Update 6/30/2011- see bottom for new information!
I’ve got to be honest – I was excited to get an Android device with a front facing camera until I got one. When HTC brought us the EVO 4G, a lot of people saw the dual camera and got excited. Sure, GSM phones from Europe have had video calling cameras long before this (I actually have a couple of them on my desk as I write this), but they were usually tied to expensive video calling services that aren’t even offered here in the US.
Not only was the EVO the first device designed for US markets with a FFC (Front Facing Camera), but the fact that it was Android and offered only on plans with unlimited data immediately made people picture a new era of IP video calling. This led to one question: Where is Skype with video calling?!
Skype doesn’t have video on their official Android client to this day. Instead, it appears, Verizon has struck some kind of deal to have the exclusive rights to Skype video on Android, which didn’t happen until the release of the HTC Thunderbolt. And unlike other Android apps, Skype did a bang-up job writing the Thunderbolt app to be dependent upon HTC’s drivers exclusive to that phone, which means porting it to other devices is all but impossible. Meanwhile, iOS got an official client that supports video as well, so it appears that this exclusive deal with Verizon is OS-specific.
That leaves the plethora of Android devices with a FFC (of which there are many now) wondering what to do with it. There are options, thankfully. Apps like Tango and Fring work quite well and allow you to call other mobile devices with the software installed, but they are limited to only other mobiles. Personally, most of the people I want to video chat with are friends and family members who do not have a mobile with a FFC handy, but rather sitting in front of a desktop or laptop with a webcam. That means I’m limited to only the applications that offer mobile & desktop versions, which are rare.
The options I found that supported both desktop and mobile were quite disappointing as well. Oovoo says they not only support mobile and desktop, but also claim to offer free 3-way video chat. Seems nice, but it didn’t support my Android Tablet’s camera and was rather unstable on a coworker’s device I managed to install it on.
Next up I tried Yahoo’s Messenger. Yahoo seemed a bit better, even supported the rear camera on a device that didn’t offer a front one, but when I tried calling to a Nexus S it only detected the rear camera. It also seemed buggy at times – my device played a ringing noise the first time I called someone (which is expected), but wouldn’t stop even after they picked up. In fact, I signed out and it kept ringing. I had to force close the app to silence it, which was more than mildly annoying.
The bigger problem is that no one I know uses either of those services. Most of the people I want to call are using Skype, since it is the standard for voice calls whether you are tech savvy or not. Even if Oovoo or Yahoo Messenger worked flawlessly, I would still have to convince the people I am calling to switch to another service, which is likely never going to happen.
The only other option is Google’s own video chat, which supports their web client and Android. The problem? It is only available on the latest release of Android which is currently only found on the Nexus S. Eventually more devices will be updated with the new OS, and then I can see this being a decent option. Google has the ability to integrate their voice and video features into their web experience (making calls through gmail, etc), so for those who are unwilling to install a new video chat app, you could still casually connect if they are browsing their Google Mail portal, technically. It’s not ubiquitous enough yet.
Ideally, we should all be able to run Skype (or let Fring connect to Skype like they used to be able to), but with Microsoft’s recent acquisition of the company, who knows what direction they will take down the road. Meanwhile, I have officially taken the FFC off my list of “must have” features.
Anyone have any interesting uses for their FFC?
Update 6/30/2011: Skype has decided to release a new version 2.0 update that includes video chat for specific phones. Click here for more details.
Truthfully, I don’t think a lot of people really have any use or need for the front-facing camera, even IF Skype supported it flawlessly on all mobile platforms.
This goes way back to the days of Bell Telephone in the 1960’s, experimenting with the idea of video-phones and concluding that it just wasn’t a technology people were demanding. (One of the early purposes suggested for the ISDN phone circuit was to allow video-phone calls, too — yet AT&T largely just sat on that information, relegating it to internal “training videos” and the like. They didn’t even attempt to really offer the ISDN product to consumers for 8 or more years after it was available, much less suggest video-calls as a reason to buy it.)
I think many people feel like unless they’ve already had time to “do themselves up in the mirror” first, they don’t WANT someone else watching them during a phone call. At least with a desktop webcam video chat session, the person is in a little more control of things since he/she can adjust the lighting in the room for the best camera results, can brush their hair first, or what-not. When you’re on the go with a cellphone, you’re likely to make or take calls in poorly lit places where you’re GLAD the other party can’t see you or the surroundings you’re in.