video chat will serve for holding the phone in front of something, or some process you want the other to see, not so much for seeing the other one as since the original tv phone (or whatever it's name was) in the 60s, seeing the other when you speak apparently for some deep rooted psychological reasons hasn't caught on.
But as a look at where I am and what I am doing feature it will be good.
God save the kids though from control freak parents, because we used to be able to come up with any sort of excuses, now video proof will be required.
God save the spouses as well when their partners ask them to show them where they are.
Control freaks and anyone against privacy should be rejoicing...
apple has more than just the US on it's mind, the US and AT&T are just a drop in the ocean to them. Other contries have better cellular networks.
True enough, but to date, what AT&T dictates (directly or through their limitations) Apple has imposed on the rest of us.
-tethering: initially unavailable internationally because of AT&T. Even when a 3rd party released an app and Apple accepted it, it was later pulled because of AT&T
-VOIP over 3G: not allowed until recently because of AT&T
-MMS: initially not available, because of AT&T
Will video chat over 3G be similarly handicapped? Likely. AT&T behind it? Likely.
apple has more than just the US on it's mind, the US and AT&T are just a drop in the ocean to them. Other contries have better cellular networks.
I don't doubt that, but, I'm only speaking about the state of the only network in the US allowed to carry the iPhone. It's not news that AT&T's network here has had issues keeping up with the amount of data the iPhone users are consuming now.
I never understood why people would want video calls on their phone. Instead of putting your phone up to your ear you have to hold it in front of you. At least with a desktop or laptop it's already in front of you. Not only that but my iphone is always in my pocket, I answer it with my earphones.
One use I can see for the video iChat on iPhone will be people initiating a call to a friend and then saying "Look at this!" and turning the phone around and holding it up. Concerts, scenery what ever ... So I hope Apple put in a lens and focusing system able to do a pretty descent job in that respect and not limit it to a face to face ability.
Why not just have a virtual button on the screen that lets you switch the video source between front and back cameras? The back camera has autofocus, right? (My iPhone is the 3G, which does not autofocus.)
"Sexting" for the teens just took on a whole new dimension... Seriously though for all of our "oh I don't need video chat" bloviating, the under 20 set will eat this sh!t up... The iPhone is already the holy Grail of phones for most teens, watch how much more of their (or mommy & daddy's) disposable income comes Apple's way with this feature.
I believe that phones in Japan have been able to do this for a while. I wonder what the rate of acceptance vs. continued use is there?
My wife and I had a pair of Motorola RAZR phones from NTT DoCoMo that had what is called in Japanese "TV Phone", i.e. video calling, using back and front cameras. We used it occasionally, for example when she was somewhere shopping and wanted to know what I thought of something she was thinking of buying, or when I had to go to the UK and she couldn't. I could have used it more, but it only seemed to work with other DoCoMo subscribers, and even then the menu system on the phones made it hard to know how to make or receive a video phone call.
Eventually, when one of us was traveling, we always had a MacBook which we used with Skype for video calls, so we didn't really miss the video call feature when we junked the RAZR's for a pair of iPhones.
The iPhone made so many features of the phone so easy to use. Forget video, the Motorola RAZR may have been a very capable phone, but via the DoCoMo service and the Symbian OS, I never really mastered all of its features, even voicemail. Some features I learned to use once and never found how to get back to them.
So I have no doubt that, if Apple is introducing video calling on a new iPhone, it will be easier to use and people will start to use it and never look back. If Apple does that, it will work immediately between iPhones and Macs, and then sooner or later with other phones and other PC's.
And whatever AppleInsider tech-savvy readers think, if the next iPhone can make real-time video as easy as taking and sending still or video images the way the current iPhone does, then it will succeed. Yes, using the Motorola RAZR, the DoCoMo service and the Symbian OS can do all of this right now, but actually making all this work is so difficult for the typical user that no-one even bothers.
Sadly, we in Japan are in the iPhone cycle's off-year, and may not be able to get the new phone except at great expense for another year and a half. Enjoy the future while it lasts, AppleInsider US-based readers!!!
Why not just have a virtual button on the screen that lets you switch the video source between front and back cameras? The back camera has autofocus, right? (My iPhone is the 3G, which does not autofocus.)
Thompson
I'd venture to guess that the front facing camera will me of much lower quality, and possibly video only much like the nano's is now. This would save on bandwidth and manufacturing costs. Switching video to the rear camera will probably only be possible through an eventual jailbreak
HTC EVO has already beat Apple to the punch. Their video chat got demoed a few weeks back. Of course, this is speaking for the US market.
