# Why the iPhone doesn't do videocalls?



## Macaholic (Jan 7, 2003)

This is very funny!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C9iBfbuOGi4


Regardless, what phones out there do do videocalls, and why doesn't iPhone?

Also, y'all notice that Apple DITCHED the scrollwheel -- even a virtual one?? That is their TRADEMARK for the iPod! It's indicative of the size of their balls that they did that.


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## ice_hackey (Aug 13, 2004)

My SonyEricsson P990i does video calls.
Many phones do.

3G technology enables this feature... sadly iphone doesn't have 3G yet, so no video calls.

Hopefully when they add 3G and video calls they will also add iChat video via the same front-facing camera. Only at such a time will I consider buying one.


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## Bjornbro (Feb 19, 2000)

Macaholic said:


> Regardless, what phones out there do do videocalls, and *why doesn't iPhone?*


Because. It'd be kind of usless to try and videochat on an iPhone. You can't see both sides of the iPhone at the same time, right? Remember? Lens and screen are opposite to each other. Although, a work around could be to stand in front of a mirror... XX)


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## Macaholic (Jan 7, 2003)

Well, call me crazy, Bjornbro, but maybe they'd put a lens on THE FRONT of the phone? 

But seriously, there has to be a critical mass of videophone users to justify the cost of this feature... but how does the momentum get rolling? If anybody could, Apple could. Perhaps iPhone v.2, after ver. 1 has carved out some marketshare and other phone makers do likewise?


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## Macified (Sep 18, 2003)

ice_hackey said:


> Hopefully when they add 3G and video calls they will also add iChat video via the same front-facing camera. Only at such a time will I consider buying one.


The iPhone won't get iChat. Why? Because there aren't enough iChat users out there to talk to. Sure it would be a neat feature but won't happen.


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## Macaholic (Jan 7, 2003)

Macified said:


> The iPhone won't get iChat. Why? Because there aren't enough iChat users out there to talk to. Sure it would be a neat feature but won't happen.


Apple has got to --_GOT TO_ -- do* FULL* MSN Messenger support in iChat so we can videochat with all those lemmings out there. It's stupid that neither major developer -- Apple and Microsoft -- don't, and we have to turn to 3rd party solutions...


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## ice_hackey (Aug 13, 2004)

*Macified:* 3G video chat is 100% unrelated to iChat video conference.
Sony, Nokia and several others offer the 3G video chat feature.
It's taken off in the UK and asia.

iChat is also hugely popular. I have 50+ people on my buddy list... so... I'd argue that it's definitely more popular than you're letting on. Maybe you just don't have very many buddies?

I want the iPhone v.2 to incorporate a front-facing lens + 3G video chat and iChat video.


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## Macified (Sep 18, 2003)

Yes, 3G video chat is unrelated to iChat. Agreed. 

Despite you having 50+ iChat buddies, Apple plans on selling these to more than mac die-hards. No PC user out there has even a single iChat buddy.


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## Wako (Oct 11, 2006)

ice_hackey said:


> I want the iPhone v.2 to incorporate a front-facing lens + 3G video chat and iChat video.


How do take photos of something other than you with a front facing lens?


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## rondini (Dec 6, 2001)

Not even out on the market, and we already see requests for "feature-creep". Me, I want "usability-creep" first.


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## applebook (Aug 4, 2004)

There's no need for a clickwheel of any kind with a touch screen.


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## Vexel (Jan 30, 2005)

Macified said:


> No PC user out there has even a single iChat buddy.


No, they have AIM buddies.  I have many PC using friends that use AIM. 

Just think. If PC users could video chat with their friends using the iPhone via iChat which is built around the AIM servers.. I think many more people would adopt AIM as their messenger. Ya never know, Apple might release iChat for the PC with the release of the iPhone. (One can dream right? )

That said. AIM is something quite awful on the PC.. mind you Triton is a LOT better than past versions. It's actually kind of nice to use, if you can believe that. Tho, iChat isn't supported for video chat through Triton yet. (AFAIK)


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## kloan (Feb 22, 2002)

screw the click wheel.. i think it sucks anyway. the new way to scroll is awesome, and will work a LOT better than the over-sensitive click wheel.

i'm wondering why they didn't do video calls as well.. sure they would've had to put two cameras in the phone... but so what?


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## ice_hackey (Aug 13, 2004)

Wako said:


> How do take photos of something other than you with a front facing lens?


Simple - you don't. You use the front camera for web chat & 3G video chat, and the rear camera for high-res pics.

