FaceTime

FaceTime Spells Long Term Trouble for Skype

Jeff Benjamin ∙ October 21, 2010

Given the impressive adoption numbers of the iPhone on a weekly basis, I’m simply stumped as to why Skype isn’t taking the iPhone platform more seriously. Sure, they have an app, but it’s almost like they created it just to say they have an app in the App Store.

Skype has almost single handily revolutionized what it means to communicate in today’s digital world, and they've made it infinitely easier for ones across long distances to stay in relatively close touch with one another. So why is Skype resting on its laurels? Is this the attitude of a company who’s simply satisfied with its accomplishments thus far? Does having 1 in 11 of the world’s population among your growing list of users result in stifling innovation? We examine the situation inside...

FaceTime Comes Back To The Mac

Jeff Benjamin ∙ October 20, 2010

Okay, so it was never on the Mac to begin with, but who didn't see that coming? At Apple's 'Back To The Mac' event this afternoon -- or morning, depending on where you call home -- FaceTime was announced for Mac OS X. This means that all of those with iPhone 4's just got a few million more potential friends to talk to via Apple's suddenly ubiquitous social service.

Of course the most exciting news is that FaceTime for the Mac is available for download today. For your convenience, we've included a video demonstrating a FaceTime call between a Mac and an iPhone 4. Check inside for the full details.

Want Video Calls on Your iPhone Over 3G? Then it’s Time to Tango!

Guest Author ∙ Updated December 26, 2016

Tango Video Calling by Sgiggle, Inc. (available free in the App Store) is a video-calling app that’s similar to FaceTime, but has a few more features that gives it a definite edge over Apple’s built-in video calls.

The most notable difference? Tango works over 3G. This is often the complaint I hear most about FaceTime. It’s been promised 3G functionality is coming to FaceTime… someday. We also heard that about tethering and how long did that take?

Will Steve Jobs’ FaceTime Promise Hold True?

Guest Author ∙ Updated June 13, 2016

Remember back in June when Steve Jobs introduced the iPhone 4 and the revolutionary FaceTime ability? Perhaps if you're detail oriented you'll remember that Jobs also stated that Apple would be shipping 10's of millions of FaceTime ready devices. How will he make this happen?

Fortune has a broke down report on how Jobs might make his promise a reality in spite of critics who scoffed at the number proposed. I'll give you a hint, it isn't exclusive to Apple handhelds...

Is the iPod Touch For People Who Don’t Want an iPhone?

Guest Author ∙ Updated March 27, 2018

Apple's event today wasn't filled with too many surprises. The iPod Touch was beefed up in features that included many of the predicted and leaked abilities that were floating around. Mimicking nearly all of the features of the iPhone 4 makes me wonder now more than ever if the Touch is specifically designed for those who don't want an iPhone.

Adding FaceTime and Retina Display to the Touch gives it both of the best features from the iPhone 4. The speedy A4 chip will make the two devices close to equal in processing time, something that the iPhone previously ousted the Touch in considerably. So what's the difference?

Predictions for Tomorrow’s Apple Event

Guest Author ∙ August 31, 2010

Unless you've been underneath a rock for a few weeks you're aware that Apple will be holding their annual September event this Wednesday. With such an event so close, you can pretty much find a rumor for any wild idea you could think of. We figured here at iDB we'd toss around some ideas and let you add your own.

I'll start with the casualties:

Activate FaceTime on Unofficial Carriers with MiTime

Sébastien Page ∙ Updated March 9, 2016

Those of you who purchased an iPhone 4 and are using it on an unofficial carrier were not able to activate FaceTime. There is now a fix for this. It's called MiTime and from what I read, it's working well.

MiTime is an app/service for activating FaceTime on phones that are operating on unofficial carriers. It should work worldwide and will use two text messages to activate. You must be able to receive an international SMS message to get activated (see here if you can receive international SMS).

