Apple: Video Phones Are Coming
Posted in Video Phones Are Coming on September 1st, 2010 by admin – 1 CommentSpeculation about Apple’s next iPhone has triggered new excitement about a decades-old idea
• New smartphones, faster networks, and consumer acceptance: “The perfect storm is here”
Ever since a mid-level engineer at Apple (AAPL) left a prototype iPhone in a Silicon Valley bar on Apr. 18, the tech world has been consumed with the ensuing drama. Will the person who sold the gadget to the blog Gizmodo go to jail? Were the police justified in seizing the blog editor’s home computers? Getting less attention is the little dot just above the touchscreen on the device. It’s a front-facing camera, and in all likelihood it’s there for one reason: video phone calls.
Apple wouldn’t comment for this story, and there’s no way of knowing whether the prototype will ever get to market. Yet the device has generated excitement about mobile video communications. “With its size, market share, and influence, Apple could help move video calling to the mainstream,” says Eric Kintz, a general manager at Logitech (LOGI), the computer-peripheral maker.
Dreams of video phones have been around since before Dick Tracy swapped his 2-Way Wrist Radio for a 2-Way Wrist TV in 1964. These days the technology is vastly improved. Forget tiny screens with fuzzy picture quality and voice-synchronization reminiscent of old Godzilla movies. Thanks to powerful microprocessors and luminous screens, smartphone video can look as good as standard TV.