Also, my phone has a digital-camera-to-business-card-scanner feature that I really like. Apple would do well to incorporate it. Or allow a 3rd party to develop it.


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## ice_hackey (Aug 13, 2004)

Macified said:


> Yes, 3G video chat is unrelated to iChat. Agreed.
> 
> Despite you having 50+ iChat buddies, Apple plans on selling these to more than mac die-hards. No PC user out there has even a single iChat buddy.


Some of my buddies on iChat are actually AIM or Google users.
For MSN/ICQ/Yahoo and everything else I use FIre.

Apple would do well to build cross-platform usability into this chat program.


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## ice_hackey (Aug 13, 2004)

rondini said:


> Not even out on the market, and we already see requests for "feature-creep". Me, I want "usability-creep" first.


You could call it feature-creep.. or more accurately _"keeping pace with technology"_. I do understand the k.i.s.s. mantra which Apple designs by... but the iPhone is a bit archaic, technology-wise. It's maybe 2-3 years behind.

It would have been more exciting if they could have taken the standard features of today and made them work better. But what they did was eliminate a LOT of stuff.

Maybe they could have put a better camera on it... akin to the Nokia N95 using Carl Zeiss.

The N95, by the way, has an integrated GPS receiver.. apple's missing ingredient to their Google maps "solution" that everyone is somehow so excited for.

iPhone version 2.0 or maybe 3.0 will be the one I buy, if they manage to catch up to Nokia and others in their tech.


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## ice_hackey (Aug 13, 2004)

But to quote borat "It's niiiice" enough, and is a cool first attempt at the market.

It's no clunker. I'm looking forward to trying someone else's.


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## kloan (Feb 22, 2002)

I was just reading up on the coming Nokia n95 and it has two cameras (as well as other goodies such as GPS). One 5MP lens on the back for pictures/video, and one smaller res (352 x 288) for video calls.... so Apple could very well have included one for video calls.. I agree that they're still a little behind.

Read up on the n95 here:
http://www.engadget.com/2006/09/26/nokias-n95-smartphone-goes-legit/
http://www.nseries.com/nseries/v2/m.../tech_specs_n95_en_US.html?lang=en&country=US


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## guytoronto (Jun 25, 2005)

Video chat is the most overhyped, useless feature ever.

We don't have home video phones, because people don't want them.

Only a small percentage of people use webcams and video chat software, because the majority of people don't want others to see them at their worst.


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## HowEver (Jan 11, 2005)

Absolutely right. Nobody wants to be viewed on their "cameraphone."

That's what Youtube is for--and why Google thought it was worth $1.6 Billion.





guytoronto said:


> Video chat is the most overhyped, useless feature ever.
> 
> We don't have home video phones, because people don't want them.
> 
> Only a small percentage of people use webcams and video chat software, because the majority of people don't want others to see them at their worst.


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## Macified (Sep 18, 2003)

If users want to have video chat over wifi, they are going to have to stop calling it iChat. There is no video iChat to anything other than iChat on a Mac, how is it going to be different on an Apple phone? AIM, Jabber, etc are just connections, Skype is the only video chat client I know that supports cross-platform. I've tried it Mac to Mac (iChat isn't all it's cracked up to be) and it was horrible.

On a different note, using that camera for other purposes has potential. Scanning clips of data, business cards, UPC codes etc. could be usefull. Not exactly the killer app that video chat is expected to be but functional.


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## Bjornbro (Feb 19, 2000)

Macified said:


> I've tried it Mac to Mac (iChat isn't all it's cracked up to be) and it was horrible.


Say what? It's as good as it gets in this day and age for home use. How else should it work? See your buddy, invite 'em to video iChat, boom you're on. Using broadband iChat and iSight/built-in (or FW DV cam) gets you good resolution and decent frame rates. Is that hard to do for you?


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## Macaholic (Jan 7, 2003)

I agree with BjornBro! I've done several video iChats, and the picture quality and latency is amazingly good!


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## ice_hackey (Aug 13, 2004)

Macified said:


> If users want to have video chat over wifi, they are going to have to stop calling it iChat. There is no video iChat to anything other than iChat on a Mac, how is it going to be different on an Apple phone? AIM, Jabber, etc are just connections, Skype is the only video chat client I know that supports cross-platform. I've tried it Mac to Mac (iChat isn't all it's cracked up to be) and it was horrible.
> 
> On a different note, using that camera for other purposes has potential. Scanning clips of data, business cards, UPC codes etc. could be usefull. Not exactly the killer app that video chat is expected to be but functional.


