FaceTime

Ever since its introduction, Apple's FaceTime has been limited to call between two people, regardless of the device being used. This might finally be changing later this year, as a new rumor suggests that the upcoming iOS 11 will have FaceTime supporting group video calls. While we're still several months away from iOS 11's likely debut at Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference, a group call feature would have FaceTime catching up with rival platforms such as Skype and Google Hangouts.

Continue Reading

Driving and using a smartphone at the same time is usually made illegal in some states, with some caveats, for a reason. Drivers have time and again proven themselves incapable of exercising good judgment in those cases. Sometimes, however, companies that implement the technologies, or rather fail to implement them, should be held accountable as well. That seems to be the reasoning behind a lawsuit filed in Texas against Apple, accusing it of not implementing a FaceTime patent it held which could have prevented the death of a five-year old girl in a tragic 2014 vehicular accident.

Continue Reading

After roughly six years of courtroom battles, a federal jury in Texas ruled that Apple had in fact infringed on patents held by VirnetX, a non-practicing entity, and ordered the Cupertino company to pay $302.4 million in damages. While Apple's ongoing struggles with VirnetX began in 2010, this latest retrial ruled that the company's FaceTime platform used the latter's patented internet security technology without gaining permission.

Continue Reading

This week the folks at Google have launched a true competitor to Apple's FaceTime and iMessage for iPhone. They've shown off the app called Allo - that's for chat, a straight-up battle-ready app to take on iMessage - it'll be on Android and iOS, as well. Then there's Duo, a video chat app that'll battle FaceTime. That'll be released on Android and iOS as well, too. It's made by the people who developed WebRTC and is built with QUIC.

Continue Reading

It's not uncommon to hear of Apple being sued for patent infringement. As the saying goes, if you live by the sword, you die by the sword. It is, however, uncommon to hear of Apple losing, at least somewhat. In 2012, it was found guilty of infringing on VPN patents held by a certain VIrentX, a "patent holding" company in Nevada. Thank Apple's lucky stars that its damages and royalty payments were overturned. But more than three years later, VirnetX has taken Apple back to court. And this time, it wants half a billion dollars.

Continue Reading

After a widely reported hack, Apple stepped up security measures for iCloud, with a more widespread iCloud integration. In addition to iCloud, Apple is also rolling out their two-step verification feature for iMessage and FaceTime today, which is available to anyone who has the feature active on their Apple ID. Now when you configure a new device to use FaceTime and/or iMessage, you’ll have to enter a verification code in iCloud so Apple knows you’re who you say you are.

Continue Reading

FaceTime has been around for the iPhone for several years now. The feature allows iPhone users to make video calls with other iPhone users. Reports are surfacing that iOS 6 users are having a FaceTime outage. Reports of the outage first surfaced on a mini site on the Apple Support Communities.

Continue Reading

Apple has released a behind-the-scenes look at the making of its "1.24.14" video to celebrate 30 years of the Mac, showing how director Jake Scott - son of Ridley Scott, who directed the original 1984 Mac commercial - harnessed 100 iPhones to film the short. Filming of the video took place over the course of a day, with Scott supervising and remotely directing each of the fifteen crews spread across the world through FaceTime.

Continue Reading

This week the folks at Apple have released the first OS X Mavericks 10.9.2 beta, and with it a glimpse of the future. Not a future in which we're seeing features that break the barriers of newness, nor something we've never seen before. Instead we're moving back a notch, so to speak, with the ability to work with FaceTime Audio - aka the video chat environment without the video.

Continue Reading

You'll be seeing an over-the-air update to your iPhone, iPad, iPad mini, and/or iPod touch this afternoon if you've got them connected to the internet, this regardless of if you're using iOS 7 or iOS 6. This update will be bringing both the iOS 6 and iOS 7 world up to a point where they'll be rid of a FaceTime call bug which caused calls to fail for some users. This update also fixes a number of unnamed bugs in the system.

Continue Reading

The second iPad mini will include a Retina upgrade and the iPad 5 will not have TouchID as was previously rumored, according to KGI Securities analyst Mingchi Kuo. These and a bevy of other predictions were released today in advance of the Oct. 22 iPad event to be held in San Francisco. The event will unveil a series of updates to the various iPads as well as to the MacBook Pro.

Continue Reading

Apple's sweeping change of iconography in iOS 7 has prompted no shortage of discussion over the upcoming iPhone and iPad interface change, and now the new FaceTime icon has been revealed too. The new icon, shown off courtesy of the US Patent and Trademark Office sticks closely to the design theme we've already seen Apple use, with a crisp camera outline on a gradated background.

Continue Reading