Facetime is great, but Apple doesn’t own the mobile video calling market. New this week is an announcement from Fring that they have launched 4-way video calling on mobile devices, for both Android and iOS.  Since iChat enabled the ability to chat with multiple people at once in a video call, it seems reasonable to me that Facetime can’t be too far behind unless Apple decides that multiple-person video chats fall into the category of “just because you can doesn’t mean you should.”

This is why Facetime is so great. It’s wonderful to be able to talk to friends and family over an absolutely easy process, but when you’re afraid your family member may have been caught up in the devastation of a natural disaster, to be able to SEE that they are okay and not just read it… that’s priceless.  From this post from Japan during the aftermath of the earthquakes:

You know how in disaster movies, people on the street gather around electronic shops that have TVs in the display windows so they can stay informed with what is going on?  In this digital age, that’s what the Tokyo Apple stores became.  Staff brought out surge protectors and extension cords with 10s of iOS device adapters so people could charge their phones & pads and contact their loved ones.  Even after we finally had to close 10pm, crowds of people huddled in front of our stores to use the wifi into the night, as it was still the only way to get access to the outside world.You know how in disaster movies, people on the street gather around electronic shops that have TVs in the display windows so they can stay informed with what is going on?  In this digital age, that’s what the Tokyo Apple stores became.  Staff brought out surge protectors and extension cords with 10s of iOS device adapters so people could charge their phones & pads and contact their loved ones.  Even after we finally had to close 10pm, crowds of people huddled in front of our stores to use the wifi into the night, as it was still the only way to get access to the outside world…

…Ubiquitous wifi and Facetime devices gave us a lifeline to our families and the rest of the world. Facetime turned out to be MUCH more stable than Skype (And I’m a Skype fanboy!)

from Apple’s Role in Japan during the Tohoku Earthquake

Have you *seen* the guided tour of Facetime on the iPad? It’s crazy good. Kudos to Apple for producing something that so succinctly explains what Facetime is and how it works. Click through to view the video.

Would you look at that! Facetime got 2 new features today:
– HD (High Definition)
– a price tag of 0.99 cents (app store link)

The HD feature is going to require you have an HD camera (such as on the new Macbook Pros that came out on Feb 24, 2011).

The additional cost for Facetime is said to be part of an accounting issue (thank you sarbanes oxley) more than Apple’s desire to squeeze you for ten of your hard-earned dimes.

You can now download Facetime for the Mac from the Mac App Store and start video chatting in HD.  Pretty cool!

Whoa.  I guess this makes it official… you’ll be able to Facetime between networks in the US.  Good times all around!

Well how about that? Not to be content with Facetime on AT&T, Verizon announced today they are bringing the iPhone 4 and Facetime to the Verizon network. Exciting news!

So starting in February 2011, people will be able to contact each other in a Facetime video call if they have:

– an iPhone 4 on AT&T

– an iPhone 4 on Verizon

– an iPod Touch (aka iTouch) on any wifi network

– a Mac with the free Facetime software installed

Welcome to the big video show, Verizon fans!