Skype would be nice to have on the iPhone!!


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## ice_hackey (Aug 13, 2004)

guytoronto said:


> Video chat is the most overhyped, useless feature ever.
> We don't have home video phones, because people don't want them.


Wrong!

I have video calling on my mobile and use it regularly. It's awesome!

I have a question for you - have you ever even used 3G video chat?
Knock it AFTER you've used it, dum dum.


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## ice_hackey (Aug 13, 2004)

Macaholic said:


> I agree with BjornBro! I've done several video iChats, and the picture quality and latency is amazingly good!


The compression Apple uses for ichat video is awesome!
On an average high-speed connection, it's flawless.

I love video chat.. it's almost like "being there"... really, anyone who prefers to email is just... weird.


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## Macified (Sep 18, 2003)

Sure the compression iChat uses is awesome. If you can't get a connection though, the compression is irrelevant. My brother in law gets a brand-new iMac with built-in iSight. Everything is running great. I have a PowerBook with add-on iSight which has never had bandwidth issues. Tried iChatting and it worked once. Video was great, audio was fine. Hasn't worked since. Whenever we try to make a connection my computer says I failed to respond and his computer says he failed to respond.

So we try an alternate. My father in law has a G5 iMac with built-in iSight. We have exactly the same problem.

Yes iChat is excellent. But when you tie iChat to AIM servers and throw in various "high-speed" providers, you get a mixed bag. Is Apple to blame? No. But iChat is still useless to me. Now, imagine paying the big bucks for an iPhone, counting on the video chat over wifi, only to find that it doesn't work very often. Still not Apple's fault but they will be blamed and their sales will suffer. Apple will not offer the solution until they can be more certain that the user experience will not be bad.

"Gee, I bought this iPhone for video chat and it doesn't work. I guess Apple isn't all that they're cracked up to be. Maybe I won't buy a Mac after all."


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## guytoronto (Jun 25, 2005)

ice_hackey said:


> Wrong!
> 
> I have video calling on my mobile and use it regularly. It's awesome!
> 
> ...


Who ya chattin' with there buddy?

Everyone else on the 3G network with video compatible phones?

Yup, large market there.


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## green_ears (Feb 26, 2005)

I agree, I totally expected an iSight instead of the camera on the back... Odd indeed.


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## the_human_body (Jun 25, 2006)

Macified said:


> No PC user out there has even a single iChat buddy.


Yes, but they have tons of AIM buddies.


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## Macified (Sep 18, 2003)

the_human_body said:


> Yes, but they have tons of AIM buddies.


Again with the AIM buddies and the wagging emoticons. Do any of the iChatters do video chat with their AIM buddies.

Try reading the whole the whole thread and maybe adding something.


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## the_human_body (Jun 25, 2006)

ice_hackey said:


> Skype would be nice to have on the iPhone!!


I believe it was Skype Steve was referring to when he said running an unsigned, un-OK'd app on it can bring the entire West Coast network down.


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## the_human_body (Jun 25, 2006)

Macified said:


> Again with the AIM buddies and the wagging emoticons. Do any of the iChatters do video chat with their AIM buddies.
> 
> Try reading the whole the whole thread and maybe adding something.


Hmmm, lets see... iPods used to ship with 2 apps one being iTunes, the other being MusicMatch. MusicMatch was for PeeCee users. What are they using now? Hard to believe, I know but, eventually they came out with iTunes for the PeeCee (who would have thunk it?) so why would they *NOT* release a PeeCee version of iChat? 

Sorry if I offended you. I'm trying to think on the level of Steve Jobs, not Bill Gates.


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## Macified (Sep 18, 2003)

Not offended in the least. My point is merely that iChat on an iPhone won't happen because there is no-one to iChat with. Sure there are a handful of Mac using iChatter's but the entire PC market is not connected with a servicable iChat video solution. Apple didn't make the iPhone solely for Mac users.


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## Macaholic (Jan 7, 2003)

Obvious statement du jour:

Steve Jobs won't do anything on the Windows side unless Apple can profit by it. The only reason Apple released iTunes for Windows was to sell Windows users songs, and to make using an iPod better for Windows users -- and these reason are in THAT ORDER on purpose.

Personally, I see no profitable reason for Apple to release iChat for Windows. After all: it's not even their own network but AOL's. There's a glut of both IM networks and IM programs on BOTH sides of the OS divide, and I'd rather Apple put their resources and efforts into making iChat more compatible -- particularly with the MSN Messenger network, which is the one most Windows lemmings settle for -- iChat/Windows or not.


