Report: six percent of Americans have made a video call

A recent Pew Research study found that 6% of Americans have participated in a video call with a mobile phone. That number has risen since the iPhone 4's introduction, and is now comparable to the 19% of Americans who have used video conferencing in one way or another.

The study was conducted in mid-August and mid-September, just two months after the iPhone 4 was released in the US, UK, Germany, France and Japan. Pew Research found that wealthy users (those making above US$75,000 per year) under 50 years of age were most likely to have made a video call with a mobile phone.

While new to the US, video phone calling has existed in other countries for some time. However, poor display resolution and call quality has prevented it from catching on in any significant way.

Meanwhile, some iPhone 4 users are unable to place a FaceTime call due to restrictions placed by their carriers. Apple has released a list of iPhone 4 carriers from around the world, with a footnote identifying those that do not officially support FaceTime, including:

• Jordan

• Qatar

• Saudi Arabia

• United Arab Emirates

• Egypt

We received tips about FaceTime not working in UAE recently, but this is the first official confirmation from Apple that we've found. Apple's language says that FaceTime is not available "From this carrier." We're sure Apple would have FaceTime working everywhere. One wonders why these individual carriers have said no.