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Posts tagged with "facetime"

Not Surprising: The iPad is Getting a Camera

I suppose the question isn’t whether the iPad is getting a camera, but when? AppleInsider points out that possible camera capabilities will be available on a future iPad thanks to some assumably accidental information listed on Apple’s iPad profile management policies, though I think we can safely agree we knew this was bound to happen. We basically have a bit of proof, though none was needed when Steve Jobs basically guaranteed we’d be living in a FaceTime world through the upcoming years.

While iPhones do have cameras to disable, no iPad models currently do. However, among the profiles specifically included in its iPad documentation, Apple notes the ability to restrict camera use on the iPad.

Though it is possible to connect an external camera via the USB adapter Apple provides in the iPad, we doubt Apple would specifically target devices that weren’t intended for use with the iPad in the first place. And although people have been clamoring about the idea of “video conferencing” (which is a bit too corporate of a term for my tastes), I really haven’t missed it in the current iteration of the iPad – I rarely even use the MacBook’s built-in iSight. Though if seeing is believing, your subtle confirmation for the world’s biggest point-and-shoot has now been approved.

Now how about that iPod touch?

[via AppleInsider]

FaceTime Over 3G Is Now Possible

For jailbreakers, at least. My3G, the tweak that makes iOS believe it’s on Wifi when it’s actually using 3G, has been updated to version 4.1 to include support for FaceTime. Simple as that, you just have to check an option.

My3G is available on Rock ($3.99) or through ModMyi’s repo in Cydia at $2.79. I haven’t tested the app yet, but I’ll keep you posted about my results. It’ll also be interesting to hear from American users whether AT&T’s network will be able to undergo the traffic of jailbreakers or not. Please let us know in the comments below.

This is huge, anyway.

UPDATE: ModMyi’s repo seems to be down at the moment. It should be back online in a hour or so.

UPDATE #2: Check out the video of FaceTime with My3G below, courtesy of 9to5mac.

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FacePlant is FaceMail for FaceTime

How the heck do you know if someone’s available to chat via FaceTime? Check it: FacePlant is command central for all your FaceTime leaves. Leave a voicemail, erm, FaceMail for that lovely barista you met last week, get notified when someone wants to FaceTime with you, and go undercover when you don’t want to be bothered. It’s this extra functionality that Apple should have implemented, but didn’t.

FacePlant is still in the review process, but you can totally catch a video after the break.

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FaceTime From the Middle of Pacific Ocean [Video]

If you have an iPhone 4, you’ve tried FaceTime. Either you’ve called Apple, or you’ve started a video call with one of your friends. I did both. What I didn’t do, is try FaceTime from unusual locations, say airplanes. TUAW did, and it’s an impressive result.

But Wifi from a plane seems almost “easy” and “standard”, compared to what Philippe Kahn and his MotionX colleagues did. Philippe is in the middle of the Pacific ocean: if you draw a thousand miles circle around his location, there’s no sign of land. He’s using a satellite connection, possibly tunneled through a router the iPhone 4 is connected to. His colleagues are in the MotionX offices in Santa Cruz.

Check out the video after break. What’s next, space?

[Daring Fireball via Pegasus]

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Boy Genius Claims that FaceTime is Coming to iPod and iPad

We pretty much figured that FaceTime would eventually end up on the iPod relatively soon, but we didn’t think we’d hear millings about the iPad just yet (considering it doesn’t have a front facing camera). Sure the iPad would make the perfect FaceTime device – but this leads us to ponder whether Apple will release an updated model this Fall.

Questions aside, Boy Genius Report does ask a valid question: how the heck can you call an iPod touch or iPad without a phone number? The answer lies in your Apple ID. Using your email address (which I do not like the idea of at all), people will be able to make FaceTime calls to your device. Kind of like how Textie on the iPhone and iPod touch works. Push Notifications will alert you to calls, and Boy Genius Report admits that there’d have to be some minor changes in iOS 4.x to make it happen. Chalk another one up on the rumor mill kids - this one is pretty good.

[via Boy Genius Report]

FaceTime: Now Working on Planes, Too

Ok, so we know FaceTime is a great technology. Video calling is nothing new, but Apple’s implementation is perfect: one-tap calling, simple UI, easy to use.

How stable and compatible can Apple’s FaceTime be, anyway? We’ve read reports of firewalls blocking its connection. Still, the good folks over at TUAW have managed to talk with a reader who was on a plane, thousands of feet above Earth, using Gogo in-flight Wifi service. The same service which blocks Skype and other VOIP softwares, it worked just fine with FaceTime.

The quality of the call is good, and Bills even changes camera to show that he’s actually on a plane, FaceTime with us poor Earth dwellers. Check out the video after the break.

[Engadget via TUAW]

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Apple Posts 4 New FaceTime Ads

Apple has just started rolling out four new iPhone 4 commercials, each of them about FaceTime.

The new ads, available for streaming here, are named “Meet her”, “Haircut”, “Smile” and “Big News” - all of them are focused on every day situations that will surely help people better understand the whole FaceTime concept.

Well played, Apple. Check out the videos below.

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