Am I the only one who can't get why this is revolutionary? My sony ericsson k610 from 2004 does that.. and did it well 6 years ago. Haven't really used the feature except in this first couple of months though. It becomes cumbersome having to hold the phone in front of you and having it on loudspeaker, and you'll eventually start to make normal calls.
The iPhone is fantastic, but please, stop giving it loads of credit for "new" features that there is nothing new in. - And regarding bandwidth, I don't know much about US cell networks, but here (in Denmark) there is no problem whatsoever
Fantastic, I already do this for too much long, on My NOKIA 5800, video phone calls, and Skype video drought Fring. Oh, remember Nokia 5800 is like 1/3 the price of the iPhone, so I just wonder how much Apple is going to charge for this!
Nonsense SaltWater,
From Amazon: Nokia 5800 XpressMusic Unlocked Phone with U.S. 3G, GPS with Free Voice Navigation, Wi-Fi, and 8 GB MicroSD Card--U.S. Version with Warranty (Black) by Nokia
Buy new: $399.99 $250.00
The new iPhone will probably follow existing pricing or less:
Am I the only one who can't get why this is revolutionary? My sony ericsson k610 from 2004 does that.. and did it well 6 years ago. Haven't really used the feature except in this first couple of months though. It becomes cumbersome having to hold the phone in front of you and having it on loudspeaker, and you'll eventually start to make normal calls.
The iPhone is fantastic, but please, stop giving it loads of credit for "new" features that there is nothing new in. - And regarding bandwidth, I don't know much about US cell networks, but here (in Denmark) there is no problem whatsoever
Did you ever really use it, other than a couple times when you first got the phone? That might be the single biggest difference.
Fantastic, I already do this for too much long, on My NOKIA 5800, video phone calls, and Skype video drought Fring. Oh, remember Nokia 5800 is like 1/3 the price of the iPhone, so I just wonder how much Apple is going to charge for this!
So assuming that English is not your first language - that is not a bad little phone even though it has a whopping 8GB card in the slot out of the box and will only accept up to 16GB cards - you will still get charged for your dataplan, etc. It's more like 1/2 the price, depending on which iPhone model you want to compare to, assuming no "help" from ATT on the purchase. If Apple does what they usually do, the new iPhone will (at least) be brought in at the current price-point and the 3GS shuffled down to the current 3G level. But who knows, maybe Apple will knock the prices down a bit more. Anyway, since the 5800 Nav only came out last year, can I assume that your "too much long" means you are already bored and disgusted with it?
You wouldn't be checking in from the home office in Keilaniemi, Espoo would you?
Hmm. What do we think are the chances of an actor who leaks Apple info getting the gig?
This is extremely unprofessional on the actor's part and a violation of what is supposed to be a chain of NDA's. In strictest technical/legal terms, the ad agency has surely signed an NDA that requires them to put every vendor they hire for an Apple job underneath their agency NDA, requiring the agency to collect an NDA from the vendor who in turn promises to put any of their vendors/employees/hires/contacts, etc. under an NDA.
Talent are known to be awfully chatty and I've often considered that they are the weakest link in NDA chains to which I've been a signatory.
At a minimum, someone lost a gig and exposed themselves and others to legal liability.
Did you ever really use it, other than a couple times when you first got the phone? That might be the single biggest difference.
Nope, but that is mostly because no one is using it. Everyone here has got a phone that i able to, but it's just not common to make video calls. But you are right, the new iPhone might change that
Am I the only one who can't get why this is revolutionary? My sony ericsson k610 from 2004 does that.. and did it well 6 years ago. Haven't really used the feature except in this first couple of months though. It becomes cumbersome having to hold the phone in front of you and having it on loudspeaker, and you'll eventually start to make normal calls.
The iPhone is fantastic, but please, stop giving it loads of credit for "new" features that there is nothing new in. - And regarding bandwidth, I don't know much about US cell networks, but here (in Denmark) there is no problem whatsoever
But then other than a couple of "cool" comments no one so far has made a big deal out of it anyway - so what's the beef? No one is giving it "loads of credit" for new features - just you apparently.
