Cheshire Cat Photo Blog(...said the Cat: 'we're all mad here....')

A Skype app for telephony released yesterday allows video calling over AT&T’s 3G network using iPhone 4 and 3GS. Since the iPhone 3GS has a camera ONLY on the back, video conferencing is “less than ideal.”

Can you feel the AT&T 3G networks crushing? (However briefly…?) (Note added January 13, 2011: Yes, very briefly indeed….)

Apple’s FaceTime video chat on iPhone 4 and new iPod Touch devices cannot make video calls over AT&T’s 3G networks, only over Wi-Fi. According to CNN:

“Apple said carriers requested time to upgrade their networks to handle the traffic load of video calling.”

Time’s UP!

To me, this request confirms my long-time suspicion that a front-facing camera is absent from the first generation (wildly successful) iPad to minimize the number of times the question “Why not videoconferencing?” was/is raised. The iPad and previous iPod touch model with the new Skype app can receive video calls but cannot transmit video, since they have no cameras!

FaceTime users on mobile devices can call Macintosh machines equipped with Apple’s beta program installed. Skype app users can call Macintoshes and machines running Windows that have the Skype software installed. The Skype app can also make video calls over Wi-Fi, in addition to 3G video calling and voice calling.

CNN testers opined that the video quality was not as good as FaceTime’s, but the Skype app recognizes when the phone is held in portrait or landscape mode.

Skype’s app for Android does not yet support video calling, but with the Consumer Electronics Show coming up next week, who knows?

-Bill at

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