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Published: Sep 16, 2005 01:41 PM
Tue - June 24, 2003
Apple's new iChat AV shows promise, hiccups
Mac to Mac voice calls may be in our
future—but so is a reliable version of this software.
Although
I appreciate its integration with Address Book, I've never thought highly of
iChat, Apple's built-on-AOL version of instant messaging, which was introduced
to fill a void that didn't exist. New versions of AOL Instant Messenger
addressed the same buddy list, performed more reliably, and arrived more
frequently. Worse, iChat's early versions dropped even broadband connections
without warning.
But after yesterday's WWDC announcement that iChat is available in a new beta version—iChat AV—that supports Mac to Mac audio and video conferencing, I decided to give the software a second chance. The beta designation proved accurate; yet I also experienced the incredible potential of this conferencing software.
First, the specifications: iChat AV still transmits text messages over the AOL network from any Jaguar equipped Macintosh. For audio, you'll need Mac OS X 10.2.5 or later, a G3 processor or better, and a 56k connection. (Apple claims you should also use an external microphone but the internal microphone on a friend's PowerBook worked fine). For video, Apple recommends a G3 600 Mhz or faster processor, a broadband internet connection, and an external microphone.
iChat AV can only talk to, and video conference with, Macintosh users who also have iChat AV installed. No PC to PC communications are possible—other than text messaging—even with PC owners using a version of AOL Instant Messenger that supports voice chat capabilities. I love my fellow Mac enthusiasts, but we occupy a small share of the computing universe. Unless Apple's audio software uses wholly incompatible voice communications technologies, iChat AV's inability to talk to PCs seems like a major design flaw.
Audio
Apple's expertise at designing clean, easy to understand user interfaces really shows in iChat AV. Once the software is installed. a green telephone icon appears next to the names of users in your buddy list who are also running iChat AV. In theory, initiating a voice call to such users is as simple as double clicking either their corresponding green icons or a gray telephone button embedded in the buddy list window. However, in practice, iChat AV required at least seven attempts to successfully negotiate an audio connection between my friend Chrys, who uses a broadband connection in Los Angeles, and my WiFi and broadband-equipped TiBook in San Francisco. Initiating a connection proved difficult with our firewalls turned on and turned off, with external microphones plugged in and removed, and even after we both quit and restarted iChat AV.
I guess that's why they call it beta software.
A new "Audio" menu in the iChat AV application contains a helpful-sounding option called "Connection Doctor"—but unfortunately, this doctor is a quack because Connection Doctor monitors the throughput of an audio connection but offers no help in diagnosing connection problems. Perhaps we'll see more functionality here—or a new, more appropriate name for this feature—in the final version of iChat AV.
Now for the good news: Once we established an audio connection through the seemingly random largesse of the Macintosh gods, it proved crystal clear and rock solid. Audio quality was better than a cell phone, better than Nikotel's Mac2Phone, better than any comparable PC product that I have used including AOL Instant Messenger and Yahoo! Messenger. We're talking top of the line PC to PC audio. Better still, over our broadband connections and 500 mile distance we experienced no noticeable latency between the time one party spoke and the time the other party heard what was said, making iChat AV a viable alternative to telephony.
Chrys had occasional trouble hearing me clearly through her TiBook's internal speaker, but I equipped my PowerBook with a noise-canceling Plantronics headset and never had trouble hearing her, even though she relied entirely upon an internal microphone. As with other processor-dependent applications of this kind, audio quality suffered slightly if one or both parties surfed the web or typed text messages or ran multiple background applications while talking. But iChat AV's performance proved above-average in this department.
Chrys and I lacked a properly equipped third party and could not test whether iChat AV can presently initiate voice conferences between three or more parties—but I doubt it. The audio interface provided no obvious interface for establishing multiple connections.
Total audio test time: 1.5 hours.
Overall grade for ease of use: A-, for ease of connection: C to C-, for call quality: A.
Video
We could not evaluate iChat AV's video capabilities because we do not have the requisite FireWire-equipped video cameras, but the functionality sounds impressive and the New York Times' David Pogue agrees. Apple promises full-screen, full-motion video at up to 30 frames per second, which is better than Super Webcam on Yahoo! Messenger for Windows. Some Macintosh users have complained that Apple should also have supported USB webcams in iChat AV—and this is a drawback to the current architecture—but the high throughput rates promised by iChat AV demand faster cameras and the faster camera connections permitted by FireWire.
FireWire cameras are expensive so Apple tried to fill the gap yesterday by also introducing the iSight (shown above)—an autofocusing, F/2.8 FireWire camera that clips to the top of a laptop or flat panel iMac and can deliver up to 30 framers per second in 24-bit color. At $149, iSight won't be an impulse buy for consumers or for educators, but perhaps—like the Airport card before it—we can look forward to price drops as competitors scramble to produce comparable devices.
iChat AV's beta version will expire on December 31, 2003, at which point the software will cost approximately $30 for use with Jaguar. iChat AV is currently scheduled for release as part of the $129 Mac OS X Panther upgrade.
Updates:
New software is available which claims to enable USB webcams with iChat AV. To download it, click here.
