By As someone who sees little to no appeal in video chat capabilities, I was quite surprised when the feature instantly become one of my favorite things about the Samsung Galaxy Tab upon first impression. Maybe it’s the size of the screen and the way the device is almost perfectly tailored for the task, or maybe it is simply a bit of fleeting excitement over toying with the new technology, but either way I got a pretty big kick out of dialing up random units on display at the Galaxy Tab launch event.
While the Galaxy Tab won’t feature voice capabilities to place regular old phone calls, video calls can be placed using Qik (which is integrated pretty seamlessly into the Tab) or Fring or whatever app you want to use. A downside is calls can only be placed over WiFi so if you’re only in an area running on 3G you will have to deal with not seeing the face of the person you are talking to. Still a fun and neat feature. Enjoy a short look at it below.
seem laggy
Very nice for all my Deaf freinds use.
did you notice if its only one-way audio like it is on the Evo? or if two people can talk simultaneously without holding the Microphone button, because that is highly annoying and makes it really difficult to hold a normal conversation
can you use google voice/video chat???
From what i read at Engadget, it seems that the voice calling capability has been disabled. I assume that the hardware is in place, just the software functionality has been removed.
My questions are: (i) is it likely that rooting and a custom ROM would enable the voice calling capability, and (ii) if the capability is enabled, would it work with the data plan that would be available through the carriers?
Wait a sec. How are they disabling the functionality of the video chat over 3G? Is that a limitation of the particular app demoed? I find it highly unlikely it can’t be enabled over 3G. Nonetheless, the 3G version is stupid anyway. Just get the WiFi version and tether it to your 3G phone via wifi, duh.
And no Google video chat wont work YET since they havn’t enabled its functionality on Android YET. I expect its coming soon though.
whoa why did they disable the voice capability? I was thinking of getting this to use as a phone… stupid to disable it.
forreal! who the heck really wants to use that huge thing as a phone?
i wanted to use it as a phone too!! wth!? if voice capability is out.. does that mean no google voice functions?
Wtf, why would anyone ever want to use this as a phone…its so big! And peoplesay the X is big…
i wanted to use this as my next phone, too. people carry iPads around all the time – this is already smaller and you can use a bluetooth or wired headset. The bigger the screen the better, disappointed.
It’s not about using it as a phone by talking on it next to your ear – you’re missing the point if you think that. Think of using it with the speakerphone on – it becomes an instant conference device.
@Alex : You don’t have to hold it up to your ear, you can use a wired headset, a Bluetooth headset, or speaker phone mode. Why wouldn’t anyone not want calling capability?? Why carry a separate phone when you can use one device ??
I guess if you want to look like Zack Morris and hold this thing up to your ear you can.
This is such a let down! I thought Samsung had it with this device, but to allow the voice capability to be disabled is a big mistake. The only hope I see is if the mod community finds a way to enable it one the tab is released and they can put hands the device. So I Pray! lol
Neither Qik, nor Tango are available for download in India. Probably they are network provider specific. 3G is still few months away in India (if you are on vodafone or airtel). Fring hangs too often. Yahoo messenger with video picks up the real camera!! Though on screen it shows a switch for “camera flip” anf “call hold”, the switch for call hold works but not the camera flip!! Samsung customer care staff are completely clueless. The few I spoke to, have not even heard of android or froyo!! Their call center executives in India are very ill-informed. Either Yahoo has to give us a solution (which I think they will – knowing how good they are) or Samsung should address this glitch (But I dont think their operation in India will even respond to this!!!).
my galaxy tab came with regular phone calls enabled. It’s just like a giant phone. Use a Bluetooth headset and your set.
@ Wessam, What country are you in? Who is your carrier?
I’d buy an unlocked one if I could use it as a 3G phone but all the ones I’ve seen do not have HSDPA 850 / 1900 / 2100.
They are all HSDPA 900 / 2100. :~(
I think I’ll just wait for the “customizers” to get it all working in the USA. Hopefully the price will drop by then.
while on Video chat in Yahoo.. from Galaxy Tab
the back camera is active. How can I makethe Front camera active to enable Video chat?
Any solution please….
I bought mine in Thailand, unlocked. I used it in Switzerland and US. I can make calls from the phone but Skype disable calls over 3g in the US. Skype calls over 3g work in Switzerland. Model number is GT-P1000