Will the next iPhone have iVideo?

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Apple iPhone

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Computerworld - The new iPhone hardware expected to ship this summer from Apple Inc. is rumored to have a video chat capability supported by MMS, among other new features.

Today's roundup of rumors and speculation about the upcoming iPhone hardware also suggest that there will be a 32GB model, a boost from the current 8GB and 16GB models.

But the reports raise questions about why the iPhone doesn't have an expansion card slot for unlimited storage capability, especially if users will be storing massive amounts of video from video chats, video streams off YouTube or other places.

Whether the iPhone will support video chat, or some version of real-time videoconferencing, was a big concern of some developers and analysts at Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference last year. Some expressed disappointment that various video features were not included in the iPhone 3G.

In March, Apple said the new iPhone 3.0 software would support MMS, or Multimedia Messaging Service, along with 100 other new features such as cut-and-paste and stereo Bluetooth.

The MMS software reports indicate to some observers that the next iPhone (due out July 17, according to some speculation) could support iPhone video chat, which would be possible with a good camera and microphone and a fast wireless connection.

Kevin Burden, an analyst at ABI Research, said the question of the camera for video chat is not a trivial one, since Apple might need to have two cameras, one to face the user and one to face what a user might want to record in the distance. That issue has been a major concern of some manufacturers, including Nokia and Samsung, which have installed two camera lenses on a single phone, one on either side.

But it is questionable how high a priority video chat will be for Apple. "Our research shows that use of video chatting on existing devices is pretty darn small," said Ramon Llamos, an analyst at research firm IDC.

"Certainly video chat will be big for certain groups, but for the majority of people, that's not something you seek out and buy with a new phone," Burden said. "For the most part, that feature goes unused." He added that the next iPhone could, at least, use a flash to go with the camera.

While video chat usage on phones is not that popular, that doesn't mean Apple couldn't start a fad, just as it turned the MP3 player into a huge phenomenon with the iPod, the analysts admitted.

"Apple could take video chat and make it so friendly that it takes off," Burden added. "Yes, that's Apple's heritage, as with iPod. What works is all about delivering a personality to the device."