Apple to Hold “Special Event” on September 1st

Sébastien Page ∙ August 25, 2010

Surprisingly, we didn't get an invite for this, but TechCrunch did, and according to it, Apple will be holding a "special event" on September 1st, at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts Theater in San Francisco at 10 am.

The invite comes with the image above, which strongly indicates the event will most likely be focused on music. Let the speculations go wild! What are they going to unveil? My guess is we're going to hear about the new iPod Touch with a nice Retina Display and a front-facing camera for FaceTime. Apple will also probably unveil a cloud-based version of iTunes...

This is How Much Data Your iPhone Uses When Using FaceTime on 3G

Sébastien Page ∙ August 16, 2010

There are a few jailbreak apps on Cydia that let you use FaceTime on 3G: 3G Unrestrictor, My3G, and FaceBreak. If like me you're on an unlimited data plan, data usage is not a problem. If however you are on a capped data plan, using FaceTime over 3G could take you overboard.

A few days ago, I made a FaceTime call over 3G for 10 minutes to figure out how much data FaceTime uses on 3G. As you can see on the image above, I sent about 15 MB of data and I received about 12 MB. I think I sent more than I received because I was moving around a lot.

Total data usage for a 10-minute FaceTime call on 3G: 26.5 MB. That's about 2.65 MB per minute.

Obviously your mileage may vary but these numbers shouldn't be too far from what a FaceTime call over 3G will cost you.

FaceBreak Allows FaceTime Over 3G

Sébastien Page ∙ August 15, 2010

FaceBreak is a new jailbreak application that allows you to do FaceTime on 3G. It is very similar to 3G Unrestrictor and My3G, except it only works with FaceTime.

It is available for $1.49 from the Cydia Store. It is cheaper than 3G Unrestrictor and My3G, but again, it doesn't do as much. If you only need FaceTime to work on 3G, then FaceBreak is your best bet. If however you need a mod to allow other apps to run on 3G, then you'd be better off going with My3G.

Have you tried FaceBreak? How do you like it?

Face Time Mod Improves Quality of FaceTime Video Calls

Sébastien Page ∙ August 11, 2010

Face Time Mod is a new jailbreak app that changes the FPS (Frames Per Second) during your FaceTime calls to optimize the video quality depending on your Internet connection. This allows for better quality video if your wifi connection can handle it. In the same way, it will lower the quality of the video if you're running FaceTime on Edge using My3G for example.

By default, the original FPS is a minimum of 15 and a maximum of 15 as well. Face Time Mod brings the minimum down to 6 FPS and the max to 30 FPS.

There is one big downside to this app though: both iPhones must have Face Time Mod installed for it to work.

Face Time Mod is available for free in Cydia under the http://repo.modyouri.com repo.

What do you think of it?

Fix: FaceTime Failed – xxx is Not Available For FaceTime

Sébastien Page ∙ August 6, 2010

Today I want to post about an issue I recently had when trying to FaceTime with Tina. Everytime I tried to initiate a FaceTime call, I would get an error message saying "FaceTime Failed - Tina is not available for FaceTime". What was strange with this issue is that she could initiate the FaceTime call and reach me, but I couldn't.

So really I thought the problem was from me since I was the one not being able to reach her. This drove me nuts for days. I even went as far as restoring my iPhone, thinking it would fix the issue. It didn't. The solution was in fact much simpler. Ironically, the issue didn't even come from my iPhone, but from hers.

I found the fix somewhere deep inside Apple's support pages. Apparently the problem arises if you ported an old number to your iPhone 4, or if you recently changed your number, which was the case for Tina's phone.

According to Apple, some of the symptoms are:

When you are calling someone on FaceTime, the number on their screen is not your number. People are unable to initiate a FaceTime call with you. After installing a new carrier settings update, FaceTime does not activate.

The fix is really simple:

In Settings > Phone, turn FaceTime OFF and turn it back ON again Go to Settings > General > Reset > Reset all settings Done

Immediately after performing this on Tina's phone I was able to initiate a FaceTime call with her.

Hopefully this will help other people stuck on this issue.