T-Mobile announced a new built-in feature on Thursday that offers video calls to users who don’t want to download an extra app, like Skype.
If you’re already using an iPhone, you’ve seen this before with Facetime. But for Android users, it means T-Mobile customers can now place video calls directly from their phone’s dialer. The service is available today on Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge+ and Samsung Galaxy Note 5, is coming to Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge next week and three yet-to-be-announced phones by the end of the year.
Contacts capable of receiving video calls will have an icon next to their name in your address book, and that icon will be greyed out when if they’re not taking calls. You can use the feature on Wi-Fi, or using your paid data over LTE.
According to a Thursday blog post, T-Mobile is working with other wireless carriers to try to establish video calling across networks.
Built-in video calling is nothing revolutionary, but it’s the latest example of T-Mobile’s push to roll out its own new smartphone features, instead of leaving that to hardware and app makers. It began with new voice calls over LTE last year, and then “Advanced Messaging” that brought WhatsApp features to its built-in texting client.
“This is just the latest example of how the Un-carrier’s driving change in wireless,” T-Mobile CTO Neville Ray wrote in his post. “T-Mobile Video Calling marks the next stage in the evolution of our IP technology and Data Strong network. … It’s all part of our total commitment to delivering a next-gen wireless experience to a new generation of wireless customers.”
