[UPDATE - August 9, 2012 - Tried Skype
video chatting again last night, and the front camera now
works and the audio quality is far superior to Tango.]
Imagine my excitement when I heard
that Skype has finally released video chatting on the
Verizon 4G LTE platform. Now, I can use my
Verizon HTC Thunderbolt
to
video chat with, not only other mobile Skype users, but also
with computer based Skype users.
 |
| Note: Skype Mobile Video Chat on the
HTC Thunderbolt doesn't work anything like depicted in
this picture. The large image would be YOUR WALL. |
After downloading the app for my Android phone, I logged in
and was pleasantly surprised to see that my existing list of
Skype friends was visible and I could make my very first
video call.
That's when the fun ended.
One of the main reasons that I purchased the Thunderbolt,
was because it had two cameras. One on the back, and one on
the front for video chatting. The one on the front does not
work with Skype, meaning that whomever you are talking to is
seeing your wall, or yard or whatever else may be in front
of you when you're trying to chat. You can see the other
person (if they're on their computer), but they don't see
you unless you flip the camera around. Now they can see you,
but you can't see them. Not good, Skype people. Not good at
all.
The video quality of the person to whom I was chatting was
quite good, but very small and there was no way to enlarge
the image. They said that my video was pixilated but my
audio was great. The pixilated video could have been a
result of their connection, but the quality of my video (in
this case my back yard) which was on my screen was blurry as
well.
Another major annoyance was my inability to hear the person on the
other end. They said that they could hear me fine, but I
could barely hear them even with the speaker turned all the
way up. I was further disappointed when I discovered
that Bluetooth headsets do not work with Skype mobile. I
considered plugging in standard earbuds, but I'm pretty sure
that my microphone would not work, so the party on the other
end wouldn't be able to hear me. (Another issue that I have
with the Thunderbolt. On my original Droid, I could plug in
my earbud and the phone microphone still worked.)
In short: nice try Skype, but hurry back to the drawing
board and fix these issues or newcomers like Tango may get a
good portion of the mobile video chat market.
On a scale of 1 to 649.3, I'll give it a 12.49. Hey, it's my
scale.
