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87 Comments
- lex0nyc, on 07/06/2009, -2/+51No, the camera is on the wrong side for video chat.
- AdrianKRAZY, on 07/07/2009, -3/+42This has been done for years on Nokia's in Australia via the Next G network. Nothing new at all…. Oh wait!!. It's on an iPhone. Geee wow, awesome, so cool... This is the newest best thing ever.. *Slaps face* I didn't know phones could do this WOW!!!!.
- dvsbastard, on 07/07/2009, -0/+25Every phone I have owned for the last 4-5 years have allowed video calls... and I might have used it less than 5 times (and most of the time, the person was sitting across from me - and they just wanted to test it out)...
Honestly, mobile video chat is one of those things that seem like a good idea... but something you very rarely find a good use for! - papile, on 07/07/2009, -3/+28Pick up any Nokia smartphone in Europe and they have been doing this for years. Then when it comes to the USA everyone will think it is magic, and apple invented it.
- plasticxme, on 07/07/2009, -1/+24Pffft... not if the current iphone battery has anything to say about it.
- aggiegrad, on 07/07/2009, -0/+20not if AT&T has anything to do with it
- mysql101, on 07/07/2009, -0/+19Not a problem. I am marketing iMirror, which will turn the camera around for only $95.99.
- inactive, on 07/06/2009, -5/+16They need to upgrade the networks to handle all the extra bandwidth.
- HurricaneDC, on 07/07/2009, -0/+8The HTC Touch HD has a front-facing camera. And as mentioned above a ton of other phones have it too.
America's cellular companies suck big floppy donkey dicks though, so we have yet to get any cameras that support video chat (even if we did, I don't think any carriers support it). - inactive, on 07/07/2009, -3/+11Imagine walking down the street being able to share what you see with another person. Now imagine that person decides to live vicariously through you, leaving e-comments burnt into your retina.
Imagine if you're trying to piss, and a man across the world rates your piss-accuracy in real time, using defamatory comments and lewd remarks.
Imagine not being able to read a book, because his twitter stream is scrolling by as he talks about how cute his pets are, or he logs onto facebook to superpoke all five-hundred and seventy-three of his friends.
This is my hell.
I am Johan Marcus Guy, and if you're listening, you are the resistance. - Lunarparcel, on 07/07/2009, -0/+8That's why the convenience of mobile video chat is such a necessity. You don't need to observe your surroundings. That's what the person you are chatting with is supposed to do, because they're watching you.
So they can say, "Look out! You're about to get robbed with a sneak attack from behind!"
/sarcasm - Lunarparcel, on 07/07/2009, -0/+7This kind of stuff has been around for quite a while. Some people think of it as futuristic ultra high-tech,
But others just refer to it as Tokyo. - Taliman03, on 07/07/2009, -3/+10Lol Nokia has been having video chat in their phones, they even have a camera on the screen side. if only American networks would support video calling. As for the iPhone, i think that phone is too restricted, i have a nokia 5800, i does everything iPhone does and then some.
- techguru2006, on 07/07/2009, -1/+8Who the hell co-browses websites with each other? I don't want to know what kind of kinky ***** my friends are into.
- tnoy, on 07/07/2009, -1/+7Or any of the other dozens of phones with the front camrea.
- inactive, on 07/07/2009, -1/+6exactly, these bitches need to get off the iphone bandwagon, s60, nokia n95, the phone i been using for too damn long does this....these idiots are like 10 years behind in technology.
- doctordbx, on 07/07/2009, -1/+6My last 4 or 5 phones have all had cameras on the front for video chatting.
Not once have I ever used it. - hardeep1singh, on 07/07/2009, -4/+9Apple just keeps filing patents while others make the technology a reality, every high end Nokia launched in the last few years has had a front camera and can do video calls.
- chockster, on 07/07/2009, -0/+5Like (many) others have said, mobile video chat is nothing new. Someone actually using it is, though. I don't think this is a usability issue, either- I really can't think of many scenarios where a video chat would be beneficial over a voice one (insert joke about long distance relationships here)... especially given how much AT&T would charge each month, I'll bet...
- boozinf, on 07/07/2009, -1/+6I rather liked the explanation David Foster Wallace embedded in Infinite Jest as to why video chat will never be accepted by the mainstream. Essentially, people like to be able to pick their nose while talking on the phone.
