 32gig was expensive, but a micro-SDHC card is so cheap and large now that I think adding a slot would kill their "premium" market.
 
Personally, I don't even use the front camera on my nokia very much...its has crappy quality...
all the front facing cameras are usually vga with very low resolution...so all of them have bad quality...unless they put maybe 1.3mp camera in the front i won't use it...

though sometimes its a handy thing...i only have the problem with the quality...
 
pukifloyd said:
Personally, I don't even use the front camera on my nokia very much...its has crappy quality...
all the front facing cameras are usually vga with very low resolution...so all of them have bad quality...unless they put maybe 1.3mp camera in the front i won't use it...

though sometimes its a handy thing...i only have the problem with the quality...
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I think the low rez front cam is related to UMTS standard. If I remember correctly videocalls doesn't support very high rez so anything over VGA is just an overkill. Anyways videocall atleast for me and everyone I know has always been a gimmick and it always will be. My three previous phone had videocall, but I have made only one call and that was just a test to see if it works. I just don't need to see the other person's face when I call him/her.
 
peperoni said:
I think the low rez front cam is related to UMTS standard. If I remember correctly videocalls doesn't support very high rez so anything over VGA is just an overkill. Anyways videocall atleast for me and everyone I know has always been a gimmick and it always will be. My three previous phone had videocall, but I have made only one call and that was just a test to see if it works. I just don't need to see the other person's face when I call him/her.
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would be useful to those of us that utilize skype... of course skype would have to add the functionality into their iphone app.
 
I don't know if some of you have messed around with the cheap downloadable games on the Nintendo DSi or not, but the ones that use the front-facing camera are great. Cheap, gimmicky, and zero replay value, but really that just makes the iPhone a great market for apps. :p

As for practical use, I can't see very many people using iChat or Skype at all. No one would use it in public, and I'm assuming that at home or work they would just use their laptop.
 
btcutter said:
What makes you think MAJORITY of the iPhone owners want a front facing camera?? Maybe here at MacRumors. I am willing to bet it's not even half of the posters here wants that. I am certain there are other feature people want more than another camera. If a Front facing camera is in such demand then why is it that we don't see this feature more available?

We all have specific wants but Apple isn't just going to put it there because I want it. It will need to reach a critical mass for it to occur.
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Well, every iPhone user obviously wants something different, but besides a front facing camera, a higher quality rear camera, and an led flash, there is one feature that everybody really, REALLY wants.

From the 1st iPhone, to the 3G, everybody wanted 3G. From the 3G to the 3GS, there was no single killer feature, and the prevalence of people talking about wanting a compass, or a faster processor was next to nothing compared to the talk about wanting a front facing camera.

You say "I am willing to bed it's not even half of the posters here wants that." If that is true, is there/what is the one killer feature that everybody wants in the hardware of the next iPhone?

And to the posters above who speak of low res. sub-vga front facing cameras, I think you're missing where apple would head with this. AT&T, with their crappy network would NEVER want millions of front facing camera iPhones making video calls, whether it be two way or one. The network can't support it, and if it did, knowing AT&T, video call would come with a large premium per month.

If Apple put a front facing camera in the iPhone, it would interface with iChat. You would be able to video chat friends and family while connected to wifi only, not 3G. Mobile video chat, not video "calls" per se. While it might be a gimmick at first, it would be a step in the right direction. AFAIK, no us cell phone or carrier has the capability for two way video calls, but if Apple finds out that millions of people are utilizing video chat over wifi on their iPhones, a huge opportunity appears for AT&T to upgrade their infrastructure, and potentially see a huge profit margin from the fees that would be associated with it. It's a win-win-win. Win for the consumer, win for Apple, and an eventual win for wireless carriers.
 
Plenty of people ar saying they will have no use for it, until it's on the phone and eventually you'll most likely start putting it to use every now & then. I could see for maybe, confrences and blogging on the go and what not though.
 
I really don't know. I mean I've got a MacBook Pro with a video camera and have used it almost never. There are probably professional uses for video chat, but that's why Apple makes computers and not just phones.

After Apple makes a Transformer iPhone that can turn into a truck, then the geniuses can tackle a front-facing camera. But the Transformer iPhone is probably much more desired.
 
ajohnson253 said:
Plenty of people ar saying they will have no use for it, until it's on the phone and eventually you'll most likely start putting it to use every now & then. I could see for maybe, confrences and blogging on the go and what not though.
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Exactly. Even if people don't think they'll use it, or think it's stupid, chances are they'll use it once or twice at least...

Michael CM1 said:
I really don't know. I mean I've got a MacBook Pro with a video camera and have used it almost never. There are probably professional uses for video chat, but that's why Apple makes computers and not just phones.
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I'm completely the opposite, I have a MBP and I use video chat all the time, multiple times a day. Talking to friends, family, whatever, it's so much better being able to see them than just hear them IMO.
 
I personally think a front facing camera is ridiculous. I would never use it myself and I don't think something like iChat is meant for a phone in general. Leave video chats for computers, at least until they replace our phone calls in the "future".
 
theTechnician said:
Well, every iPhone user obviously wants something different, but besides a front facing camera, a higher quality rear camera, and an led flash, there is one feature that everybody really, REALLY wants.

