9to5Mac has hit the motherlode of code references when it comes to iPhone 4.0 iChat video secret strings and references, including what looks like moderators, chat room, encryption, and more.
Presumably moderation would let Apple prevent their hosting of ChatRoulette-style not-safe-for-families fun, especially if iChat hooks into the Game Center social network.
This is how it was with video recording and iPhone 3.0 on iPhone 3GS, so we're getting more and more confident this is what will be come this summer with iPhone 4.0 and iPhone G4 (not iPhone 4G!), hopefully with a front-facing chat cam. iPod touch G4 and iPad G2 would also need camera upgrades (in their cases to actually, finally, getting cameras of any kind), likely in September 2010 and March 2011 respectively.
Reader comments
iChat video motherlode of code: moderators, chat room, encryption, more
i dont have an iChat account so I wouldn't use it...more excited for a front-facing camera and hopefully a flash for low lit places
@Jonar1us
Too bad they'll only put a flash on the back of the phone. (I've learned to expect the least from Apple so when they reveal more than I anticipate I'm actually happy, haha.)
Having iChat would be nice, but the video/front facing camera part of it seems slightly pointless on a phone.
After the novelty of it wares off, it's main use would be the few times a year that you go away on business without a laptop and want to say goodnight to your wife and kids.
If you're going to video chat you'll have a laptop at least (or iPad G2) with you. Other than that it would be rarely used.
@Jo3Bingham I meant on the flash being on the back...
@Tora only a person without family & friends wouldn't find iChat useful. and!
@tora you may use the video chat maybe once a year, but a majority of my friends including myself like to skype chat when bored. Especially during the winter break when most of us moved off campus back home with our families.
Not to mention they brought in a compass with the iPhone 3Gs, and Voice Control. Who honestly asked for those features, and who honestly uses them more than for novelty or more than a "few times a year." The front facing camera has been asked for multiple times by many, MANY people.
I still believe that Apple is much more likely to either support an external webcam or even the iPhone as a webcam for the iPad than put a webcam on the iPhone itself.
so wait..... you're telling us the new iPhone ISN'T an iPhone 4G!?!?........ :P
I think that it would get alot of play with skype user's also. Then if apple let's devs make apps for it there's no telling what they might come up with. I for one am really looking forward to this addition.
I've had iChat on my Macs for years. But I've never used it once because I don't know one single person on the face of the Earth who also has it.
I have iChat on my Mac and use it very often to communicate with my family out of state and my family while I'm at work. I held off from upgrading to the 3GS (and buying an iPad for that matter) because this was the exact feature I truly wanted. I can't wait to see how Apple implements it. June can't come soon enough!
@jonar1us
AIM works on iChat. Anyone can use iChat for free as long as they have a Mac, with an AIM account (which are free).
Love iChat and use it often! Can't wait! Plus! Most of my freinds have iPhones so I'll use it alot!!!! Please please pleas let there be iChat
Jonar1us and Chobbs:
iChat does indeed support any AIM account and has been able to bridge video to Windows AIM users with poor results. From Mac to Mac it works reliably.
The BIG win is that it also adds Jabber (XMPP) for GTalk, Facebook xmpp, and many others. It is the only multi-chat app on my Mac. And each protocol seems to handle iChat video and file transfers well in my use. YMMV.
I use voice commands all the time
i would love to see Apple really make a 2-camera phone work. They way I could see it working is a time saver for taking photos. Right now it is VERY difficult to take a photo of yourself with the iPhone without the help of a mirror or a second person to take it for you. With two cameras, you can not only take a picture of yourself, but you could take a picture of whatever was in front of you at the exact same time AND have the GPS data of each. it could also make taking panoramic images faster.
Video chat on mobile phones has been available in most of the world since early 2003. Total and utter failure ... nobody uses it.
@Frog, until 2007 and the iPhone nobody browsed the web from a cell phone either because the experience was terrible.
Lmfao @ Robert stop making me laugh. iPhone is a dumbed down phone for the new generation
smfh
Vanityeverlastingbonet is sad and hateful. Why are you wasting your time reading forums about a dumbed down phone?
@Vanityeverlastingbonet
How is their statement untrue, or laughable? Maybe you browsed the web before the iPhone but the experience was awful and most people just didn't do it because of that. You have to at least agree the iPhone changed the web browsing game for the better...even if you hate the iPhone and Apple.
You can place a phone call then launch Knocking Video app....live voice and video. It's pretty cool. It bodes well for the apps soon to come for video chat.