To view parent comment, click here.
To read all comments associated with this story, please click here.
I'm not sure on that one. But, you asked about the 3GS.
Companies distinguish different grades of products all the time, though, so it may be as simple as that Apple wants to reserve that for their $199 model and not their $99 model. Given that it is a free upgrade, I can't complain much on that count.
3GS does have a camera which could work well in videocalls, on its back.
And before you shrug it off - some time ago I stumbled on research actually exploring, for once (vs PR), how people really use mobile videocalls. It turns out that, in mobile setting, a major function of videocalls (for how little they are used overall, after the first few "novelty calls") is to show the other person your immediate surroundings, things at which you look - not yourself. Back camera is not only perfectly capable of that, it's better for that.
I know of at least one mobile (Sony Ericsson G502) which, despite not having front-facing camera, does include 3G videocalling; presumably for the reasons above (and some other models that, while including front-facing camera, allow for toggling to the back camera as a video source).
Of course then we have companies which prefer to tell you what you really want to / how you should be doing things on / how you should be holding your phone...





Member since:
2005-07-06
Maybe because it doesn't have a camera to do it with?