they should have put a front facing cam on the new Bold
- Main reason I think it should have been included is that these devices are primarily sold on 2-year contracts and I'm guessing most people will come to embrace video calling during that time. It might not be widespread today, but once most of your coworkers and friends/family on android or ios have front cameras, you're going to wish this one did. While this device is a good upgrade from any BB today, in two years it will seem like a dinosaur, as the current BB's today feel to me.
It's old tech and it has been around forever. Adoption is still very low... It has always been low. Anecdotal doesn't mean "everyone will be using it within a year or two".05-04-11 01:49 PMLike 0 - My wife always grabs my iPhone to use the front facing camera to check her make up and hair. LOL...Other than that I only use it when my daughter calls me from the MacBook at home.05-04-11 02:20 PMLike 0
- People were saying this years ago though... It's not like the technology to use video calling hasn't been available forever or that 3g even couldn't handle it, or that you couldn't do it over wifi even if you were on edge or even no data plan at all (which used to be more common)...
It's old tech and it has been around forever. Adoption is still very low... It has always been low. Anecdotal doesn't mean "everyone will be using it within a year or two".05-04-11 03:07 PMLike 0 - Phill_UKCrackBerry WiseguyTalking about mobile video calling, not just video calling. Mobile video calling hasn't been around forever, and in a few years a front cam will be standard on smartphones. Wifi wasn't on a Verizon BB until maybe 3 years ago? 2 years maybe? Do you think BB could get away with making a phone without wifi now? No way, and we'll be saying the same about MOBILE video calling in just a few years.
Maybe it will make a return to popularity with the introduction of LTE, but until then it's just a gimmick
Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com05-04-11 03:28 PMLike 0 - evo4g has one, apparently one of the first in the U.S. and i've used it twice..in the almost year i've had the phone.
both times just to see how it worked. i was at work, wife/kid at home, kid loved it...but after 2-3 minutes he got bored of it, ha.
i wish it had one, as the wife will be getting my evo4g once i get a new phone, be fun to video chat with her while at work/school/home with the 2 kids etc. but i doubt we'd ever use it, texting is much easier/efficient. ha.05-04-11 05:15 PMLike 0 - Mobile video calling HAS been around for years. We've had it in the UK on nearly all smart and dumb phones since the introduction of 3G back in 2003... and still nobody uses it.
Maybe it will make a return to popularity with the introduction of LTE, but until then it's just a gimmick
Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com
They do a lot more than the crap ones released here...05-04-11 05:20 PMLike 0 - I think that RIM is making a smart thing by not including it in.
in fact, this blackberry should be a smart device not only by being a computer-like
same as most people here - i don't really use it.
and it's a fact, a front camera is not used much. and i'm sure that for a "one time in a month" i can use my notebook for a video chat.05-04-11 09:02 PMLike 0 - Mobile video calling HAS been around for years. We've had it in the UK on nearly all smart and dumb phones since the introduction of 3G back in 2003... and still nobody uses it.
Maybe it will make a return to popularity with the introduction of LTE, but until then it's just a gimmick
Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com
Thing is that video calling has a couple of things that make is undesirable.
First, it DESTROYS battery life. Using the network (and to a greater extent than voice traffic even) burns battery, using the screen burns battery. Doing both together for any length of time is unrealistic.
Second, there is no such thing as 'mobile' video calling, because you can't move while you use it. Sure you can be out and about, but you can't actually move because to get any benefit you have to be constantly looking at the screen, else you aren't looking at the other person and they can't see you properly.
Finally, there is no practical reason why video calling would ever be more attractive than voice calling on a mobile platform. Think about it. Even on iPhones/Android phones with big screens, any details will be TINY. Yes, nice high res, but still tiny, so you can't really show someone something (a document or something) in detail via video chat. You just can't. You'll have to send them whatever you want them to see anyway.
In a buisness context, where people are 'on the go' a lot I just can't see why you would bother trying to video call someone when it means they need to put down everything they are doing to take the call.
Yes, in a consumer context, I can see why people like the idea of video calling to stay in touch. But if you are the kind of person who wants to use video chat you are already doing it from a laptop or whatever anyway. Its a fun addition to catching up with people for sure, showing off your new hair or whatever. Thats because when you have a decent size screen, can sit down, not worrying about data or battery, you can actually 'see' the other person (nearly life size if you have a decent screen). Would you really want your primary communication with your friends/parents/partner to be squinting at a three inch panel ?
