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New iPhone 4 ads highlight FaceTime, tug at the old heartstrings

It's too early to say whether or not the phrase "There's an app for that" has been banished to the fabled Island of Forgotten Taglines, but if the latest series of iPhone ads is any indication, FaceTime is now the star -- not the apps.

Four new iPhone 4 ads have made their debut both on the air and online. In each ad, two people use FaceTime to discuss incredibly important news. In Meet Her, a grandfather meets his new granddaughter for the first time. Haircut features a pensive young woman who is worried that her significant other isn't going to like her new, really short haircut, and in Smile a dad tries to get his teenage daughter (newly fitted with braces on her teeth) to smile. Finally, Big News has a woman breaking the news to her hubby that the project they've been working on is successful -- they're going to be parents.

The ads are beautifully photographed, and they really show off the power that FaceTime has to let two people express their feelings with more than just their voices. In each ad, the power of facial expressions to display and transmit emotions definitely comes across.

Now, if Apple could just explain during the ads that FaceTime works over Wi-Fi and doesn't rely on the AT&T network, they'd probably have even more success with the iPhone 4 than they've already experienced.