The other day, I typed a long article on why I believe FaceTime is the cornerstone of Apple’s strategy going and how it affects such things as the mythical “Apple Voice” and iTV projects. Today’s reports about FaceTime further my insistence that this will be the thing that ties it all together.
Apple announced that FaceTime, which they had previously said would be WiFi only for the first year, actually won’t use the cellular network other then for establishing the initial connection. This is a BIG announcement, because it essentially means that Apple is now in the phone business (i.e. the business of connecting people on their phones).
Now technology purists will point out that apps like Skype and Fring have allowed similar VOIP functionality for a while now, but the difference here is that FaceTime is a native Apple App. That means Apple is sanctioning a way to speak to (and see) another person that doesn’t use AT&T’s network. If that’s true, what’s stopping Apple from enabling other devices to use the same technology? Nothing.
Some of this has been possible in the past with iChat, but the use case was never as exciting because not enough people used chat to actually talk. Also, most chat clients rely on the idea of screen names and there are a lot compatibility issues between providers. Now that similar functionality has made it to a device that is synonymous with actually talking, my guess is that Apple intends to deploy FaceTime to other devices (like your TV and your iPad). That presents some exciting possibilities like sitting on your couch and getting a FaceTime call thru your TV.
