Posts tagged FaceTime
Skype Sues Fring - Confusion Ensues
Jul 13th
Recently, Fring pulled support for Skype on their platform after being sued by the internet calling juggernaut. It’s likely that Skype was Fring’s most used service, which is particularly crushing. It appears that the four year relationship was ended after Fring added 3G video calling on the iPhone platform, then pulled it soon after, prompting Skype to block them. So now, Fring claims Skype is being anti-competitive, Skype claims Fring is lying and pulled Skype because the network strain was too high.
The way I understand it, if a Skype licensor pulls Skype support from their product, they violate the agreement, which causes Skype to pull support. If that’s the case, Fring, collapsing under the incredible demand of iPhone 4 video calls, pulls the ability, which violates the agreement with Skype, whom in turn, doesn’t let Fring use their service. It’s also possible that Fring can’t handle the video demand and is looking for a scapegoat, as Skype claims.
This whole ordeal also raises a bigger question: why is there no Skype app for iPhone that supports video chat? Or that does iOS4 background calling? It’s clear that Skype is acting defensively in this case; I just wish they had something more robust that they were defending, since third parties like Fring have to date been our only option. -Gizmodo
Is what happened here? I’m not totally sure. Gizmodo has a good point. Fring has always been the innovator here. They had 3G calling, background calling, and video chat first — way before Skype. If Skype can’t deliver than we need these alternatives. We’ll probably see this unfold soon.
Read more about it here, here and here.
iPhone 4 FaceTime Ad Makes Me Believe in Love Again
Jul 12th
Look, I’ve been burned many times. So have you, most likely — we all have. There is nothing like mopping up the blood from a fresh breakup (not real, I hope) and trying to move on with your life.
And one of the hardest things to see when you’re single and alone is the adorable, saccharine, kill-me-now love of another couple, right in your grill.
But of the four new FaceTime ads by Apple, all of which appeal not to the technology’s uniqueness or brilliance, but rather to its ability to forge greater emotional bonds between people, there is one in particular that I like. It’s the one where the girl shows off her new “pixi” haircut to her boyfriend who says he likes it, but in reality, not so much (see it embedded above).
The ad is brilliant, not only for showing off one type of conversation we as users of FaceTime hope to eventually have on our iPhones, (and who wouldn’t want to be young, white, and good looking?) but for the first time, even if the person is down the street, we are accountable for our faces over the phone. And that is a huge problem.
I cannot tell you how many fights I had with my ex-girlfriend over BlackBerry Messenger. BBM is a cesspool of vague intent and half-formed emotions. You can’t see the person’s face; you can’t hear his or her voice, so it becomes, at times, a guessing game, and you engage, as a result, in lots of self-doubt.
Now, IMing is unlikely to decline because of the advent of FaceTime. Even if everyone in the world had an iPhone 4 right now, the feature will likely only be used on specific occasions, where you don’t mind your face to be seen. But if you’re a romantic guy, and I would like to believe I am, there is nothing better than showing your girl that you’re giving her your full attention. How many times have you been caught with the, “are you typing right now?” as your significant other overhears the key presses and senses your lack of full attention. FaceTime should, and likely will, be a relationship test of sorts. Guys with attention span deficits; those who like to roam the net during a nightly conversation; or those trying to mask his location have no excuse anymore. Sure, at the moment FaceTime is WiFi only, so lack of WiFi signal is still a valid excuse. But give it time and Apple will allow its use over 3G, and guys are going to have to start behaving themselves, or FaceTime might just reveal them to be somewhere they’re not supposed to be.
I’m no cynic, only a realist. On the other hand, FaceTime is a lover’s dream. There are dirty things one can do with the technology that, I’m sure, companies are already hard at work producing. But there are other uses that are equally as exciting, and not X-rated. The above ad is just one of the many ways a couple can communicate using FaceTime to hopefully strengthen their relationship by speaking and acting like they would if they were in the same room, wherever in the world they are. It’s an exciting, and possibly scary notion, especially for those men who don’t like to open up, and those that don’t lie very well.
What do you guys think of the latest batch of Apple ads?
FaceTime on iPhone 4 Won’t Use Network Minutes
Jun 22nd
This makes sense, but it’s nice to have a confirmation. Apple has confirmed that due to the Wifi nature of the call, and the fact that the call is using data to transmit both picture and voice, FaceTime calls will not count towards your monthly minutes allotment.
An Apple spokesperson said to Business Insider, “The voice call ends as soon as the FaceTime call connects. The FaceTime call is over Wi-Fi so does not use carrier minutes.”