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## ice_hackey (Aug 13, 2004)

Maybe Apple can move the entire iLife suite to Windows... to achieve better iPhone integration on that platform.

For Windows users, this would make a more compelling iPhone experience, aka sell more iPhones. This software should come free on CD with the phone. iChat could be a part of that package.

Again, this could spur another halo... giving people a taste of the mac user-experience.

They want to sell a boatload of iPhones.. they will need to do something special for PC users aka the majority of their market.


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## Macaholic (Jan 7, 2003)

"Better iPhone integration with iLife"?? 

Port iLIFE??!


You're either pulling our leg or on drugs.


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## Vexel (Jan 30, 2005)

I could see it happening if they released an older version than what's current. Maybe an iPhoto Nano?


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## ice_hackey (Aug 13, 2004)

iTunes is part of iLife - and it's over there on Windows.
Why not port the rest of it?

It's a decent suite for amateur/home users, and should help control the iPhone experience on PC. It's a win-win for Apple. I figure they will do it in conjunction with the iPhone release.


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## Vexel (Jan 30, 2005)

You may be right. But, I don't think so. iLife is one of the biggest advantages to owning a Mac. If they ported iLife to Windows.. I think Apple would lose a lot of potential switchers.

I think they're going to release software that is 'made for iPhone' on Windows. I just don't see them porting iLife.

Like I said.. maybe a slimmed version of iPhoto.. but definitely not the most recent release.


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## Bjornbro (Feb 19, 2000)

ice_hackey said:


> iTunes is part of iLife - and it's over there on Windows.
> Why not port the rest of it.


A Windows version of iTunes is available for free so that Apple can sell iPods to Windows users (Apple is a hardware company). Porting the rest of the iLife applications to Windows would not sell Macs. The iLife suite of apps is a freebie given by Apple to entice you to buy a Mac _(because Apple is a hardware company)_.


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## ice_hackey (Aug 13, 2004)

Vexel said:


> maybe a slimmed version of iPhoto.. but definitely not the most recent release.


The bottom line is that Apple is going to provide Windows users (the majority of their iPhone market) _something_ to integrate this iPhone. My best guess is that this "something" will include some familiar-looking software (iPhoto, Address Book, iTunes, maybe some other stuff, basically iLife).

Their alternative is to integrate this phone with some pre-existing PC suite... and Apple doesn't do that. They want to control the whole experience, hence iTunes moving to PCs to support the iPod.


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## Macaholic (Jan 7, 2003)

ice_hackey said:


> iTunes is part of iLife - and it's over there on Windows.
> Why not port the rest of it?
> 
> It's a decent suite for amateur/home users, and should help control the iPhone experience on PC. It's a win-win for Apple. I figure they will do it in conjunction with the iPhone release.


If I'm not mistaken, iTunes/Win already has interoperability with Adobe Photoshop Elements, as well as XP's "My Photos" folder. Apple can improve upon this if need be without giving away the crown jewels that are part of the draw to a Mac.


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## HowEver (Jan 11, 2005)

Of course this is unrelated to the iPhone for now, but it is related to the video calling theme:



Sources-say... said:


> *Video Calling - March 1st*
> Effective March 1st, 2007 and for an ongoing period, this service will allow customers to place video calls to another user. Video calling is unique since both parties must have video capable handsets along with being within the HSDPA coverage area.
> 
> $0.25/min regardless of price plan, specific packages will be built at a later date.


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## kloan (Feb 22, 2002)

What carrier is that for? So far we don't even have HSDPA up here.. but I'm curious who in the US is offering that... Cingular? I guess that would make sense since that's kind've the subject..

$0.25/min for video calls seem pretty decent.... I wonder what they look like.. if they're what first gen webcams looked like... yuck! 

btw, LOVE the avatar HowEver... lmao!! my mom thinks she's got a big head... i like watching her show though... she cooks up some pretty tasty lookin meals...


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## HowEver (Jan 11, 2005)

Sorry I should have said this is for Rogers Wireless, Canada. Video Calling by March 1st, depending on your cell and being in the right area.




kloan said:


> What carrier is that for? So far we don't even have HSDPA up here.. but I'm curious who in the US is offering that... Cingular? I guess that would make sense since that's kind've the subject..
> 
> $0.25/min for video calls seem pretty decent.... I wonder what they look like.. if they're what first gen webcams looked like... yuck!
> 
> btw, LOVE the avatar HowEver... lmao!! my mom thinks she's got a big head... i like watching her show though... she cooks up some pretty tasty lookin meals...


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