From the 1st iPhone, to the 3G, everybody wanted 3G. From the 3G to the 3GS, there was no single killer feature, and the prevalence of people talking about wanting a compass, or a faster processor was next to nothing compared to the talk about wanting a front facing camera.

You say "I am willing to bed it's not even half of the posters here wants that." If that is true, is there/what is the one killer feature that everybody wants in the hardware of the next iPhone?

And to the posters above who speak of low res. sub-vga front facing cameras, I think you're missing where apple would head with this. AT&T, with their crappy network would NEVER want millions of front facing camera iPhones making video calls, whether it be two way or one. The network can't support it, and if it did, knowing AT&T, video call would come with a large premium per month.

If Apple put a front facing camera in the iPhone, it would interface with iChat. You would be able to video chat friends and family while connected to wifi only, not 3G. Mobile video chat, not video "calls" per se. While it might be a gimmick at first, it would be a step in the right direction. AFAIK, no us cell phone or carrier has the capability for two way video calls, but if Apple finds out that millions of people are utilizing video chat over wifi on their iPhones, a huge opportunity appears for AT&T to upgrade their infrastructure, and potentially see a huge profit margin from the fees that would be associated with it. It's a win-win-win. Win for the consumer, win for Apple, and an eventual win for wireless carriers.
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The current phone does so much already that I don't know what is the next killer feature.

I get a feeling that iPhone users in general FEEL "threatened" that Android, MS, Palm, HTC are all "caught up" and in some respects "surpassed" iPhone. I don't know if iPhone users want the next killer advance to be on the iPhone because it would make iPhone more productive. I think (IMHO), most iPhone users wants the next killer advance to be on iPHONE because they want iPhone to be the COOLEST phone to own (a myth Apple happily propagate).

Whether it's a front facing camera, 2ghz processor, 3x optical zoom/image stabilizer or whatever it is...iPhone owners (myself included) just want to be able to tell Google/MS/Palm......we are the first and still the coolest kid on the block.:D
 
I want a front facing camera, I would use it for skype video chat and taking self portraits. I think it is really cool to have this option and low resolution cameras are cheap so I don`t see a problem for implementing it. I am sure everyone will use it, if not for chats, then as a mirror ;) This would be very useful to me. I ofter look at myself at iPhone to see how I look, sometimes just on the blackened screen, sometimes taking a pic of myself.
And how many times have you been trying to take pics of yourself and it didn`t end up well so you had to take a few before it was fine? This is a great solution for that. Some apps and games also request taking a pic of yourself, and this would facilitate it! So, yeah - I WANT THE FRONT FACING CAM! :D
 
angevil said:
I want a front facing camera, I would use it for skype video chat and taking self portraits. I think it is really cool to have this option and low resolution cameras are cheap so I don`t see a problem for implementing it. I am sure everyone will use it, if not for chats, then as a mirror ;) This would be very useful to me. I ofter look at myself at iPhone to see how I look, sometimes just on the blackened screen, sometimes taking a pic of myself.
And how many times have you been trying to take pics of yourself and it didn`t end up well so you had to take a few before it was fine? This is a great solution for that. Some apps and games also request taking a pic of yourself, and this would facilitate it! So, yeah - I WANT THE FRONT FACING CAM! :D
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Sounds like someone might be a little vain...
 
angevil said:
I want a front facing camera, I would use it for skype video chat and taking self portraits. I think it is really cool to have this option and low resolution cameras are cheap so I don`t see a problem for implementing it. I am sure everyone will use it, if not for chats, then as a mirror ;) This would be very useful to me. I ofter look at myself at iPhone to see how I look, sometimes just on the blackened screen, sometimes taking a pic of myself.
And how many times have you been trying to take pics of yourself and it didn`t end up well so you had to take a few before it was fine? This is a great solution for that. Some apps and games also request taking a pic of yourself, and this would facilitate it! So, yeah - I WANT THE FRONT FACING CAM! :D
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There is a screen protector that has a mirror finish on it when the phone is in sleep mode.
I think that will work better for u.
Seriously!
 
It's for all the women that need to take their picture every 5 minutes and post it on facebook...


James
 
So when the iGlass 3DS Comes out you can front face your front facing camera and go into the 5th dimension. ( while enjoying your iAds )
 
brinycbri said:
I just don't get it..will you guys really video conference in the middle of a street or at home? I find this appeal to be kind of gimmicky and i'd probably use it once and then get bored of it (like chat roulette). I might totally be wrong but makes we wonder.

Personally, I'd rather have a slimmer and better form factor phone than cramming another camera.

just wondering, of course it's just an opinion lol
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Don't forget other uses. Makes a great mirror, and helps validate the "there's a bat in the cave" remark. Also, what better way to look over your shoulder? no more kick-me signs now that you have a rear-view mirror! Update facebook with snapshots of you sticking out your tongue 5x a day! what better uses can there be for it?!

ps. I'm on post over-load LOL I better give it a rest. I had today off and nothing better to do. ;)
 
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