Can you believe there was a time when technical skeptics predicted that video chatting would never take off? Seems absurd now that nearly every new computer is sold with a webcam and Skype has pretty much changed the way the whole world communicates.

With Apple’s introduction of the front-facing camera on the iPhone 4, they’ve taken video calls to the next level. It seems like such a simple thing, now that someone has actually done it. Leave it to Apple, eh? 

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<div><a title="So Fkn Facetime, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/48986856@N00/4795579723/" target="_blank">[imageeffect type="frame" align="aligncenter" width="500" height="333" alt="" url="http://thebeginnerslens.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/facetime3.jpg"]</a></div>
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<p style="text-align: center;"><em>So Fkn Facetime</em>
Photo by Thomas Lint</p>
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<h4>What’s so cool about the iPhone 4 front facing camera?</h4> 

Well, for starters, <strong>your webcam now goes anywhere you go.</strong> Video chatting is literally a matter of having a connection that is fast enough to handle video chat, either Wi-Fi or 3G. With Apple’s built-in Facetime software, there’s no need to set up an account, simply plug and play, as it were.

But if you prefer to use the front-facing camera with other video chatting programs, that’s just as simple. Many chatting and camera apps work with the front-facing camera. For most, video chatting is the main draw of the front-facing camera – and serves as a great way of bringing far away friends and family a little bit closer together. 

But the usefulness of the front-facing camera doesn’t stop at video calling, oh no, it goes much further than that. It’s great for taking self-portraits or group photos with friends.

On previous versions of the iPhone the back-facing camera made it very awkward, if not practically impossible to get good self-portraits. Now all you need to do is turn on the front-facing camera and you can see yourself in the screen – how useful is that?

A quick tip to consider when taking self-portraits is to <strong>be sure you are looking at straight in the lens of the front facing camera rather than the retina display (i.e. the screen). If you take a photo while looking into the retina display, it will appear as if you’re not looking directly into the camera. </strong> 

<h4>Of course, it doesn’t stop there – your front facing camera will come in handy if you need to:</h4>
[list style="orb" color="grey"]
<ul>
<li>Send a video message or email. </li>
<li>Practice a presentation. </li>
<li>Create a vlog, or vodcast.</li>
<li>Check if you have spinach in your teeth after lunch.</li>
<li>Check you your hair front and back when you come out of the hair dresser.</li>
<li>Put your lipstick on.</li>
</ul>
[/list]

<h4>While you’re at it, check out these cool apps that use the front-facing camera:</h4> 
[list style="orb" color="grey"]
<ul>
<li><a href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/everyday/id398081659?mt=8" title="Everyday for iPhone" target="_blank">Everyday for iPhone</a></li>
<li><a href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/ustream-live-broadcaster/id319362690?mt=8" title="UStream Broadcast for iPhone" target="_blank">UStream Broadcaster</a></li>
<li><a href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/mirror-front-facing-camera/id378759188?mt=8" title="Mirror using front facing camera on iPhone" target="_blank">Mirror</a></li>
</ul>
[/list]	 	 

<h4>What’s your favorite front-facing camera app?</h4> 
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