Google to Challenge Facetime with New Google Talk Video Chat

[Donnutt]

Apple did not invent video calling.
I had that back in 2002(or 3) on my Nokia 3G (forgot what it was called), don't hear you say Apple copy Nokia and many other phones around the world. Hell even the iPhone 3G or was it 3GS hardware supports video calling but Apple did not use it, proof that video calling is around before Apple iPhone.

I never said apple invented it. However they were the only phone with a front facing camera when it first came out, and they wrote a hell of a good program for it. I like the fact that you don't have to have a program running to receive a call.

[unison999]

I never said apple invented it. However they were the only phone with a front facing camera when it first came out, and they wrote a hell of a good program for it. I like the fact that you don't have to have a program running to receive a call.

uhhh wrong again, my Nokia back in 2003 had front facing camera as well as rear camera. I picked this phone out of a dozen with front facing camera phones at the shop, thought I would want to use it but end up not using it at all just like my iPhone4's facetime. All you have to do is click a button to choose calling or receiving video calling.

Edit: I found the phone it was Nokia 6680 according to the webpage start selling in U.S. in 2005. But I got mine from shop that imports latest and greatest so got it earlier than U.S., because U.S. carrier selections sucked back then. Still for this arguement sake just this particular phone started selling in 2005, that is wayyyy before iPhone was introduced.

[shadow-evillink]

To be honest, u haven't even used FaceTime on my phone mainly cause nobody I know had a ip4. I use skype. That works great. But FaceTime isn't a big whoop! Not in my book anyway.

[epignosis567]

"FaceTime" is ******* lame. Google chat with optional video over my phone is useful. They should offer it via the talk site tho so iPhones can use it.

[alexevo]

Apple did not invent video calling.
I had that back in 2002(or 3) on my Nokia 3G (forgot what it was called), don't hear you say Apple copy Nokia and many other phones around the world. Hell even the iPhone 3G or was it 3GS hardware supports video calling but Apple did not use it, proof that video calling is around before Apple iPhone.



It may not challenge facetime but it is challenging iPhone/iPad sales. Google did this to make it more attractive, to get people to say hay this is good feature I will by Android phone instead. So the ball is in Apple's court, its good to have these innovations going to keep companies on their toes.



I'm imagining calling girlfriend and videochat "Where do you want to go for dinner" while texting "what color underwear are you wearing?"

Despite all of that, nobody can dispute that Apple certainly has refined a lot of these features and packaged them into a MUCH nicer UI than any of the other manufacturers so far.

[GellBrake'rrrr]

It may, or may not be a direct challenge for FaceTime.... But competition is what equals benefits for us end users in the long run.

[Jahooba]

Ratcheting up the competition, I like it. If Apple has no one making products or services that are better then they have no reason to innovate.

Furthermore, if I end up not getting the iPhone 5, going straight to the Nexus would probably be a smart move.

Despite all of that, nobody can dispute that Apple certainly has refined a lot of these features and packaged them into a MUCH nicer UI than any of the other manufacturers so far.

It's not that nice. In fact, it's so ugly I've decided to change it completely.

[FireSpyder]

Check out Tango in the App store. It has full Video chat on 3G or Wifi. That's right, on 3G. Even works with the 3GS. It is also available on many Android phones so you can already do video chat cross platform. It's been available for almost as long as the iPhone 4. Best option for mobile devices. If you want go to a PC use Skype.

[FireSpyder]

Did I mention it's free?

[mortopher]

What happened to Apple making FaceTime an open standard???

[2006yamahaR6]

Any text chats from the person you’re talking with will be overlaid on your phone’s screen so you can read them without having to leave the video

Because I've always wished I could FaceTime with someone WHILE texting them at the same time.

It could make sexting a much more realistic experience

[Bulishor]

Love the texting feature, Apple should implement that asap. I lost count of how many times I had to put FT in the background to take down a number, url or address.

And while they're at it, they should enable FT to work on 3G... I use FT almost exclusively on 3G because that's when I need to show the other party something through video. Also, it makes it a true way of being reachable.

One killer feature that FT has on iDevices that Skype and Google Talk will never have is that you're always guaranteed to be connected. I can never count on my Skype staying in the background, I always find it disconnected after a maximum of one day so ppl that try to reach me can't.

[unison999]

Despite all of that, nobody can dispute that Apple certainly has refined a lot of these features and packaged them into a MUCH nicer UI than any of the other manufacturers so far.

I wouldn't know, have not used it. Not even once.

[obtrunco]

I don't know that this is a direct challenge to facetime. That said, it is nice to be able to video chat from phone to pc. AFAIK, facetime doesn't allow this (OSX only). Now if only skype could get their act together with Android video chat...

EDIT: BTW "Google Talk" is not a new feature... it's been on stock Android for ages. The video/voice chat is what is new.

Yeah but the Skype app does this, from phone to pc.


Sent from my iPhone using ModMyi

[Mrwhewchyle]

Thats true they had phones with video chat yearssss ago I remember they had phones that looked like the RAZOR with front cams on them that did video chat selling on the net, but only problem is you could only video chat with someone with that same phone which was next to (ZERO).... I give apple credit though because i can facetime from my MAC to a iphone , and the dual camera is a HOT iphone feature for facetime , plus on top of that you can even take screenshots or whatever... Even though they didnt make it, they sure made PRETTIER lol .....