In the next version of iPhone, the “2011″ version, Apple will likely turn on the 3G capabilities for FaceTime. At the point, it is not known whether those calls will count towards your carrier minutes, but it also seems unlikely. Rather, there will be a growing number of background apps alerting you as to when you’ve reached a certain data limit, so as not to go over your 2GB monthly limit on AT&T.
(via VentureBeat)
iPhone 4 Pricing, Power, and Availability
Jun 7th
So the event is over, but an introduction isn’t what you’re interested in. Here’s all the details of what happened. Well…, at least the updates that are phone related. From our very own GuruChristine:
Honestly the iPhone 4 just blew everything else out of the water… Again #WWDC
And with that kind of glowing review, let’s hop right into the details.
PRESTUFF
-iBooks updated; note taking, PDF support. I think this propagates into the iPhone 4.0 version as well.
-Netflix on the iPhone! (Officially) It works on 3G and streaming started on an iPhone can be restarted on any other device. Pick up EXACTLY where you left off.
-Farmville on the iPhone…, guh, I’ll stick with We Rule.
-RIM at 35%, iPhone at 28%… closing the gap.
NEW iPHONE.
DESIGN: But you knew that. Stainless steel, glass screen. Thinnest phone ever. LED Flash, front facing camera. Second microphone for noise cancellation. The steel casing is apart of the antenna system. Tons of battery improvements. N speed wifi. Highly recyclable.
DISPLAY: Retina display, 4x the pixels. 326 ppi, 800:1 contrast ratio, IPS technology (which Steve claims is better than OLED), 940 x 640, the font smoothing is incredible…, it’s already amazing on the iPhone too. I can’t wait to see this in person. Yikes, things look good. Automatically will fix apps to look good on the screen.
“It makes it so your apps run automatically on this, but it renders your text and controls in the higher resolution. Your apps look even better, but if you do a little bit of work, then they will look stunning. So we suggest that you do that. So that is the Retina Display. Awesome text, awesome images, and awesome video. We think this will set the standard, and no one is going to come close.”
PROCESSOR: iPhone 4 is powered by the A4 chip. Same one as the uh, iPad.
GYROSCOPE: New Motion APIs, better motion based gaming. Think Wiimote to WiiMotion+. It will work from any orientation since uses gravity instead of velocity. Seems like this is going to be really good for augmented reality and compass stuff.
“We’re adding a 3 axis gyro, and we tied the gyro and accelerometer, compass, and gyro together for six axis. It’s perfect for gaming.”
CAMERA: 5 megapixels, backside illuminated sensor, LED Flash, 5x digital zoom. Apparently, squeezing pixels reduces quality. Apple’s doing something different here. 720p at 30 frames per second…, HD video recording. Built in editing, iMovie for iPhone! Flip is dead! Shoot, I was just about to write a neat movie editor I found…, I guess it still works for the 3GS. iMove is $4.99 “if they approve it.” Har har har.
Now everybody loves to talk about megapixels, but we tend to ask the question how do we make better pictures? Megapixels are nice, but what these cameras are really about is capturing photons and low light photography. So we’ve gone from 3 megapixel to 5 megapixel, but we’re using a backside illuminated sensor.
OPERATING SYSTEM: Apple is changing the name from iPhone OS 4.0 to iOS 4. Most of this stuff we know already. Multitasking, new APIs, unified mailbox, yadda yadda. Oohh, Bing search! Gold Master available today (I’ll let you guys know how it is). Update is free for everyone. iPhone 3G doesn’t support all the features and the iPhone OG/iPod Touch 1G aren’t eligible.
Yahoo, Google and Bing search. Thanks Engadget.
iBOOKS: Same as the iPad stuff, but, you know, smaller.
“Same bookshelf to keep your books… PDF reader… we’re really excited about this. And of course, the iBookstore right on your iPhone.”
iADS: Deja vu. Jeaze…, these last three are all rehashes from earlier this year. 60% profit, paid from iTunes Connect. Ads look good/fun, as weird as that sounds.
ONE MORE THING: Video calls, they call it… “FaceTime?” Wifi only, iPhone 4 to iPhone 4 only.
“The video and audio quality is great. Now it’s going to be WiFi only in 2010. We need to work a little bit with the carriers…”
It looks like which camera can be used can be flipped. The demo video showed people using sign language. Uses tons of standards, so it may be possible to link this into Skype and other things.
AVAILABILITY
White and Black. $199 for 16 GB and $299 for 32 GB. 8GB 3GS for $99. Preorders available June 15th on sale June 24th. AT&T has an upgrade offer. France, Germany, UK, Japan and US get it right away, everyone else later. Apple is making a new dock, and case.
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