Source: Apple's next-gen iPhone has video camera

[AppleInsider]

Apple this year will finally introduce video recording capabilities on at least one of its upcoming iPhone models, AppleInsider has been told.

An iPhone with a video cam

Details are few and far between, but the information comes from a person who's proven extremely reliable when predicting changes to the Cupertino-based company's hardware offerings.

At this time, there's no information to suggest that video recording support will be available through anything other than a upgraded rear-facing camera that will, of course, also take still photos at a higher resolution.

The addition, however, is reportedly just one of several hardware related tweaks that will surface in iPhone revisions due sometime between late spring and early fall. Another, that same person says, will be a significant boost to gaming hardware (likely via Imagination's new multi-core PowerVR chips).

Video recording support has stood as one of the most glaring omissions from the iPhone since its inception two years ago, but the understanding is that Apple wants to get the feature "right."

Supporting evidence

Possibly supporting these most recent claims is a screenshot from the beta of iPhone Software 3.0 published by Engadget earlier this week. It shows a MobileMe panel for uploading images conspicuously titled "Publish Video."

While the gadget publication speculates that this may be nothing more than an interesting typo, AppleInsider was informed of Apple's plans to include video support on the next-generation iPhone hardware shortly before Tuesday's introduction of the 3.0 software, and therefore believes the reference is significant and further evidence to this end.



Supporting video on 3G networks

Word of Apple's mobile video plans arrives alongside claims that the upcoming iPhone revisions will support faster Internet speeds -- a likely precursor to facilitating transmissions of video files over third-generation mobile networks.

For its part, exclusive U.S. iPhone service provider AT&T confirmed during a communications conference last May that it had a HSPA (High Speed Packet Access) 3G network up and running in the labs at speeds of 7.2 megabits per second, or approximately twice the theoretical throughput of its existing network.

At the same conference, the carrier's mobile chief Ralph de la Vega said AT&T planned to transition to HSPA release 7 sometime in 2009, which would deliver even faster speeds "exceeding 20 megabits per second."

He said the upgrade would require few if any hardware modifications to the company's infrastructure and would instead be a smooth transition achieved largely through a software upgrade to its electronics.

Software support

Should Apple's video plans for the next-gen iPhone remain intact, it's believed the capability would see support through a new "Movies" iPhone app that would provide rudimentary editing support akin to the audio trimming capabilities of the company's upcoming Voice Memos iPhone application.

The same application would presumably allow users to email their movie clips to friends and family members, or send them via MMS messages.

Video as a high end feature

Though largely speculative at best, it's possible that Apple could market video recording capabilities as a premium feature available only through a high-end model.

ArsTechnica on Thursday discovered references to four unknown multi-touch handheld products in resource files included with this week's iPhone Software 3.0 beta, including "iPhone 3,1." The reference joins discoveries earlier this year of an "iPhone 2,1" product in the resources of iPhone Software 2.0.

Neither reference is tied to a shipping product, and both identifiers suggest iPhone models with distinguishing hardware features, meaning two distinct models could be in the cards.

For example, the original iPhone identifies itself as iPhone 1,1, while the current iPhone 3G lists as iPhone 1,2, as the architectural changes between two models were relatively minor.

As with similar practices for Macs, Apple's use of 2,1 and 3,1 imply major and distinct changes. For instance, the second-generation iPod touch is listed as iPod 2,1 and includes faster internal hardware than the first-generation model called iPod 1,1.

[ View this article at AppleInsider.com ]

[anantksundaram]

Groan. That'll be three phones in three years........ my wallet hurts.

(I am kidding: the actual sentiment is, "WOW" and )

[Hattig]

I'm hoping for 5mp and decent (for a phone) lenses as they're the main problem. Why 5mp - so I can resize to remove the noise and still have a large image (large enough for the web).

My Nokia 6500 Slide has a 3.2MP camera with better than average lens, and that's a cheapy phone and a year old.

As for video, I wouldn't expect 1280x720 recording, but 640x480 should be easy. Maybe the chips are powerful enough for 720p though, who knows. There are plenty of cheap camcorders out there now offering this.

It'll be nice to see the user-centric iPhone OS improvements, the ones that weren't demonstrated.

[Ireland]

Most people would prefer a camera that's better at taking stills. Video is a marketing thing as far as I'm concerned. Aside from the obvious YouTube benefits.

