$US30,000 worth of items were stolen from an East Hampton home, including a laptop. The thief (?) then logged into the original owner’s iChat and video-chatted with one of his buddies, who snapped his picture. Sic 4chan on him. More »
A front-facing iPhone camera means video calling, but it’s also a sign of something bigger. Combined with other recent leaks, it means that Apple is bringing iChat to the iPhone. Everything about voice calling may be about to change. More »
newVideoPlayer("/finacutproichat_gizmodo.flv", 506, 320,"");Totally not the most pro feature in the new Final Cut Studio, but our favourite is that you can share Final Cut video, timelines and more through iChat theatre, even if the other person doesn’t have Final Cut. More »
In case you can no longer express yourself in words, instead demanding cute Japanese emoticons to encapsulate inner longing and turmoil, you can sleep well knowing that the iPhone’s Emoji set has been ported to iChat. More »
This patent for automatically sending an audio or video reply to an iChat call has us excited, because it could point to automated replies not just on computers, but via the iPhone as well.
Given Apple’s focus on videoconferencing with iChat AV, I always found it strange that there wasn’t a front camera in the iPhone. Looking at their gigantic iPhone patent, it may be coming in the next generation:
Over at Mac Rumors they’ve unearthed a recent patent that shows Apple is researching cleverer use of the iPhone’s many sensors. More nifty than turning the screen off when you put it to your ear, the new uses may include things like working out it’s in your pocket (by temperature, proximity and ambient light) and then auto-switching to vibrate mode. Intriguingly, there’s a hint that by detecting you’ve docked the phone, it may pass an ongoing phone call to a VoIP call over iChat. This all makes sense: making best use of those sensors and the iPhone’s power… but like all Apple patents, we may never see these ideas in a real-life software update. [MacRumors]
Those of you complaining about the lack of front camera and videoconferencing in the new iPhone, stop saying words. This July 11 you will be able to buy the Apple Videoconferencing Kit for iPhone 3G at just US$29. Press release and an exclusive leaked photo of the user manual—showing how it exactly works—right after the jump.
These leaked pics from what looks like some sort of Apple or AT&T marketing material give up lots more information on the phone, including (if it’s real) what the final shape is going to look like. Both the standard black version and the project (RED) version have tapered edges, which match the “thinner” rumours, and a fatter middle, which match the “slightly thicker” rumours. Other than that, the general shape and button design seem the same. What’s really cool is the front camera, which allows for video calls.
