So, you’re one of the 1.7 million people who went out and got that brand new iPhone right off the line, but you still don’t have any friends to try out Apple’s much lauded video chat with? Never mind the company’s Facetime introduction service , which lets you call up and Apple representative, try the app out and find out about all of its features – the video sex chat services are already on the way. While Apple may be able to control the App Store and maintain its “moral responsibility” , it looks like porn has found another avenue onto the iPhone and may, yet again, lead the way for other services. Sponsor According to the article in the Silicon Valley Insider , there’s already an ad on Craigslist for “iPhone 4 FaceTime Video Sex Line Chat” that offers a salary and a free iPhone 4 to potential employees. Starting an online interactive pornography firm where woman will use the iphone 4 to video chat with potential customers on a pay as you go basis. Hours are flexible, pay will increase as the business builds. Woman will receive a free iphone 4 to use as personal time when not working. Woman will talk to potential clients and chat with them and perform various acts as desired by clients. All information will be confidential. Payment will be based on percentage of sales volume and performance. Potential launch date of the company is 9/1/2010 or based on feedback received. Woman will receive, as before mentioned, a free cell phone and a very competitive salary. Please send information and pictures – we would like to launch sooner than 9/1/2010. It’s often the case that porn leads the way in technology and we can only wonder what other innovative services using mobile video chat will follow. The utilitarian opportunities are endless, from remote diagnosis of automotive issues to assistance with assembling that pesky Ikea desk. Perhaps video chat will offer a more personalized customer service for special cases by taking advantage of the extra “bandwidth” of being able to see someone when we speak to them. Having done DSL tech support for a while, I could tell you that being able to see what someone on the other end of the line was trying to describe could have turned an hour long ordeal into a five minute chat. And when it comes to sending someone out into the field, why waste the gas when you can look from afar? Whatever other innovative uses we see next of , it sure the iPhone’s two-way, face-to-face video chat, it doesn’t seem like this particular use of FaceTime will see a lot of, well, “face” time. Discuss

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Congratulations, you’re a new iPhone 4 owner! Now what do you do with it? The iPhone 4 operating system introduces a number of new features, some, like FaceTime video calls, which are entirely unique to the iPhone 4 hardware itself. Plus, there are several reports now surfacing about issues with the iPhone 4′s hardware. Are these credible? Should you be concerned? How do you resolve these issues? Below, we’ll answer these and more of the most burning questions new users may have about their iPhone 4. Sponsor 1. Is There Really an Issue with the iPhone 4′s Antenna? Yes. Apple has officially gone on record with a statement that reads as follows: Gripping any mobile phone will result in some attenuation of its antenna performance, with certain places being worse than others depending on the placement of the antennas. This is a fact of life for every wireless phone. If you ever experience this on your iPhone 4, avoid gripping it in the lower left corner in a way that covers both sides of the black strip in the metal band, or simply use one of many available cases. This comes after an outpouring of reports from new users, gadget sites and technology news outlets, all discussing the same exact problem with the new Apple phone. Left-handed users have it the worst, due to the antenna placement. (The issue is worst when gripped in your left hand, with your skin pressed against the outside steel band.) Even Steve Jobs himself is now responding to user email complaints with the simple advice: “Just avoid holding it in that way.” What way? The way the Apple commercials show ? Yes, that’s right. Apple’s own marketing material shows people happily chatting on their iPhone 4′s while holding the phone in the way that would actually lead to signal loss. Instead, here is the proper method . Is there a solution? Of course. Why do you think Apple got into the bumper biz ? Reportedly, using a plastic iPhone bumper (the outer rubberized protection product sold for around $30 at the Apple Store) solves the problem. 2. How Do You Use FaceTime? FaceTime, the video calling feature introduced in the new Apple operating system can only be used on iPhone 4 hardware. Simply upgrading your iPhone 3G or 3GS is not enough – you must purchase the new phone. That’s because FaceTime takes advantage of the iPhone 4′s new dual-camera system, allowing to you to broadcast your face while watching your screen. To actually use FaceTime, when you’re on a phone call, move the phone away from your face and press the FaceTime button that appears on screen amid the menu of choices (like Keypad, Hold, etc.). The recipient, assuming they also have an iPhone 4, will receive a request to initiative the FaceTime session, which they can then either accept or deny. You can also start a FaceTime call directly from your Contacts list. Just scroll to the bottom of a contact card and tap the FaceTime button. Remember though, FaceTime is a Wi-Fi only application for now (Jobs said it’s Wi-Fi only “in 2010,” hinting at Apple’s future plans), which limits its functionality for the time being. However, FaceTime calls don’t eat up your wireless minutes, as we recently found out . You can also test FaceTime out by calling 1-888-FACETIME. 3. How Do You Kill a Multi-Tasking App? The iPhone 4 operating system (iOS) offers a new feature called multi-tasking. This works on the iPhone 3GS as well, but not the 3G. Not all apps multi-task – they must be designed that way by their developers first. To launch the multi-tasking interface, double-tap the “Home” button (the round button at the bottom of the screen). To kill an app that’s running in the background, press and hold the app in the multi-task interface until it starts jiggling. Then, you’ll see a red minus icon appear on the app icon’s top-left. Tap the minus icon and the app closes. All the multi-task enabled applications stay open after you close them, so this menu can get filled up quickly if you’re a heavy app user. 4. Does the iPhone 4 Record 1080p HD Video? No, it records 720p HD video, up to 30 frames per second. 5. How Do I Make Sure an App isn’t Tracking My Location? Location services, which use information from the phone’s GPS, cellular and Wi-Fi data to determine your location, are used in applications like Maps and Compass, as well as in other Apple apps like Camera and any number of third-party applications, too. If the Big Brother-esque tracking has you worried, you can turn location services off using the global switch located in Settings > General > Location Services . Otherwise, you can use the settings below this switch to individually shut off location services for select apps. 6. How Do I Access My Playback Controls? (The double-tap now launches the app switcher!) The multi-tasking interface is now revealed when you double-tap the home button, but your playback controls are still there. Just swipe to the right from within the app switcher to reveal them. 7. How do I Make the iPhone 4 Stay in Portrait Mode? Follow the instructions in step six above to reveal the playback controls. To the left of the controls is a black icon with an arrow making a circle. Tap this button to lock the screen into portrait or landscape mode. You’ll know the screen is locked because an icon appears next to the battery meter at the top right of your screen. 8. How Many Applications Can I Install? Given disk space, you can theoretically install up to 2,160 applications on your iPhone now, using the new “Folders” feature. Folders let you organize apps into folders simply by dragging one app on top of another and then providing that folder with a name of your choosing (or keeping the suggested name that appears). Image credits in original article: Apple, Gizmodo Discuss

