Apple on Wednesday announced that it will bring its FaceTime video-chat service to its Mac laptops.
A beta version of FaceTime for Mac is available now via Apple.com, Apple said. The feature will expand to full screen; it can also turn the display so a landscape shot auto-rotates.
FaceTime for Mac was announced during a Wednesday press event at Apple's Cupertino headquarters. Chief executive Steve Jobs showed off the technology by initiating a call to Phil Schiller, who was using an iPhone 4.
To initiate on the Mac, click the FaceTime logo on the desktop, and select someone from your list of favorites.
"This is so simple; there's nothing to set up, there's nothing to configure," Jobs said. "Now the 10s of millions of Mac users are going to be able to FaceTime with iPhone 4's and iPod touches. And I think people are going to like this based on the requests we've got."
FaceTime made its debut on the iPhone 4, and was recently added to the new iPod touch. It works over Wi-Fi and utilizes the front-facing cameras on both devices - and now the Mac webcam - to display images of the caller. Jobs said there are currently 19 million potential FaceTime users on the iPhone 4 and iPod touch.
Also on Wednesday, Apple unveiled iLife 11, Mac OS X Lion, an 11.6-inch MacBook Air and a new 13.3-inch version.