The web is buzzing with rumors and ideas on what Apple’s next big idea may be. Combine an opinion piece by TheNextWeb.com that Apple may be considering a FaceTime and iMessage-like audio messaging service and some news floated by MacRumors that Apple has just open-sourced its proprietary audio codec.
Put simply, the pieces are in place for high-quality, free phone calls on your iPhone.
Both articles are worth a read. What if Apple is not only the next Sony, but also the next AT&T?
, many interesting details are coming to light. AppleInsider was the first to point out that the book quotes Steve Jobs as saying that he finally “cracked” the problem of making a great TV. Some people have speculated that this would involve a new Apple TV with Siri integration and Facetime from your living room TV setup. It could be very cool, indeed, taking Facetime to a whole new level. Read the full article on the possibilities, but if Apple’s track record with the iPod, iPhone & iPad are any indication, if Apple has a TV up its sleeve, it’s a bigger and better deal that what we can imagine.
In addition to medical privacy, the fact that Facetime calls can be made private comes as good news to individuals and corporations who want to ensure that their communications stay private. Need to make sure no one is eavesdropping on your personal or sensitive conversations? Facetime on a secured network could be a good option for you.
Thanks to long time Mac authority Jason O’Grady at ZDnet for the insight.
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.”
If you don’t mind rolling up your sleeves and typing two lines of code on your Mac, Rob “the Corndog” Johnson has a great tip on how to set up Facetime on your home computer to auto-accept incoming Facetime requests from specified phone numbers or accounts:
1.) Open up the Terminal.app located in your /Applications/Utilities folder
2.) Type in the following to allow a specified caller for auto accept incoming calls:
phone number example:
defaults write com.apple.FaceTime AutoAcceptInvitesFrom -array-add +15205551212
AppleID (email) example:
defaults write com.apple.FaceTime AutoAcceptInvitesFrom -array-add stevejobs@apple.com
Simple enough, right? Enjoy remote surveillance of your house, check in to see how your dog and cat get along when you’re gone, or make sure the babysitter isn’t making out with her boyfriend while you’re on your dinner date.
Yes, there is a workaround. A loophole, if you will. It involves tethering your iPhone to any mobile hotspot (which is in turn connected to a 3G cell network). From the guy who put it together:
Pretty cool, eh? It’s not quite perfect since it requires a hotspot, but if you have one, you can Facetime from anywhere a 3G network is available.
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!)
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.
Don’t be afraid. This is my attic.
You know, it didn’t occur to me at first how Facetime could be useful for more than just talking with friends and family, until recently when I needed to crawl up in our attic. That space you see in the photo above is just large enough for a 6 foot 2 inch guy to crawl through on his belly to make it to the other side (which is exactly what I needed to do to take a look at some electrical work in my attic. Unfortunately, I don’t know much about wiring.
However, my dad does. He was visiting us recently and although I wouldn’t have considered making my dad crawl up in the attic to diagnose our electrical issues, it was no big deal to crawl up there with my iPhone and do a Facetime chat with him to show him, in real time, what the wiring looked like. He was downstairs and able to talk me through what I was seeing and guide me through the maze of electric wires draped throughout the attic.
So technically I *was* Facetiming with my dad, but it was for something other than fun. I guess this is the kind of reason I started this blog… to talk about what new possibilities open up with this technology. Coming soon… a top ten list of alternative ways to use Facetime.