And on the networking side of things let's see here... oh yeah Denmark, population a little over 5.5 million, a land area of, well with all the islands included, just over twice the size of the US state of Massachusetts, or for you numbers freaks, 16,621 sq. miles/43,094 sq. kilometers. For contrast, the US covers roughly 3.79 million sq. miles/9.83 million sq. kilometers with a population of roughly with a population in excess of 309 million. Perhaps a further contrast is in order: the city of New York had a larger population than all of Denmark, and so does Los Angeles if you include the immediate surrounding counties. So you have the advantage of extreme economies of scale that just aren't available in the US. Your government is probably a tad sharper in general too when it come to such things - or so I've been told.
It is wise for Apple to highlight this feature. AFAIK, it is exclusive to the iPhone.
AFAIK, it is the ONLY exclusive feature on the iPhone.
You obviously don't know then.
Video chatting was the supposed killer application for 3G phones way back in 2000 when operators started bidding for spectrum licenses in Europe. All early 3G phones seemed to have it and to release one without at the time would have seemed to have missed the market requirement. However it never really took off.
But then other than a couple of "cool" comments no one so far has made a big deal out of it anyway - so what's the beef? No one is giving it "loads of credit" for new features - just you apparently.
And on the networking side of things let's see here... oh yeah Denmark, population a little over 5.5 million, a land area of, well with all the islands included, just over twice the size of the US state of Massachusetts, or for you numbers freaks, 16,621 sq. miles/43,094 sq. kilometers. For contrast, the US covers roughly 3.79 million sq. miles/9.83 million sq. kilometers with a population of roughly with a population in excess of 309 million. Perhaps a further contrast is in order: the city of New York had a larger population than all of Denmark, and so does Los Angeles if you include the immediate surrounding counties. So you have the advantage of extreme economies of scale that just aren't available in the US. Your government is probably a tad sharper in general too when it come to such things - or so I've been told.
It's wasn't my intention to be overly negative, or to start a "beef". I just just tried to get s little perspective on things especially regarding the "android got it first" comments. And I know I live in a small country ( didn't know how large Massachusetts was though ) but I don't really see how that matters? My point was that, in my experience, video calls over 3g is not as taxing on the network as some people in here think.
It's wasn't my intention to be overly negative, or to start a "beef". I just just tried to get s little perspective on things especially regarding the "android got it first" comments. And I know I live in a small country ( didn't know how large Massachusetts was though ) but I don't really see how that matters? My point was that, in my experience, video calls over 3g is not as taxing on the network as some people in here think.
I think what masternav is trying to say is that the the network in Denmark doesn't have to cope with large densities of population. Your population is more spread out than here in the US. Considering how many people live in a single, major US city, the iPhone population using the feature all at once can possibly overwhelm the local network.
I say possible, because video calling has never really been offered before on a mobile network, so no one really knows how popular the feature will be and what kinds of loads the network will see.
Comments
But as a look at where I am and what I am doing feature it will be good.
God save the kids though from control freak parents, because we used to be able to come up with any sort of excuses, now video proof will be required.
God save the spouses as well when their partners ask them to show them where they are.
Control freaks and anyone against privacy should be rejoicing...
apple has more than just the US on it's mind, the US and AT&T are just a drop in the ocean to them. Other contries have better cellular networks.
True enough, but to date, what AT&T dictates (directly or through their limitations) Apple has imposed on the rest of us.
-tethering: initially unavailable internationally because of AT&T. Even when a 3rd party released an app and Apple accepted it, it was later pulled because of AT&T
-VOIP over 3G: not allowed until recently because of AT&T
-MMS: initially not available, because of AT&T
Will video chat over 3G be similarly handicapped? Likely. AT&T behind it? Likely.
Yawn. To early in the morn to care.
Yet it wasn't too early for you to comment.
apple has more than just the US on it's mind, the US and AT&T are just a drop in the ocean to them. Other contries have better cellular networks.
I don't doubt that, but, I'm only speaking about the state of the only network in the US allowed to carry the iPhone. It's not news that AT&T's network here has had issues keeping up with the amount of data the iPhone users are consuming now.
One use I can see for the video iChat on iPhone will be people initiating a call to a friend and then saying "Look at this!" and turning the phone around and holding it up. Concerts, scenery what ever ... So I hope Apple put in a lens and focusing system able to do a pretty descent job in that respect and not limit it to a face to face ability.
Why not just have a virtual button on the screen that lets you switch the video source between front and back cameras? The back camera has autofocus, right? (My iPhone is the 3G, which does not autofocus.)
Thompson
I believe that phones in Japan have been able to do this for a while. I wonder what the rate of acceptance vs. continued use is there?
