Apple planning video-calling iPhone

Third-gen model to get front-facing camera?

3 February 2009 9:26 GMT / By Amy-Mae Elliott

Apple's recent patent that appeared to cover the iPhone's "heuristics", so much so that it seems the company may have the patent rights for multi-touch for mobile devices, also reveals some interesting info about Apple's other plans for the phone.

Alexander Wolfe at InformationWeek has "scoured" the iPhone patent and states that Apple plans to "seriously beef up the iPhone's video recording capabilities" into a video conferencing capable device.

Taken from the patent: "The device supports a variety of applications, such as one or more of the following: a telephone application, a video conferencing application, an e-mail application, an instant messaging application, a blogging application, a photo management application, a digital camera application, a digital video camera application, a Web browsing application, a digital music player application, and/or a digital video player application".

The third-gen iPhone will get the required front-facing camera in order to make it a proper video conferencing device, more from the patent:

"An optical sensor is located on the front of the device so that the user's image may be obtained for videoconferencing while the user views the other video conference participants on the touch screen display".

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Phones, iPhone, Apple, Rumours