Apple’s WWDC 2010 keynote brought many new innovative announcements to the iPhone ecosystem and the introduction of iOS 4, we suspect that one of the biggest controversies will be over Apple’s new video calling feature that has “nonexistent” AT&T support at best.

When Steve was about to announce his famous “One More Thing,” the demonstration froze as a result of overcongested WiFi signals emanating throughout the keynote room. “I’m doing great except for these guys who aren’t turning their WiFi off,” he stated.

The big announcement, to the surprise and anticipation of many in the audience, is two-way video conferencing on the new iPhone 4 hardware. Apple has officially named it FaceTime video calling.



“You can switch to the rear camera so the other person can see what you’re seeing, and you can use it in portrait or landscape modes,” said Jobs, giving a live demonstration on stage to a remote caller.

Property of Engadget

As with many great announcments, there is usually always one drawback. Apple’s FaceTime wil be a WiFi-only feature throughout 2010. Steve says the company needs to “work a little bit with the cellular providers to get ready for the future.” In other words, AT&T’s exclusive 5-year agreement with the fruit-themed toymaker has really put them in a strained position to implement bandwidth-intensive new features and product innovations over their network.

Jobs then played a video demonstration of FaceTime working in many different common environments. The first was of a girl lying in bed talking to her boyfriend, the second was a sign-language chat with other signers, and the third was a video all to grandma of her new baby grandson.

“FaceTime is becoming an open industry standard,” said Jobs during his final remark of the feature. While it’s very unfortunate that this feature will obviously not be supported over 3G in 2010, and perhaps a good portion of 2011, this gives more incentive for current iPhone owners to adopt Sprint’s new HTC EVO 4G offering. In contrast to the iPhone 4, it features video conferencing over 3G and 4G WiMAX without any network limitations. In fact, every single one of Sprint’s data plans are unlimited, opposed to AT&T’s infamous new data plan restructuring that has customers very concerned.