AppleInsider Staff
As with the beta released last October, users of FaceTime for Mac simply enter their Apple ID to login and chat with other Mac, iPhone 4 or fourth-generation iPod touch users.
The new application also supports high-definition 720p video, offered with the new FaceTime HD camera in the new MacBook Pros released on Thursday. On a Mac with a standard-definition camera, the application offers VGA-quality video for Mac-to-Mac calls.
Users can make calls using their existing Address Book contacts, and add people they call most often to their Favorites list. The application also features a list of recent calls.
Window and playback controls fade away in FaceTime for Mac, allowing users to keep the focus on their conversation. The view also transitions smoothly when an iPhone 4 or iPod touch user switches from front to rear cameras or from portrait to landscape views.
FaceTime's Widescreen aspect ratio also makes it easier for families and groups to participate in a call. Users can also place a call in full-screen to use every inch of their Mac display.
Version 1.0 of FaceTime for Mac also retains the application's push notification feature, which allows incoming calls to ring on a Mac, even if FaceTime isn't running. If a user has more than one Mac, incoming calls will ring on every computer so they can answer on the Mac that's most convenient.
FaceTime for Mac (iTunes link) requires a built-in FaceTime camera, an iSight camera (built-in or external), a USB video class (VC) camera, or a FireWire DV camcorder; and a 128-Kbps upstream and downstream Internet connection. Making HD video calls requires a built-in FaceTime HD camera and a 1-Mbps upstream and downstream Internet connection. Receiving video HD calls requires a supported Intel-based Mac.
Update: The 99 cent fee has been confirmed to be a result of regulatory fees associated with software updates. The situation is similar to when Apple charged a fee for users to unlock 802.11n functionality with a software update years ago. The Sarbannes-Oxley Act requires that companies charge for significant features added to already-purchased products.
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84 Comments
Best way to make facetime even more of a novelty? Gets me a bit nervous about what else they might start charging for.
Best way to make facetime even more of a novelty? Gets me a bit nervous about what else they might start charging for.
Agreed. Is there any reason to charge for this aside form "because we can"?
Best way to make facetime even more of a novelty? Gets me a bit nervous about what else they might start charging for.
IMHO, charging 99 cents is the best way to kill facetime on the mac. I'm sure they are trying to get more people to sign up with the offer, but I just don't want to see a $129 OS X upgrade where I have go to and spend an additional $50 for upgrades.
I was hoping Snow Leopard users would get it free with 10.6.7. Maybe they think putting it on the App Store will help with adoption even more than including it in an OS update, due to the visibility.
New Macs get it for free, no different than upgrading to the latest iLife, only dead cheap and available over the Mac App store possible to introduce more people to the app store on the Mac. At that price, I won't even think about it. Sure, they could make it free, but then they could for the Keynote iOS app etc and such. A few small low cost things that most everyone with an iPhone will want get's people into the habit ot the App store on the Mac, which is what they want. Not that I am defending it, although I don;t see much to defend if I was. I love Facetime for Mac - I used it to play trivial pursuit at a family birthday party I couldn;t attend in person - a Skype chat (sadly they were on windows) to point at the whole room at either end, and then a local Mac Facetime window at my end and a roving iPhone 4 at the other end to point at the board etc - genius!