Samsung Galaxy S5 to have multi-party video call feature?

Samsung appears to be gearing up for a fight with Apple's FaceTime feature and Google Hangouts with its latest patent filing.

According to SamMobile, Samsung filed a document to the Korean Intellectual Property Rights Information Service for a built-in multi-party conference call feature. Users not only are able to use the front and rear cameras simultaneously in a video call, they also can see the video feeds of other participants at the bottom of the display.

It is possible that Samsung will implement this software feature as an upgrade to its ChatOn messaging app so that it can take on Apple's iMessage and FaceTime features. Its ChatOn messaging app is recently updated to support SMS and MMS in Germany and Brazil.

Apple's FaceTime is limited to two persons (caller and receipent) on its iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch devices. If this multi-party conference call feature is eventually integrated into its ChatON app or as a new feature for its upcoming Galaxy smartphone, it is seen as a win or innovation by Samsung.

Google Hangouts currently supports up to 10 participants in a video call conversation. However, sufficient bandwidth is required for a smooth voice and video call conversation over the Internet. It remains to be seen how Samsung will tackle this issue.

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