Tag Archives: Video Calling

iPhone

How Much Data Does a FaceTime Call Use?

facetime data usage

So what did we find out?

Now that we have made FaceTime an integral part of how we communicate, we decided to find out how much data it is consuming. This is important for a lot of users who may not be on an unlimited data plan be it 3G or wi-fi. Keeping an eye on how much data Facetime is using, will make sure you never cross your data limit, and don’t get over billed for the usage.

Here are iOS apps that you can use to calculate data usage used by apps on your Smartphone or iPad:

For those living under a rock, here are some FaceTime related articles:

Facetime Data usage test:

Facetime is free, and works best when you are using high speed internet connection (Wi-fi, 3G, 4G).  We made a FaceTime call from our iPhone 6 (over 3G) The results for the test call are as follows:

  • Call Duration: 10 minutes
  • Data Sent: 14.6 MB
  • Data Received: 15.1
  • Total Data (Sum of above) : 29.7 for ten minutes

We can conclude from the above that FaceTime is using approximately three megabytes per minute. So, an hour long conversation would involve around 180MB of data. A similar test conducted by 9to5Mac yielded the same results. Though, this result may vary depending upon which version of iOS device you are using.  So, when you are choosing a wi-fi plan at home go for unlimited connections to avoid huge data charges. Similarly, make sure you consider data charges on all the networks before you choose a 3G connection from the upcoming providers in India.

iPhone Applications

TinyChat FB brings 12 Person Facebook Video Chat to iOS devices

It was only a few days back that Facebook announced the Facebook Messenger app for iOS and Android devices. It’s pretty great, but it lacks video chat, which we all wish was included with the app. It has been said that they will be launching Video chat on both iOS and Android devices pretty soon. It’s only a matter of time.

tinychat fbHowever, if you want to be able to video chat with your friends on Facebook, probably with more than one friend, then you should give TinyChat FB a try. I’m pretty sure you’ve heard of Tiny Chat, a free web based video chatting service. Now there’s an app for iOS devices that can be used to make video calls with your Facebook friends and that too about 12 of them, at the same time. Group video calling comes to Facebook, but unofficially.

A really nice app then, don’t you think? Well, it is a bit confusing at first, but once you’ve figured out everything, it’s as easy as sending a video chat invite on Facebook. After you’ve installed the app, you’ll need to sign in with your id and give access to your profile. Then, select up to 12 friends to group video chat with and it’ll invite all those friends with a Message saying You have been invited for a video chat with so and so and a link directs you to the TinyChat web service.

And yes, you don’t need to have anything installed on your computer, other than a microphone and webcam and some Adobe flash capable browser. Check out this nicely tailored video made for TinyChat FB after the break.

So, once you’ve got everything set up, the app works really well on iPhone 4, iPad 2 and the iPod Touch. If you happen to have a slow internet connection, then you should probably not try this. Did I mention that this is a free app?

Yes, you can download TinyChat FB for free from the App Store right away and enjoy free group video chat with your Facebook friends.

iPhone Applications

3 FaceTime Alternatives for Video Chatting on iPhone or iPod Touch

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In case you are upset with the lack of FaceTime calling over 3G or if FaceTime is not working at all, it does not mean you cannot video chat using your iOS device. Today we are listing three great FaceTime alternatives for video calling from your iPhone or iPod Touch.

Agreed, FaceTime is great. Maybe even “Magical” like Apple suggests. However, it does have certain shortcomings. One great shortcoming is that it does not work over 3G. Also, certain users are unable to activate FaceTime on their wireless networks.

Continue reading 3 FaceTime Alternatives for Video Chatting on iPhone or iPod Touch →

iPhone Tutorials

Tip: Test FaceTime Calls on iPhone 4 or iPod Touch 4G Using Your Mac

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We have received a lot of requests from our readers to help them test FaceTime video calling. Now obviously, despite our eagerness to help all our readers we can’t afford to personally help everyone. So here’s a tip to take advantage of FaceTime for Mac(beta) and make test calls to yourself.

Continue reading Tip: Test FaceTime Calls on iPhone 4 or iPod Touch 4G Using Your Mac →

Tech News

Download Upgraded Skype Beta 5.0 with 10 Way Video Calling

Few days back Gmail came up with Video calling integration to Gtalk to give competition to Skype and thus to stay ahead in competition Skype came up with its upgraded beta 5.0 version known as beta 5.0.0.123 with 10 way video calling.

Skype

Now you can do a lot more with new Skype but there are few bugs as it is yet in beta version. Few of the new features which you will experience with upgraded beta 5.0 version are:

  • 10-way group video calling
  • Skype Home experience
  • Offline instant messaging
  • New contact search and add experience
  • Enhanced call experience under problematic conditions
  • Post call experience
  • General User Interface refresh

To have a better experience with 10 ways video calling you need to have Intel Core2Duo 2 GHz CPU or equivalent with min. required network bandwidth is 1 mbit/s and network speed at least 5 mbit/s. This new Skype version is for Windows only. If any of the users will be having fewer configurations then the quality of video calling will surely get affected. Thus before downloading upgraded Skype beta 5.0 version make sure that you meet above requirements.

Download link of Upgraded Skype 5.0 version

Hope the final version release soon without bugs so that we can enjoy group calling in better way. It will be very useful especially for the team who work virtually. What you think about these new features of Skype? Do share your views.

Via: Skype