The Iphone Spot

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Matt Hamblen over at Computerworld has been pondering whether or not the iPhone 3.0 will have video conferencing capabilities amongst its other Photo and Video tricks.

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.

There are some other factors to consider. First, the iPhone would need to have either a front-facing camera or a “periscope” type of mirror to bring the camera view over the top of the iPhone. Next, the hardware for video encoding/decoding would have to be pretty significant. You’ll recall that even some older Macs have trouble with the more advanced features of iChat Video (below). We expect to see a faster processor and new architecture in the upcoming iPhone, but aren’t sure that it will be able to produce the kind of quality encode/decode that Apple would expect.

Also, while AT&T’s network has the capability for high download speeds and is even moving to double-fast 7.2Mbs speed, video chat also requires significant upload bandwidth. HSDPA, the wireless standard that AT&T’s 3G uses, stands for High-Speed Downlink Packet Access. The current uplink speed is 128K. While this is theoretically able to handle 160×120 video (above), we all know that theoretical speeds and real-world speeds often don’t mesh. We also know how much AT&T likes video applications on its network (see Sling). In this regard, Apple could make a service that only worked over Wifi. Like Sling’s dilemma, this would eliminate the whole purpose of having an “anywhere device”.

Lastly, does it fit within Apple’s strategy? Perhaps long term, yes. But Apple hasn’t even brought iChat to the iPhone platform yet. While you can IM with a number of third party applications, Apple hasn’t made even the first move to bring its own client to the iPhone. An iPhone iChat client would be the first step in setting up a video conferencing ecosystem that allowed you to video chat with people on Macs (Apple would have to include this, right?).

The Computerworld articles mentioned third parties. Perhaps Cisco or Skype or some jailbreakers will make an effort to build video chatting into an application (remember Cisco is part owner of the iPhone trademark and has promised to take advantage of software development on the iPhone). But without Apple’s blessing both in building a front-facing camera and allowing video chat capabilities into the App Store, it likely won’t go far. In fact, there are already video chat apps floating around on jailbroken iPhones.

Via Xsellize

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A research note from RBC Capital analyst Mike Abramsky suggests that Apple may drop the price of the 8GB iPhone to $99(with contract), according to a Barrons report.

In a research note this morning, he notes that the company is widely expected to unveil updated iPhones at the Worldwide Developers Conference on June 8. Expectations are they will keep price points at $199 and $299, with 16 GB and 32 GB models. Abramsky thinks even an evolutionary upgrade will drive a healthy upgrade cycle; he estimates 20% of the 21 million iPhone installed base will upgrade within the first year.

But he also says that the company could leverage its component and manufacturing efficiencies by offering an 8 GB version of the phone at $99, down from $199 currently. He thinks the result could provide a major lift to unit demand, with 5 million additional iPhones in FY 2009, and 22 million in FY 2010.

Via Tech Trader Daily/blogs.barrons.com

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We’ve all been eagerly waiting for the upcoming iPhone, and with each rumor the excitement level increases. However, this latest news/rumor is good as well as bad. Good first: it seems that one of the Chinese wholesalers named ChinaOnTrade.com – who gets stuff directly from the factories where Apple hardware is produced – has put a bezel and LCD screen for iPhone on sale, which it claims belongs to the next gen iPhone.

The bezel has changed -instead of the silvery color we’re familiar with, it has now turned black. The other part exposed is the LCD screen. This is sad news, if it turns out to be true, as folks were hoping for an OLED screen. Which is also what makes us think that the rumor is fake! According to iLounge, OLED even costs about half the price of LCD being used currently. OLED would also reduce the power consumption to some extent.

Rumors just keep flying as WWDC nears. Hope the new iPhone is released there itself and we can get rid of these rumors, but that doesn’t seem like the case… if you believe the rumors.

[Gizmodo via iPhoneTicker]