Video Chat on the next iPhone [Rumors]

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While digging through the iPhone OS 4.0 files, 9to5Mac came across multiple strings and files that hint the inclusion of video chat on the next iPhone model. The content found indicates the presence of iChat like sound files and one-to-one as well as multiple client video conferencing features.

I personally never cared about iChat/IM apps on the iPhone since it just isn’t convenient enough. SMS is always better because it gives you time to type comfortably while the reply is coming but that could just be me.

Anyhow, the ability to video chat straight from your iPhone sounds amazing! Imagine going to a cricket match and getting your face painted and calling all your friends and family to show how you look. Or going to a Radiohead concert and showing it live to your friends. I know this can be done with Qik too but it’s just one-way. You can’t look at the smile on the faces when you show them amazing stuff. Or calling up your parents from your new apartment and showing them the view from the balcony. The possibilities are endless.

If it wasn’t Apple I’d probably wish for a standard IM protocol like Jabber so anyone with a device that has a Jabber client (most computers and smartphones do) can video chat with people having iPhones. But I know it isn’t happening. All I wish for is that they allow calls between iChat on iPhone and iChat on the computer. And they should launch an iChat for Windows and Linux. With the sheer number of people that own iPhones nowadays, It’d be a killer app.

This rumor gives me (and many iPhone 2G owners) a good enough reason to wait for the next iPhone. I just can’t wait for the Keynote where Steve Jobs announces this. Just imagine the kind of adjectives he will use.

[via MobileCrunch and 9to5Mac]