Developers know this, and thats why the tablets are all getting front facing cameras, because they are essentially laptop replacement devices, and plenty of people use their laptops to cam with their friends, so tablets need the functionality else they aren't competing properly. Most tellingly, tablets have decent screen sizes and FAR better battery life, and have the potential to share the video stream to bigger screens too.
Much as some companies squeel about video calling it is, and always has been (right back to the 80's) a complete waste of time. Giving a presentation by video is useful, because it offers you that personal touch when you are 'selling' and idea to someone, but its purposeless just to talk.05-05-11 12:53 AMLike 0 - They knew what they were doing when they didn't include it. There's no way the current OS can support video chat. The client they introduced in the PlayBook is only for QNX. I guarantee the QNX phones next year will have a FFC because QNX can support it. The software for phones currently just isn't good enough.05-05-11 08:34 AMLike 0
-
-
You do not need a 2nd gen snapdragon cpu + even Android to run video chat...05-05-11 01:28 PMLike 0 - Bottom line is front cameras are going to be a standard. As usual, bb apologists claim no need for it since rim doesn't have it. I'm sure many will say it belongs on an android or iphone "toy" in pure denial that bb is a follower now, not a leader/innovator.05-05-11 01:51 PMLike 0
- I understand what your saying - its just that the most expensive and most difficult part of the video chat system is the back end development and implementation. Adding the front cam to the berry is relatively easy for them to do.
Adding the camera to the bold makes sense to me, because it gets more users on the system. More users having fun on the system = more sales. RIMs future for innovation research and development depends on revenues from sales....(Just like most Profit Based businesses)
Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com05-05-11 02:13 PMLike 0 - Having something is better than not having it (obvious). The question is does that actually get more people using video chat and does it actually result in phone sales?
Neither is proven at this point, which is the whole problem..
People are not buying HTC phones for example simply because of the front facing camera... It might be item #20 on a list of things, but that doesn't mean it's a selling feature.
If a lot of users aren't actively using the system then the front facing camera doesn't bring in users.05-05-11 02:20 PMLike 0 -
By the way, if RIM were a "follower", don't you think they would have a front-facing camera? I think you may have your terms mixed up.
Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.comLast edited by Masahiro; 05-05-11 at 02:37 PM.
05-05-11 02:33 PMLike 0 - No, you have to remember that every single thing the iPhone or Android does that has been around for years is "innovation" =P.05-05-11 02:37 PMLike 0
-
The odds are that the qnx phones next year will get a front facing camera even though the feature still won't be important to many people in the same way it hasn't mattered for nearly a decade, but crucially it will only be the minor hw cost to include it since they will reuse the code for the playbook video chat app on those new phones too.05-05-11 03:38 PMLike 0 -
If you think people on here are being apologists when they respond with a resounding 'meh' at the thought of a ffc, try going to an ios messageboard and the odds are that you won't find drastically more enthusiasm for them on there either.05-05-11 03:44 PMLike 0 - Bottom line is that they were standard when umts phones first showed up, nobody used them then and they pretty much vanished. This time round a few more might use it, but it is still not that many despite things like skype being fairly well used on computers.
If you think people on here are being apologists when they respond with a resounding 'meh' at the thought of a ffc, try going to an ios messageboard and the odds are that you won't find drastically more enthusiasm for them on there either.
OP - I agree they should have included a ffc.05-05-11 05:29 PMLike 0 - bb is following more than they used to. Apple is also following, Android devices are also following, and as soon as anybody gets a good idea everybody else copies it. Just because it WILL be standard doesn't mean it has to be right now. Eventually it will probably be standard to have a screen that changes size so that your phone is also your tablet and your laptop, or (to be more realistic) it might be standard for all smartphones to have at least 1080p displays. This doesn't mean that it is a requirement for any company to do either of these in order to sell units until it actually does become standard. Also, RIM does have it... Ever hear of the PlayBook? I do use the front-facing camera on it, but as a toy (did you know that toddlers love it if you show them a mirror that goes black if you touch a specific spot [namely the camera]/), and wouldn't miss it if it were gone. I have tried video chatting on my computer, and found it a fair amount of hassle, and it was just simpler to call or email. I haven't tried video chatting on my PlayBook (i don't know anybody else who has a PlayBook), but I only ever even wish I could see the person I'm calling when I'm calling family members that I care about and haven't seen in more than a couple months, and for something like that I'd be fine just using my computer when I felt the need to video chat...05-05-11 06:09 PMLike 0
- Forum
- BlackBerry OS Phone Forums
- BlackBerry Bold Series
they should have put a front facing cam on the new Bold
LINK TO POST COPIED TO CLIPBOARD