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One of the iPhone 4′s most heralded new features is FaceTime video calling. For the time being, however, this only works for calls from one iPhone 4 to another, so if you don’t know anybody with an iPhone 4, you can’t really test it. Thankfully, though, Apple just set up a phone number for you to call: 1-888-FACETIME (1-888-32238463). A friendly Apple representative will answer your call, initiate a video chat with you and explain all of FaceTime’s features to you. Sponsor A Call to Apple We just tried this out and an Apple representative answered our call within seconds. After asking us if we were on a Wifi network (sadly, FaceTime doesn’t work over the cellular network yet), the customer service agent transferred our call to FaceTime and explained all of FaceTime’s features to us. The video and voice quality during our chat was very high. What We Learned Here are a few things we learned during our call: You can move the small window where you see the preview of your own camera around the screen. You can pause the video and multitask on your phone by clicking the home button. You can easily switch back and forth between the front-facing and regular camera by clicking on the camera icon at the bottom right of the screen. You can initiate FaceTime calls right from your iPhone contacts without placing a regular call first. For more details about the iPhone 4, also see: iPhone 4: Your Burning Questions Answered . Tip of the hat to iSmashPhone for alerting us to this. Discuss

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The joy over wide-spectrum sharing has grown more muted even as it has become easier. The brouhaha over privacy issues, ranging from Facebook to Google to the U.S. Congress , has put the frighteners on some users. For those who wish to share videos, but not with the whole of mankind, VidMe hopes with today’s launch to offer an alternative to YouTube both online and with its iPhone app. Sponsor YouTube allows you to mark a video as private, but that mainly insures it is not picked up by search engines. A viewer can still forward the link to to others. VidMe makes that scenario unlikely. “(V)ideos shared using VidMe work only for the intended recipient and cannot be forwarded, downloaded or become viral without the video owner’s approval…Links to videos shared using VidMe work only for the intended recipient and become inoperable if they are forwarded to anyone else.” Running a site or service on advertising is untenable for a site that is hoping your video does not get a million views. So VidMe have elected to make theirs a pay service. Upon initial sign-up, a user receives enough free credits to upload several videos. For subsequent uploads they have to pay. VidMe also allows you to record videos on site. Discuss

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When the popular iPhone application for Facebook got a dramatic refresh last summer , lead designer Joe Hewitt said that the inability to view Facebook videos was a real disappointment. This weekend that changed, and Facebook iPhone users now have a very nice experience viewing videos on their mobile devices. A quiet update to the application on Friday fixed a number of small bugs but the biggest change was the introduction of video. Facebook sees 2 billion video views each month , which is the same number YouTube sees every single day. Sponsor This Spring Facebook began displaying native Facebook videos full-screen on the iPad, by switching to h264 encoded video files when appropriate. A Facebook spokesperson didn’t tell us what the technical implementation was in the new version of the iPhone app, but did point to a number of ways that users can now find the videos. Included in the drop-down of Newsfeed viewing options is a new link to see all the videos uploaded by your contacts. If you haven’t subscribed to Nicholas Kristof on Facebook , now could be a good time. His 5 minute-long videos uploaded to the social network are a great way to get a quick education about the world. Geek Exploration TV ? Perfect for Facebook mobile. Heck, I just watched a Facebook video from George W. Bush on my iPhone! Most of the videos in my stream are of babies doing (ostensibly) cute things. Millions of people will now be able to view videos from friends and family on their phones, as well. Discuss

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