My wife and I had a pair of Motorola RAZR phones from NTT DoCoMo that had what is called in Japanese "TV Phone", i.e. video calling, using back and front cameras. We used it occasionally, for example when she was somewhere shopping and wanted to know what I thought of something she was thinking of buying, or when I had to go to the UK and she couldn't. I could have used it more, but it only seemed to work with other DoCoMo subscribers, and even then the menu system on the phones made it hard to know how to make or receive a video phone call.
Eventually, when one of us was traveling, we always had a MacBook which we used with Skype for video calls, so we didn't really miss the video call feature when we junked the RAZR's for a pair of iPhones.
The iPhone made so many features of the phone so easy to use. Forget video, the Motorola RAZR may have been a very capable phone, but via the DoCoMo service and the Symbian OS, I never really mastered all of its features, even voicemail. Some features I learned to use once and never found how to get back to them.
So I have no doubt that, if Apple is introducing video calling on a new iPhone, it will be easier to use and people will start to use it and never look back. If Apple does that, it will work immediately between iPhones and Macs, and then sooner or later with other phones and other PC's.
And whatever AppleInsider tech-savvy readers think, if the next iPhone can make real-time video as easy as taking and sending still or video images the way the current iPhone does, then it will succeed. Yes, using the Motorola RAZR, the DoCoMo service and the Symbian OS can do all of this right now, but actually making all this work is so difficult for the typical user that no-one even bothers.
Sadly, we in Japan are in the iPhone cycle's off-year, and may not be able to get the new phone except at great expense for another year and a half. Enjoy the future while it lasts, AppleInsider US-based readers!!!
Why not just have a virtual button on the screen that lets you switch the video source between front and back cameras? The back camera has autofocus, right? (My iPhone is the 3G, which does not autofocus.)
Thompson
I'd venture to guess that the front facing camera will me of much lower quality, and possibly video only much like the nano's is now. This would save on bandwidth and manufacturing costs. Switching video to the rear camera will probably only be possible through an eventual jailbreak
HTC EVO has already beat Apple to the punch. Their video chat got demoed a few weeks back. Of course, this is speaking for the US market.
Am I the only one who can't get why this is revolutionary? My sony ericsson k610 from 2004 does that.. and did it well 6 years ago. Haven't really used the feature except in this first couple of months though. It becomes cumbersome having to hold the phone in front of you and having it on loudspeaker, and you'll eventually start to make normal calls.
The iPhone is fantastic, but please, stop giving it loads of credit for "new" features that there is nothing new in. - And regarding bandwidth, I don't know much about US cell networks, but here (in Denmark) there is no problem whatsoever
Fantastic, I already do this for too much long, on My NOKIA 5800, video phone calls, and Skype video drought Fring. Oh, remember Nokia 5800 is like 1/3 the price of the iPhone, so I just wonder how much Apple is going to charge for this!
Nonsense SaltWater,
From Amazon: Nokia 5800 XpressMusic Unlocked Phone with U.S. 3G, GPS with Free Voice Navigation, Wi-Fi, and 8 GB MicroSD Card--U.S. Version with Warranty (Black) by Nokia
Buy new: $399.99 $250.00
The new iPhone will probably follow existing pricing or less:
32GB1 : White $299.002
Am I the only one who can't get why this is revolutionary? My sony ericsson k610 from 2004 does that.. and did it well 6 years ago. Haven't really used the feature except in this first couple of months though. It becomes cumbersome having to hold the phone in front of you and having it on loudspeaker, and you'll eventually start to make normal calls.
The iPhone is fantastic, but please, stop giving it loads of credit for "new" features that there is nothing new in. - And regarding bandwidth, I don't know much about US cell networks, but here (in Denmark) there is no problem whatsoever
Did you ever really use it, other than a couple times when you first got the phone? That might be the single biggest difference.
Fantastic, I already do this for too much long, on My NOKIA 5800, video phone calls, and Skype video drought Fring. Oh, remember Nokia 5800 is like 1/3 the price of the iPhone, so I just wonder how much Apple is going to charge for this!
So assuming that English is not your first language - that is not a bad little phone even though it has a whopping 8GB card in the slot out of the box and will only accept up to 16GB cards - you will still get charged for your dataplan, etc. It's more like 1/2 the price, depending on which iPhone model you want to compare to, assuming no "help" from ATT on the purchase. If Apple does what they usually do, the new iPhone will (at least) be brought in at the current price-point and the 3GS shuffled down to the current 3G level. But who knows, maybe Apple will knock the prices down a bit more. Anyway, since the 5800 Nav only came out last year, can I assume that your "too much long" means you are already bored and disgusted with it?
