Facetime Is Just One Of The Great Features On The iPhone 4

The iPhone 4 boasted many improvements over previous models when it was released in 2010. The new Retina display was a stand out feature as was the improved 1Ghz processor. One feature that was heavily advertised was the Facetime video calling system and it has quickly established itself as one of the key facilities on the phone. Here we take a look at Facetime and other video chat systems that are available on this impressive model.

Facetime was introduced to the world on the 7th June 2010 by the CEO of Apple, Steve Jobs. The system enables users of the iPhone 4, the second generation iPad and the fourth generation iPod Touch to communicate with one another via a front facing camera installed on each device. Facetime only works between these Apple products but given the brands popularity in the marketplace this does not pose to much of a problem. Unlike previous video calling platforms Facetime only work via a WiFi connection. Whilst this has obvious limitations when you are on the move it does ensure that when you do have an appropriate connection the quality of the service surpasses all other efforts. Thanks to the data transfer speeds offered by WiFi users not only experience a high standard of audio but video also appears crystal clear. Other video calling platforms suffer from their use of a cellular data network that simply could not handle the pressure placed upon it by this kind of call. The result of this is that video images often appear blurred and audio stutters and regularly drops out. The interface for Facetime is simple, your screen displays the picture of whoever you are talking to and a smaller box is presented in the corner which shows you what the other person can see. This box can be moved to any corner of the screen that suits you and another small button on the display enables you to switch to the phones main camera in order to show your contact what is going on around you.

The popular App Store now offers a range of video calling applications for the iPhone 4. The most well known of these is Skype and the advantage of this system is that it works on both a 3G connection as well as WiFi. Obviously there is a loss in quality when calling over a 3G network and user must be aware of how much data allowance is included in their monthly price plan. The fact that a cellular network can be used does however mean there are more places where you can conduct a video call. Skype is also a cross platform application which makes it easy to call a friend who may be using a phone on an Android or Symbian operating system. Because Skype is not integrated into the OS of the iPhone 4 it is a slightly more complicated way of conducting this kind of call and it also lacks the overall quality that Facetime offers, however it is a great alternative for people who are often travelling and cannot be limited to having a WiFi connection. There are of course other handsets that use a front facing camera. The HTC Evo 3D is one of the best alternatives for video calling and a variety of applications such as Skype can be used and they look superb on the handsets large display. Facetime however remains the ultimate tool for making video calls.

Facetime is key feature on the iPhone 4 as any person who own the handset will testify. Its quality remains superb whilst availability of third party programmes such as Skype means that video calling is becoming a much more widely used feature than ever before.

The iPhone 4 and the HTC Evo 3D are available now.