Will the next iPhone have iVideo?

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Full coverage: Mobile

Video chat as the new killer app

Major communications equipment vendors seem to think mobile videoconferencing is coming, not just for younger users willing to try the latest fad, but also for business users.

"We envision the capability to have videoconferencing on mobile devices such as iPhone and BlackBerry," said Richard McLeod, director of collaboration solutions for channel partners at Cisco Systems Inc.

"Just as today people are looking at YouTube videos on mobile phones, we believe that you will use the camera on a phone to have the same video communications two ways," he added. "We think video is the killer app and will reinvent how business is conducted."

McLeod said call centers are already interested in having mobile users see a video while waiting on hold, perhaps one that will show an advertisement or deliver content based on the customer's profile. That one-way streaming from customer service could conceivably become two-way, analysts have noted.

Cisco recently purchased Pure Digital, maker of the popular Flip handheld video camera. "Our purchase of Flip video is one more step toward where we think video is going," McLeod added.

Earlier this year, Polycom Inc. CEO Robert Hagerty also discussed the potential uses and value of videoconferencing on handhelds.

Why stop at 32GB?

Meanwhile, Apple's rumored plans to include 32GB of storage raise the question of why Apple needs to stop there, and why it doesn't add an expansion slot so users can increase the storage limit to whatever they want.

Clearly, Apple controls what applications are used on the iPhone by not allowing sideloading through an expansion slot, the analysts noted.

"Internal storage keeps you beholden to the iPhone," Burden said. "It doesn't have an expansion slot, but that could be a great addition." Apple probably could add an expansion slot and still restrict what applications could be imported through an expansion card, he said.

But Llamos said Apple is likely to stick with no expansion slot for a while, restricting downloading of applications through the App Store in iTunes. Expanding to 32GB of storage would principally support the App Store concept, which has had more than 1 billion downloads in less than one year, he noted.

"The App Store is a runaway hit," Llamos said. "Why threaten that?"

Read more about mobile and wireless in Computerworld's Mobile and Wireless Knowledge Center.