[gordy]

I agree. A better camera trumps video IMO.

[bsubshea17]

That would be cool if the video camera was facing you so you could video chat with others or do stuff like that!
I don't have any iphone right now...but will definatly get one if they come out with a new one this year! If not, I think I will anyways...

[charlituna]

the camera can already do video. all they have to do is change the software. qik proves this. and for such a crappy camera, the video is pretty decent.

[YodaMac]

Originally Posted by anantksundaram

groan. That'll be three phones in three years........ My wallet hurts.

(i am kidding: The actual sentiment is, "wow" and :d)

ditto!

[Trebla]

Video would be a great addition, especially for those of us who would use this for work- data collection. I use video for gait and motion analysis, the iPhone would make it just so much easier.

But, I do not think this will happen with just software. The iPhone now uses H264 format for video now and it's a good fit- good image and small file size. It does, however, take a relatively studly amount of computation power to compress the data, so a new hardware upgrade would be mandatory.
Alternatively, Apple could choose to go with uncompressed files, but that would make storage and transmission problematic, or with lower res video which does not sound like the Apple Way.

[Ireland]

Originally Posted by charlituna

the camera can already do video. all they have to do is change the software. qik proves this. and for such a crappy camera, the video is pretty decent.

It's not only about the camera, you need more RAM and a faster proc to compress the video. New hardware is needed.

[hmurchison]

iPhone Pr0n!


I'll take both a good camera and decent video.
Make it 720p dammit.

[Ireland]

Originally Posted by hmurchison

iPhone Pr0n!


I'll take both a good camera and decent video.
Make it 720p dammit.

10,000p!

[MsNly]

Originally Posted by Ireland

10,000p!

INFINITYp!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[str1f3]

720p wouldn't be out of the question. but the real question is could it replace the flip mino hd. the flip has some good low light capabilities. i don't know if apple could do it with putting in a quality lens

[hmurchison]

Originally Posted by MsNly

INFINITYp!!!!!!!!!!!!!

INFINITYp +1

nya nya

Video encoding wouldn't be that hard with the right supporting chip

Originally Posted by Imagination

19 November 2008: Imagination Technologies, a leader in system-on-chip Intellectual Property (SoC IP), announced today the availability of two new IP cores in the POWERVR VXE video encoder family. POWERVR VXE251 and VXE280 deliver multi-standard encode at SD and HD resolutions respectively. Both cores are available for licensing immediately.

POWERVR VXE encodes still image and video sequences to a wide range of compression standards including H.264, MPEG-4 & JPEG. These cores offload the entire video/still encode processing to hardware. This minimises the host CPU processing requirements. Despite having multi-standard capability, POWERVR VXE cores typically take up comparable silicon area to single standard solutions

"nothing but net..." (ode to March Madness)

[iVlad]

This is time. Google (youtube) will now have a crazy marketing spin from iPhone. Imagine taking a video and instantly sending it to your youtube account. Ahhh cant wait!!!

[macFanDave]

Hmmmmm.

I wonder if they can make a video camera for the iPhone as sh!++y as the still camera that's already in the 3G version. It's a pretty low bar, so they are going to have to make an effort to scour the world for a supplier of equally inferior optics.

iPhone Pr0n!
I'll take both a good camera and decent video.
Make it 720p dammit.

Be careful what you wish for -- very view Pr0n "actors" and "actresses" can withstand the probing eye of Hi-Def. Standard-def is more friendly to slightly imperfect individuals.

[Ireland]

Originally Posted by iVlad

This is time. Google (youtube) will now have a crazy marketing spin from iPhone. Imagine taking a video and instantly sending it to your youtube account. Ahhh cant wait!!!

Wow, this is so nothing new.

[alansky]

The "Publish Video" button may be a mistake, but it is definitely not a "typo".

[carloblackmore]

Originally Posted by bsubshea17

That would be cool if the video camera was facing you so you could video chat with others or do stuff like that!
I don't have any iphone right now...but will definatly get one if they come out with a new one this year! If not, I think I will anyways...

Other than recording your self, how can you see what you're recording if the camera and screen are facing the same direction??

[Ireland]

iChat AV on a phone, so fucking useless. I can see the lawsuits now!

[Virgil-TB2]

Originally Posted by Hattig

... My Nokia 6500 Slide has a 3.2MP camera with better than average lens, and that's a cheapy phone and a year old. ....