- hardeep1singh, on 07/07/2009, -2/+7They need to upgrade from iphone to N97 so they can have an extra camera at the right place.
- hardeep1singh, on 07/07/2009, -1/+6The primary purpose of a 3G network is Video Calls. The so called 'future' is already a reality everywhere else. Switch to a Nokia and a better network.
- DreamLamtallica, on 07/07/2009, -1/+6My Nokia E71 already has a front-side camera... now find a carrier in the US that will make that useful and I'll use it. AT&T now sells the E71x, a bastardized E71 loaded with crap bloatware, and more relevantly, lacking the front-facing camera.
The iPhone will be the key to the future of video chat just as much as it was the key to being the future of third-party apps.
Oh wait... S60... =_= - dagamer34, on 07/07/2009, -0/+5Walk down the street and get jacked because you were too busy video chatting instead of observing your surroundings. -_-
- fliped, on 07/07/2009, -3/+8Touch screens have been out for years but somehow Apple was able to turn it into something user friendly and intuitive. The technology sure is there, but no company has really made it popular or easy to use.
- kbcool, on 07/07/2009, -2/+6Capacative touchscreens suck too. Just for different reasons.
http://www.iphonessuck.com/40/they-have-a-capaciti ...
I also agree that seriously - Every phone I've had for 5 years + has been capable of doing what the iphone is just being upgraded to do. Like video chat. This is not a brave new world. It's just an eye opener for iphone fanboys who must have been using phones from the 1990s prior to the iphone. - ocellnuri, on 07/07/2009, -0/+4Or using plenty of existing video chat services?
- numberneal, on 07/06/2009, -4/+8it's more like the gate for which you have to pay hundreds to break in
- kitsua, on 07/07/2009, -0/+3I don't know why you're getting buried, I think that would be an important change to how video chatting is perceived and used. In regular video chat, you look at them in a little window and not in the person's eyes (the camera) and as a result, even though you're face to face, it still feels strangely impersonal. If the camera was in the screen conversations would seem much more natural and I think they'd have a higher likelihood of becoming more mainstream and popular. Especially with the kind of integration that's talked about in this piece - chatting is okay, but shopping, watching youtube and playing games as well? That sounds like lots of fun.
- MScrip, on 07/07/2009, -5/+8>> "somehow Apple was able to turn it into something user friendly and intuitive. The technology sure is there, but no company has really made it popular or easy to use."
So true.
Apps have also been available for years on mobile phones... but how many people used apps on their old cell phones?
The former "best selling" cellphone in the USA was the Moto RAZR. I knew tons of people with RAZRs. Everywhere you looked you saw a RAZR. Yet, I knew exactly ZERO people who downloaded apps for their RAZR.
But, Apple made it EASY to add apps to your device... all in one app store... instead of going to shady random 3rd party websites to download BREW apps for your RAZR.
Apple haters love to say that other cell phones have done these sort of things for years. But, when Apple does it, people finally take notice.
The iPhone is the #1 mobile camera on Flickr.... how long until the iPhone is the #1 camera on Youtube? - SirBruce, on 07/07/2009, -2/+5No. Next question?
- chockster, on 07/07/2009, -0/+3Yeah, wow. It'd be just like having a webcam chat. Ground-breaking.
- yocouchdigga, on 07/07/2009, -0/+3you don't have to imagine that.
- AdrianKRAZY, on 07/07/2009, -0/+3Does it have an apple sticker, if so I'll buy 100!!!.
- Sil369, on 07/07/2009, -1/+4the iphone will become the key to LIFE
- Lunarparcel, on 07/08/2009, -0/+2Actually, s0ny, the reason it is the #1 phone in Japan right now is because the carrier is giving them away for free. The stat is only relative to units moved since launch, not revenue generated or market saturation. Elranzer is correct regarding the iPhone's reception in Japan. And it is logical. They have enjoyed a 5 megapixel camera and even broadcast television on their smartphones for a couple of years now, and mobile video conferencing for almost a decade. They view the iPhone as a slick and very well engineered novelty with a very promising interface, but beyond the novelty (which wears off quickly) it cannot currently meet their expectations of what a smartphone can provide on a Japanese network.
