MacBook Air Portable Genius, 4th Edition

Video Calling with FaceTime

One of the most welcome MacBook Air features is the built-in FaceTime HD (formerly iSight) camera, not only because you can use it to have all kinds of fun taking silly Photo Booth pictures but also because it lets you take advantage of Apple’s amazing FaceTime feature, which lets you make video calls where you can actually see the other person face to face. It’s an awesome feature, but to use it the other person must be using an iPad 2 or later, an iPhone 4 or later, a fourth- generation iPod touch or later, or another Mac with a video camera and the FaceTime application installed. Note that for OS X Mountain Lion (10.8) and OS X Lion (10.7), FaceTime is installed by default; for OS X Snow Leopard (10.6.6), FaceTime is available through the App Store for 99 cents. You’ll also need an Apple ID.

Configuring FaceTime

The first time you launch FaceTime, you need to run through a one-time configuration procedure. Here’s how it works:

1. In the Dock, click FaceTime. The FaceTime window appears.

2. Type your Apple ID e-mail address.

3. Type your Apple ID password.

4. Click Sign In. FaceTime prompts you to specify an e-mail address that people can use to contact you via FaceTime.

5. If the address you prefer to use is different than your Apple ID, type the address you want to use.

6. Click Next. FaceTime verifies your Apple ID and then displays a list of contacts.

Initiating a FaceTime call

Once you sign in with your Apple ID, you can use the FaceTime ...