The megapixel rating is almost useless though.

The latest Nokia for instance takes 15 megapixel images, but the ones published so far are grainy, high contrast and definitely of a lower quality than the current iphone snaps. they are just bigger low quality images is all.

As you say yourself, it's the lens that makes the difference, and I would add the post processing as well.

[troyallen23]

Originally Posted by Ireland

iChat AV on a phone, so fucking useless. I can see the lawsuits now!

Why is it fucking useless and where are the lawsuits? Video chatting on a phone is very popular.

http://www.qik.com/
http://www.stickam.com/mobile.do

[gabes]

Cycorder.

[bloggerblog]

Originally Posted by Ireland

It's not only about the camera, you need more RAM and a faster proc to compress the video. New hardware is needed.

I don't know if you're aware of the fact that jail-broken iPhones already capture video with sound, I've tried it myself the quality is more than adequate.

[Ireland]

Originally Posted by troyallen23

Why is it fucking useless and where are the lawsuits?

It only takes one person walking down the road making a video call who gets knocked down by a moving vehicle for the first lawsuit, and it will happen. That much is plainly obvious. Generally speaking people don't want to look at the other person when talking to them on the phone, no matter how Apple tries to market the feature. There are no real benefits at all. If you really want to look at the other person, you have a computer. Video calling is stupid.

[Ireland]

Originally Posted by bloggerblog

I don't know if you're aware of the fact that jail-broken iPhones already capture video with sound, I've tried it myself the quality is more than adequate.

Adequate? Not on your nelly. I tried to Record Leonard Cohen from the 10th Row at a seated concert using all of them, the results were useless. Having a feature is one thing, doing it right is a whole 'nother game. Technically speaking the nano can play movies, but the experience is crap, so no one uses them for video.

[troyallen23]

Originally Posted by Ireland

It only takes one person walking down the road making a video call who gets knocked down by a moving vehicle for the first lawsuit, and it will happen. That much is plainly obvious. Generally speaking people don't want to look at the other person when talking to them on the phone, no matter how Apple tries to market the feature. There are no real benefits at all. If you really want to look at the other person, you have a computer. Video calling is stupid.

Sorry, people including Lep Laporte, Sarah Austin, Justin ( from Justin.tv) and IJustine has been video blogging on laptops for years. Mobile lifecasting And now it will be on the iPhone. Plus, Now there is an App for Ustream chatting on the Apple store. Alot of people are waiting for flash too on the iPhone for video broadcasting. Again, video lifecasting, chat and blogging is getting popular
Accidents and lawsuits can happen even if someone lights up a cigarette and doesn't look. And who says you have to drive. But, you have a right to your own opinion.

[Ireland]

Originally Posted by troyallen23

Sorry, people including Lep Laporte, Justin and IJustine has been video blogging on laptops for years. And now it will be on the iPhone.

Good God please don't bring them on us like that. You think we could handle that?

Thanks for telling me my rights btw. Welcome to the forums.

[troyallen23]

Originally Posted by Ireland

Good God please don't bring them on us like that. You think we could handle that?

Thanks for telling me my rights btw. Welcome to the forums.

Sorry, I don't understand why you are attacking me. I just replied to your comment that people want it and gave you examples how people are using it and showing you websites. You don't want video chatting on your iPhone, move on.

[Ireland]

Originally Posted by troyallen23

Sorry, I don't understand why you are attacking me. I just replied to your comment that people want it and gave you examples. You don't want video chatting on the iPhone, move on.

You'll get used to it round here. Wasn't attacking you. It's a useless feature though. If they add it it will be for nonsense marketing reasons, which everyone will go crazy for, but when the dust settles very few will use the feature.

[silicon_dioxide]

I hope it's 5 megapixels. I fear it won't be.
Video will probably be 640x480.
I expect a feature to send directly to youtube/flickr/facebook.
People will complain that it won't have manual controls like brightness, contrast, iso settings etc.

[Ireland]

Originally Posted by silicon_dioxide

I hope it's 5 megapixels. I fear it won't be.
Video will probably be 640x480.
I expect a feature to send directly to youtube/flickr/facebook.
People will complain that it won't have manual controls like brightness, contrast, iso settings etc.

If the camera is good and does video and takes great stills people can get an app for color and stuff. Good hardware is what we want.

