Josh Ong
The Verge performed some testing late Wednesday and discovered that the new iPad will need to connect to a Wi-Fi network to use FaceTime. Though the news hardly comes as a surprise, since Apple's 3G-enabled iOS devices are unable to use FaceTime over 3G, it does put to rest questions about whether the added download speeds from LTE might open up the feature for 4G cellular networks.
Report author Dieter Bohn found the LTE FaceTime restriction to be "doubly frustrating" because Verion LTE iPads can generate Personal Hotspot Wi-Fi networks that would presumably allow other iOS devices to make FaceTime calls via the same LTE connection.
Late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs unveiled FaceTime alongside the iPhone 4 in 2010. The video calling service launched as Wi-Fi only, but Jobs promised that Apple would "work a little bit with the cellular providers" in hopes of bringing it to mobile networks.
Early reviews of the iPad show that LTE service on the device is significantly faster than previous-generation 3G networking. All Things D journalist Walt Mossberg said he averaged download speeds of 17 megabits per second on Verizon, while a colleague averaged 12 mbps on AT&T's network. The New York Times' David Pogue tested the iPad in three cities and got speeds ranging from 6 to 29 mbps.
The new iPad goes on sale at 8 a.m. local time in 10 countries on Friday. The device will be available in the U.S., Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, Switzerland and the U.K, as well as Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
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83 Comments
Can anyone confirm if this is currently possible with an iPad 2 tethered with an iPhone?
I thought the distinctive tethering icon means apple devices treat tethered wifi connections differently to vanilla wifi.
What is it? Is LTE so new that they don't want the Face Time hogging the LTE data network? Is the iPad "3" user on Facetime such a hog they wanted you to switch to 3G? IS it possible to switch to 3G on the new iPad?
The Picture above shows a man who is upset over this and is actually trying not to use his new iPad for a Frisbee.
FaceTime works great over 3G. I use it all the time on my jailbroken iPhone.
I hate how Apple keeps imposing these unnecessary limitations. It should be up to the user to decide if his or her connection is good enough and data plan can handle the traffic.
I hate how Apple keeps imposing these unnecessary limitations. It should be up to the user to decide if his or her connection is good enough and data plan can handle the traffic.
You are making two assumptions heres:
1) Apple imposed it.
2) It's unnecessary.
Neither of those are really clear at this point. Sure, they both might be true. Maybe Apple just wants to piss you, personally, off. Or, possibly, there's a reason it is this way?