Some users have reported problems with iChat AV on G3 systems. For details, see http://www.macfixit.com/search.php?query=ichat+av&mode=search&type=stories&platform=Mac+OSX">MacFixIt.
For tips on how to send SMS text messages to cell phones with iChat AV, click here.
But after yesterday's WWDC announcement that iChat is available in a new beta version—iChat AV—that supports Mac to Mac audio and video conferencing, I decided to give the software a second chance. The beta designation proved accurate; yet I also experienced the incredible potential of this conferencing software.
First, the specifications: iChat AV still transmits text messages over the AOL network from any Jaguar equipped Macintosh. For audio, you'll need Mac OS X 10.2.5 or later, a G3 processor or better, and a 56k connection. (Apple claims you should also use an external microphone but the internal microphone on a friend's PowerBook worked fine). For video, Apple recommends a G3 600 Mhz or faster processor, a broadband internet connection, and an external microphone.
iChat AV can only talk to, and video conference with, Macintosh users who also have iChat AV installed. No PC to PC communications are possible—other than text messaging—even with PC owners using a version of AOL Instant Messenger that supports voice chat capabilities. I love my fellow Mac enthusiasts, but we occupy a small share of the computing universe. Unless Apple's audio software uses wholly incompatible voice communications technologies, iChat AV's inability to talk to PCs seems like a major design flaw.
Audio
Apple's expertise at designing clean, easy to understand user interfaces really shows in iChat AV. Once the software is installed. a green telephone icon appears next to the names of users in your buddy list who are also running iChat AV. In theory, initiating a voice call to such users is as simple as double clicking either their corresponding green icons or a gray telephone button embedded in the buddy list window. However, in practice, iChat AV required at least seven attempts to successfully negotiate an audio connection between my friend Chrys, who uses a broadband connection in Los Angeles, and my WiFi and broadband-equipped TiBook in San Francisco. Initiating a connection proved difficult with our firewalls turned on and turned off, with external microphones plugged in and removed, and even after we both quit and restarted iChat AV.
I guess that's why they call it beta software.
A new "Audio" menu in the iChat AV application contains a helpful-sounding option called "Connection Doctor"—but unfortunately, this doctor is a quack because Connection Doctor monitors the throughput of an audio connection but offers no help in diagnosing connection problems. Perhaps we'll see more functionality here—or a new, more appropriate name for this feature—in the final version of iChat AV.
Now for the good news: Once we established an audio connection through the seemingly random largesse of the Macintosh gods, it proved crystal clear and rock solid. Audio quality was better than a cell phone, better than Nikotel's Mac2Phone, better than any comparable PC product that I have used including AOL Instant Messenger and Yahoo! Messenger. We're talking top of the line PC to PC audio. Better still, over our broadband connections and 500 mile distance we experienced no noticeable latency between the time one party spoke and the time the other party heard what was said, making iChat AV a viable alternative to telephony.
Chrys had occasional trouble hearing me clearly through her TiBook's internal speaker, but I equipped my PowerBook with a noise-canceling Plantronics headset and never had trouble hearing her, even though she relied entirely upon an internal microphone. As with other processor-dependent applications of this kind, audio quality suffered slightly if one or both parties surfed the web or typed text messages or ran multiple background applications while talking. But iChat AV's performance proved above-average in this department.
Chrys and I lacked a properly equipped third party and could not test whether iChat AV can presently initiate voice conferences between three or more parties—but I doubt it. The audio interface provided no obvious interface for establishing multiple connections.
Total audio test time: 1.5 hours.
Overall grade for ease of use: A-, for ease of connection: C to C-, for call quality: A.
Video
We could not evaluate iChat AV's video capabilities because we do not have the requisite FireWire-equipped video cameras, but the functionality sounds impressive and the New York Times' David Pogue agrees. Apple promises full-screen, full-motion video at up to 30 frames per second, which is better than Super Webcam on Yahoo! Messenger for Windows. Some Macintosh users have complained that Apple should also have supported USB webcams in iChat AV—and this is a drawback to the current architecture—but the high throughput rates promised by iChat AV demand faster cameras and the faster camera connections permitted by FireWire.
FireWire cameras are expensive so Apple tried to fill the gap yesterday by also introducing the iSight (shown above)—an autofocusing, F/2.8 FireWire camera that clips to the top of a laptop or flat panel iMac and can deliver up to 30 framers per second in 24-bit color. At $149, iSight won't be an impulse buy for consumers or for educators, but perhaps—like the Airport card before it—we can look forward to price drops as competitors scramble to produce comparable devices.
iChat AV's beta version will expire on December 31, 2003, at which point the software will cost approximately $30 for use with Jaguar. iChat AV is currently scheduled for release as part of the $129 Mac OS X Panther upgrade.
Updates:
New software is available which claims to enable USB webcams with iChat AV. To download it, click here.
Some users have reported problems with iChat AV on G3 systems. For details, see http://www.macfixit.com/search.php?query=ichat+av&mode=search&type=stories&platform=Mac+OSX">MacFixIt.
For tips on how to send SMS text messages to cell phones with iChat AV, click here.