[JeffDM]

Originally Posted by troyallen23

Video chatting on a phone is very popular.

http://www.qik.com/
http://www.stickam.com/mobile.do

Do we know it's popular by people other than the technologically plugged-in internet stars?

I know that Apple will include video at some time. I am skeptical that it will be anything other than a novelty for a good while.

[hillstones]

People complain about the 3G network now? Wait until people start clogging it up trying to transfer video files. That's a brilliant idea.

[Amorya]

Originally Posted by Ireland

It only takes one person walking down the road making a video call who gets knocked down by a moving vehicle for the first lawsuit, and it will happen. That much is plainly obvious. Generally speaking people don't want to look at the other person when talking to them on the phone, no matter how Apple tries to market the feature. There are no real benefits at all. If you really want to look at the other person, you have a computer. Video calling is stupid.

I completely agree that video calling is a non-feature. But it doesn't get lawsuits. It's been available on about 50% of all phones in the UK since ~2004, and nobody's sued any of the phone companies for it.

Of course, that may be because nobody uses it...

Amorya

[Bergermeister]

Originally Posted by Ireland

Most people would prefer a camera that's better at taking stills. Video is a marketing thing as far as I'm concerned. Aside from the obvious YouTube benefits.

I agree.

Some video would be nice, but I think the cam should be aimed at stills. It is difficult for even much larger, more expensive, dedicated cameras to do both well: Canon's HFS10 (played with one yesterday for a few hours) takes excellent video, OK stills; Canon's G10 takes excellent stills, OK video.

Stills are much easier to work with, from actually taking the photo to looking at it. Sure, video has its great points (part of my job is working with video), but if I had to choose between two cameras, I would get a good still camera.

[NOFEER]

for me
i'd trade video capability for VOICE DIALING and better bluetooth support for a keyboard
i would use voice dialing every hour, video once a month or two

[solipsism]

Originally Posted by NOFEER

for me
i'd trade video capability for VOICE DIALING and better bluetooth support for a keyboard
i would use voice dialing every hour, video once a month or two

How could they implement voice dialing. They would need another physical button or add an additional role to a curent physical buttons. Making it a SW button defeats the purpose.

The sleep and home buttons aren't well positioned for this feature, IMO. The volume buttons are but holding down the volume buttons for an extended period is already in use. I've tried to hold both buttons at once in the middle and this wouldn't work unless the button was altered.

There is also the lock toggle switch. I think it would be just about ideal if it were made into a button that not only toggles lock/unlock but could be depressed. The position is great for a right-handed person as it's near the index finger when holding the device in portrait mode. If it's in your pocket that button would be near the top and easy to feel for.

I think a much better solution is video dialing. Screw voice dialing! You click the camera app and make a certain face that is interrupted to mean you wish to call a certain person. The way that iPhoto '09 works.

[macologist]

My present Treo 700p does video. I use it sometimes, and it's OK as is, low quality. So, if the next iPhone does as good, or better then that, I'd be happy! And, if it can post to YouTube on the go, even happier.

For me, a True Spotlight Global Search on iPhone is a bigger PRIORITY, and it's supposedly is coming as such.

Cut-Copy-Paste is finally coming too, but the MOST important for me is to be able to Sync my Text back and forth! That's how it is my my present Treo 700p - Memos Sync between Treo and my Powerbook G4/Palm Desktop. So, if iPhone could do that, and I could take my Treo/Palm Desktop Memos to iPhone, I'D BE SO HAPPY!!!!

Back to Video -- there are sometimes little precious moments in life, where it's not the quality, but the event/content that I'd love to capture on video. So, for me, ANY VIDEO on iPhone would be great! But, first I want the ability to Sync Memos. And, if those Memos could be attached to Contacts on iPhone, as it's possible to do on Palm Desktop + Entourage, among other PIM's on Mac, that would be FANTASTIC! To me, that TEXT SYNCING - Free standing Memos, not the Note Field of a Contact, Word Docs etc - that's THE BIGGEST PRIORITY!

BTW, one more off topic thing: if iPhone is lost, one should be able to call the phone company and have them wipe it, to protect personal data. Is that feature available? If not, it should be, cause Security-Privacy should be IMPORTANT to all!

Other than that, these Forums are GREAT! For the most part people are respectful, and that's nice to see... THANKS EVERYONE! I also hope that Apple is monitoring these discussions...