Another iPhone video conferencing rumor surfaces

There's been many rumors pointing to the possible inclusion of video conferencing in the next-gen iPhone -- everything from faceplate photos to code embedded in the iPhone SDK itself has set off our rumor radar. This latest rumor from site Redmond Pie tends toward the weaker end of the spectrum as far as evidence goes: UK mobile provider O2 has listed "Video Calls" as a "Key Feature" of the forthcoming iPhone, with pricing for video calling listed as identical to standard phone calls.

Note that third-party sellers regularly advertise features for Apple's products well in advance of their actual release based on a "best guess" approach without any verifiable foreknowledge of the devices -- Best Buy's recent page update listing i7 processors for the upcoming MacBook Pro update is a perfect example -- so this latest update from O2 by no means confirms the presence of video conferencing capabilities in the next iteration of the iPhone. It's merely one more rumor to add to the stack we've built up so far. One thing is certain: given all the rumors that have been swirling around already, which will surely accelerate over the next few months, if the next iPhone doesn't have video conferencing capabilities in it, the internet rage is going to be pretty profound.

View Tags

Source: http://www.redmondpie.com/next-gen-iphone-4g-video-calls-rev…

Categories

Rumors Video iPhone

There's been many rumors pointing to the possible inclusion of video conferencing in the next-gen iPhone -- everything from faceplate...

Add a Comment

Sign in »

10 Comments

Filter by:

thetechyute

Here's another report about video conferencing on the iPhone: http://techknowbabel.com/2010/03/07/inside-source-next-gen-iphone-will-have-2-cameras/

March 26 2010 at 3:00 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

pchinn

This rumor has been popping up for so long (and so frequently) that I've had the opportunity to re-think it. And that leads me to this question:

Just because the technology CAN do something, does that mean people will actually use it?

Originally I thought video chat on my iPhone would be cool. But then I realized that I never use video chat on my computers, so why would I use it on my iPhone?

That's just me, though.

March 08 2010 at 12:17 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Will it support Flash?

March 08 2010 at 5:39 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Freakdahouse

The rest of the world is not like USA, in europe(Portugal for example) 3G vÃdeo phone calls do work like it should and for free if it is between the same network.

March 08 2010 at 1:05 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Cy Starkman

Anyone howling for 3G video calls either

- has never really used it
- is just trolling

if you want a postage stamp mosaic, 5-10fps and unsynced audio which approaches noise for 4x the cost of an audio call. Then sure that's the third reason.

Ahh and no, having a Ghz chip n huge pixel count and uber camera makes no difference cause 3G video calls are an industry spec, like SMS and MMS

March 07 2010 at 6:15 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Linda

is video conferencing possible on Verizon since data and voice can not be accessed simultaneously...?

meaning the next gen iphone would not be on verizon if it was to have video capabilities?

March 07 2010 at 10:42 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

1 reply to Linda's comment

Zino

It's true, you can't do voice and data simultaneously on Verizon, but video conferencing will likely only use data for both video and audio. Like when you use iChat or Skype video calls, you are using all data. I imagine it would be a nightmare to try to sinc video from the data stream and audio from the cell bands together.

In my opinion, the next iPhone will not have live video chat. It doesn't seem like AT&T or any other wireless carrier in the US is ready for that just yet. Although, for the longest, there have been rumors about AT&T introducing some sort of one way video calls. How that would work out is anyone's guess.

March 07 2010 at 11:30 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

onthecoast

"there HAVE been"

Sorry to be pedantic, but that's basic grammar.

March 07 2010 at 10:15 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

WDUK

I'm not convinced, I think it's a gaffe on O2s part.

Since they've introduced the Simplicity tariff for the iPhone, I think all they've done is copied the price list from the normal Simplicity tariff, and forgot to remove the features that normal phones have!

March 07 2010 at 9:22 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Bob Tabor

Off topic: in the pic above, isn't hooking up a Canon XL1s a bit overkill for a webcam? :)

On topic: But, uh ... yeah ... iPhone video conferencing would be cool. I think it would lead to an explosion of "life casting" on services like ustream.tv, justin.tv and livestream.com. On second thought ... maybe that isn't such a good idea.

March 07 2010 at 9:06 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply