Yesterday I did something that made me think I was living in “the future”. You know, that nebulous time/place that we all thought of as kids. I mentioned it briefly on Twitter, not that there’s really any other kind of twitter mention, but I’ll expand here. That thing was to make a FaceTime call to my brother.

Video calls are nothing new. I’ve used Skype before and there have been plenty of phones with front facing cameras and video calling capabilities. What’s new about FaceTime is how easy it is. I opened my contacts list on my iPhone, picked my brother’s contact details and hit the FaceTime button. We spoke for a bit, he showed me what the weather was like in Dublin and I showed him what it was like in Roseville.

Like I’ve said many times before about many different things, Apple wasn’t the first to do this, but they did it right. It felt normal to make calls this way. Before this, video calls were cumbersome. Both parties needed to be signed onto the same service and in front of whatever device they were using. I guess this is still true to an extent, but the device is a phone rather than a computer and the service is built-in and doesn’t require a conscious effort to connect a client to it. This removes the effort needed to make video calls, which will result in more people doing it. Furthermore, the protocol will be available to others who want to offer their own solutions.

So there we go. Video calling has just started to hit the mainstream. Next up, flying cars, food pills and teleporting.

To clarify my position from a recent post (which was technically a tweet, but shows as a post here), my reasons for thinking AT&T could do better is the lack of MMS and tethering for the iPhone when the 3.0 software is launched. As MMS goes, I’m not likely to send many of the things, but there are some who insist on sending me the horrendous beasts and it would be nice to have an elegant way of handling them. The current way with AT&T is to visit a site and enter two streams of characters into text boxes. Why this can’t be simplified into a single clickable link is beyond me. The lack of Copy & Paste up until now (or until the 17th to be more accurate) is a further source of frustration with this exercise.

What I am not upset about is the pricing. If you don’t qualify for an upgrade because you are still under contract, then tough luck. This is the way it has always been. Those who bought the first iPhone were given automatic upgrade qualifications because they purchased it outright without any carrier subsidy. Luckily, one of the lines on my account qualifies for the reduced pricing, so I will be jumping on board.

Some people are also upset that the difference between the iPhone 3G and iPhone 3G S isn’t all that great. At no point before WWDC, which is the Worldwide Developers Conference, were we told by Apple to expect a new iPhone. For some, the difference between the two phones isn’t a big enough jump for them to justify spending the $199 and certainly isn’t enough to justify the unsubsidized price. The current iPhone 3G will remain in one incarnation – the 8GB version for $99 on contract. This is still a fine phone, one which I use every day. With the 3.0 firmware update coming out later this month, it will be even better.

For some, AT&T is a deal breaker. For me, it’s almost a necessity. I travel back and forth to visit my parents in Ireland and to other European destinations on a somewhat regular basis. For this reason, I need a GSM provider. Once we all move over to LTE, life may be different. Until then I’ll be propping up the blue beach ball

I recently downloaded the latest WordPress app for the iPhone and so far, I’m digging it. The ability to moderate comments and the landscape keyboard are very welcome additions. I’m sure there are many more awesome features that I’m missing, but it makes it much easier to post from the iPhone. Maybe a future release will allow easy addition of links.

This morning, I popped into the Starbucks at the corner of Peach & McKinley – near Fresno Yosemite International Airport, where I work. My reasons for this are threefold – 1. I wanted some coffee, 2. House Blend (which is all they serve at the airport) wouldn’t cut it, 3. I wanted a toasted asiago cheese bagel (also not available at the airport Starbucks).  While I was there, I decided to check my internets for news and twitterings. Instead of the usual AT&T Wi-Fi login tied to my Starbucks Card, I was greeted with a different login screen:

Free AT&T Wi-Fi for iPhone

I inserted my phone number, checked the box and got this screen:

You will receive a text message shortly

I received my text message with a URL to perform the final authentication and get me to my internets. This was much more convenient that entering a username and password into a login box and choosing from a list of potentially confusing account choices. The link is apparently good all day. I have no idea if this is just at Starbucks or if it works at other AT&T locations too. I guess I could always go find a Barnes & Noble and try it out.

Edited to add: I received another text message from AT&T later today:

iPhones get free Wi-Fi at AT&T hotspots

As I played more with ZenPhoto, I found myself thinking about an iPhone specific theme, like the WordPress plugin I use on the site. Theoretically, it shouldn’t be that difficult – all I have to do is use some browser detection logic and write a theme. Basically, I’d model the theme around the photo library on the iPhone and work from there. The structure is already mapped out and it works quite well. I might even add the finger swipe code I stumbled across a week or so ago. Now comes the part where I have the motivation to do something productive after work. That might cause a problem.

I downloaded the WordPress app for iPhone just to try it out. There’s a possibility that it will make me more likely to update as I have my iPhone in my pocket pretty much all the time anyway. So far I’m liking it.

On the iPhone front, I have ordered myself an 8GB iPhone 3G from AT&T (I didn’t want to deal with Arden Fair or the Apple store at this time and the sales guy was very nice), so I’m currently playing the waiting game as my new phone does its best Godot impression. I also picked up a new SIM with a 559 area code and the very basic Nokia 2610 to use as a support cell phone in place of the awful Lucky Goldstar flippy dealie on Virgin Mobile that I had before.

Now it’s time for some dinner before the drive to Fresno for work.

I took the plunge and installed the iPhone 2.0 update yesterday today (I certainly didn’t go and download an unreleased copy of the updater package, nosiree). I’ll still go for the iPhone 3G in about a week, but for now the software’s pretty awesome. I am definitely digging the push email etc. and the app store. I’m patiently waiting for Top 3 Solitaire, which I certainly wouldn’t have played (or gotten completely addicted to) on any kind of a jailbroken/unshackled iPhone in the past.

The upgrade went well, apart from one thing – because I performed the upgrade from a computer that I had never registered the iPhone with before, I lost all my data. It’s no huge loss as I can just sync. it all up tonight when I get home. Speaking of which, it’s time to hit the road.