In response, the carrier is giving them away for free, and is imposing localized shortages to generate a perceived demand.
Don't get me wrong. I have an iPhone and I love it. It is my constant and trusty go-to device. But I also work in the industry and am familiar with the marketing and product deployment practices.
I am totally sold on the iPhone interface. It beats anything I've used on a mobile device previously - by a wide margin.
But I am also not living in Japan. - kitsua, on 07/07/2009, -0/+2Headline made me groan too, but the article was actually about the future of services and social aspects of the video conferencing and was quite interesting. Made me reconsider the whole thing anyway. The iPhone was mentioned just because it's become so ubiquitous and powerful in such a small space of time and that, seeing how much it's come to dominate content on sites like flickr and youtube, it could be the device to bring these developments to the masses. It's got nothing to do with who had the hardware first.
- funk49, on 07/07/2009, -0/+2They need to figure out how to make an OS that won't drain the battery after an hour. Add in video and you have about a 45 second call before you need a recharge.
- AaronTheYoung, on 07/08/2009, -1/+3My phone has been doing this for years....
MY phone has been doing this for YEARS....
MY PHONE has been doing this for YEEEARS!
Who cares. Nobody uses it or it would be popular and you wouldn't have to tell anyone.
Apple will do it right and millions will use it. Steve and the boys at Apple continue to be a company that figures out what the public wants and then sells it to them. Do they do it right all the time? Probably not, but they certainly have sold a buttload of iPhones in a small amount of time and seem to have a runaway success with it. - AdrianKRAZY, on 07/07/2009, -1/+3I never realized there was so many stupid people on the earth until Steve jobs showed me the iPhone.
- mrBitch, on 07/07/2009, -3/+5@ MScrip, RE: " .. Apple haters love to say that other cell phones have done these sort of things for years. But, when Apple does it, people finally take notice.
The iPhone is the #1 mobile camera on Flickr.... how long until the iPhone is the #1 camera on Youtube?"
All good points, agreed. - kitsua, on 07/07/2009, -1/+2It's got nothing to do with 'first'. It's all about 'best'.
- kitsua, on 07/07/2009, -0/+1I think that's pretty much always been the case and I would always have agreed but I must admit, that article's intrigued me in terms of where it could go. I'm now thinking of lots of ways that video chatting could be useful and fun if it was integrated with other functions, games and services as they touched on in the piece.
- Kesereti, on 07/07/2009, -1/+2Exactly. "Coming soon to all iPhone carriers worldwide EXCEPT AT&T"
- kitsua, on 07/07/2009, -0/+1Agreed, but those new uses and sites do look like an interesting way forward. Just chatting face to face is a bit gimmicky and not worth doing day to day. However, shop together, watch youtube together, play games together - that sounds like fun and I could see it taking off. With something to focus on instead of each other's grotty faces, it gives it much more of a point. Anyways, we'll see how it's implemented.
- Elranzer, on 07/07/2009, -0/+1The iPhone is a laughably simple toy in Japan compared to their smartphones. Not just for that it's a GSM phone when Japan mainly uses CDMA.
- johnpaul191, on 07/08/2009, -0/+1It might be a different story if 30% of the people you know have a phone capable of it.
Just guessing.... I have no need for it, but i could see families using it when one person is away from home on a biz trip or something. - mrBitch, on 07/07/2009, -0/+1@ garionw, RE: " .. thats because we have better things to do with our smart phones then upload videos."
While you are completely correct, you still don't understand the example do you?
The point was that when Apple add a feature, they build it so it's able to be understood without requiring a technical manual.
If you don't get it, maybe this will help you understand :
"Less features with a strong UI > more features that are poorly executed"
Even Japan gets it :
http://digg.com/apple/iPhone_is_best_selling_smart ...
" .. data from 2,300 stores in Japan : 8 GB iPhone 3G as the most popular smartphone, followed by the 16 GB iPhone. Ranking third is the NTT DoCoMo Aquos SH-04A, designed by Sharp; RIM's BlackBerry Bold ranks sixth " - Elranzer, on 07/07/2009, -0/+1The iPhone will be more useful once it's free from the shackles of AT&T exclusivity.
- garionw, on 07/07/2009, -4/+5thats because we have better things to do with our smart phones then upload videos.
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