You wouldn't be checking in from the home office in Keilaniemi, Espoo would you?
Hmm. What do we think are the chances of an actor who leaks Apple info getting the gig?
This is extremely unprofessional on the actor's part and a violation of what is supposed to be a chain of NDA's. In strictest technical/legal terms, the ad agency has surely signed an NDA that requires them to put every vendor they hire for an Apple job underneath their agency NDA, requiring the agency to collect an NDA from the vendor who in turn promises to put any of their vendors/employees/hires/contacts, etc. under an NDA.
Talent are known to be awfully chatty and I've often considered that they are the weakest link in NDA chains to which I've been a signatory.
At a minimum, someone lost a gig and exposed themselves and others to legal liability.
gc
Did you ever really use it, other than a couple times when you first got the phone? That might be the single biggest difference.
Nope, but that is mostly because no one is using it. Everyone here has got a phone that i able to, but it's just not common to make video calls. But you are right, the new iPhone might change that
Am I the only one who can't get why this is revolutionary? My sony ericsson k610 from 2004 does that.. and did it well 6 years ago. Haven't really used the feature except in this first couple of months though. It becomes cumbersome having to hold the phone in front of you and having it on loudspeaker, and you'll eventually start to make normal calls.
The iPhone is fantastic, but please, stop giving it loads of credit for "new" features that there is nothing new in. - And regarding bandwidth, I don't know much about US cell networks, but here (in Denmark) there is no problem whatsoever
But then other than a couple of "cool" comments no one so far has made a big deal out of it anyway - so what's the beef? No one is giving it "loads of credit" for new features - just you apparently.
And on the networking side of things let's see here... oh yeah Denmark, population a little over 5.5 million, a land area of, well with all the islands included, just over twice the size of the US state of Massachusetts, or for you numbers freaks, 16,621 sq. miles/43,094 sq. kilometers. For contrast, the US covers roughly 3.79 million sq. miles/9.83 million sq. kilometers with a population of roughly with a population in excess of 309 million. Perhaps a further contrast is in order: the city of New York had a larger population than all of Denmark, and so does Los Angeles if you include the immediate surrounding counties. So you have the advantage of extreme economies of scale that just aren't available in the US. Your government is probably a tad sharper in general too when it come to such things - or so I've been told.
It is wise for Apple to highlight this feature. AFAIK, it is exclusive to the iPhone.
AFAIK, it is the ONLY exclusive feature on the iPhone.
You obviously don't know then.
Video chatting was the supposed killer application for 3G phones way back in 2000 when operators started bidding for spectrum licenses in Europe. All early 3G phones seemed to have it and to release one without at the time would have seemed to have missed the market requirement. However it never really took off.
But then other than a couple of "cool" comments no one so far has made a big deal out of it anyway - so what's the beef? No one is giving it "loads of credit" for new features - just you apparently.
And on the networking side of things let's see here... oh yeah Denmark, population a little over 5.5 million, a land area of, well with all the islands included, just over twice the size of the US state of Massachusetts, or for you numbers freaks, 16,621 sq. miles/43,094 sq. kilometers. For contrast, the US covers roughly 3.79 million sq. miles/9.83 million sq. kilometers with a population of roughly with a population in excess of 309 million. Perhaps a further contrast is in order: the city of New York had a larger population than all of Denmark, and so does Los Angeles if you include the immediate surrounding counties. So you have the advantage of extreme economies of scale that just aren't available in the US. Your government is probably a tad sharper in general too when it come to such things - or so I've been told.
It's wasn't my intention to be overly negative, or to start a "beef". I just just tried to get s little perspective on things especially regarding the "android got it first" comments. And I know I live in a small country ( didn't know how large Massachusetts was though
It's wasn't my intention to be overly negative, or to start a "beef". I just just tried to get s little perspective on things especially regarding the "android got it first" comments. And I know I live in a small country ( didn't know how large Massachusetts was though
I think what masternav is trying to say is that the the network in Denmark doesn't have to cope with large densities of population. Your population is more spread out than here in the US. Considering how many people live in a single, major US city, the iPhone population using the feature all at once can possibly overwhelm the local network.
I say possible, because video calling has never really been offered before on a mobile network, so no one really knows how popular the feature will be and what kinds of loads the network will see.