With the most advanced mobile devices in the world today, the future is really now for almost anything that you could want to do. One of the hottest features of today is through video calling. There are several phones that actually enable picture in picture calling, so that you can not only talk to someone but also see them as though you’re looking right at them. This can bring you that much closer to friends and family like you’re not able to do, when you’re spread out all over the country.
But of course, it’s not so simple as just buying a phone that features video calling, but rather you want to choose the type of phone, as well as the application that you choose to use carefully. There are several different types of applications that can provide you with this service, but you have to be sure that they have the calling power that you need. You’ll find that one app can be vastly different from another, so it’s important that you choose carefully.
1) First off, you need a compatible phone.
You’re going to find that this is a pretty new feature, so not all phones are going to be able to accommodate you. In most cases, you’re going to need one of the latest smart phones, and the best options include the HTC EVO 4G as well as the Apple iPhone 4. That’s because you need to have a special type of phone design by which you have two cameras. You need both a camera on the front of the phone as well as the back, so that you can film yourself head on, and still look at the face to see who you’re talking to.
2) Choosing the right application.
There are a wealth of different types of video calling apps out there, and finding the right one is at least as important as figuring out what type of phone you need. You’ll find that not all of them are available on all phones, but you do want to be sure that your app can do everything that you need most when calling:
- Qik
This is an EVO exclusive app for Android OS that provides you with direct video to video chat. This was one of the first video calling applications, and is actually perfect for streaming live anything from a conversation, to actually streaming live events like your kid’s soccer match. There are also two versions, a bare bones free app, and also the more costly platinum version which requires you to pay a $4.99 monthly fee in order to access.
- Skype
Available on both Android and Apple, you’ll find that Skype allows you to call from phone to phone, but also enables you to call computer users as well. That opens you up to a whole new audience, so that you can stream and talk from just about anywhere.
- FaceTime
This is the iPhone’s packaged video calling application, and that means you can use it right out of the bat. With the iPhone 4, you’re able to make use of the front facing camera on your phone, so that you can literally have a conversation with anyone, while being able to see and talk to them as though they were right in front of them.
- Fring
Another application available for both Android phones as well as iPhone, you’ll find that this is very similar to Qik as well as FaceTime. Although, most users tend to find that FaceTime features a much high quality than what you would get from Fring, and that can be a massive deal breaker for most.
3) Calling on 4G or WIFI.
Finally, you just have to choose whether or not you want to use your video calling phones on a 4G network or through something like WIFI. With 4G, you have to be careful as video calling takes up a ton of bandwidth, which means you can fall into penalty time pretty quickly with data transferring. But what you’re going to find when it comes to video calling on WIFI is that it costs nothing more than what you already pay for the internet connection in the first place.