Aug 13, 2007 09:10 AM
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It looks like videoconferencing is now working on the iPhone using the Wi-Fi connection and its built-in camera. Ken and Greg Aspeslagh claim that they created the application at the C-4 Developer Conference's Iron Coder Live this weekend, winning first prize. As you can see in the gallery, the hack also involved a strange peripheral: a periscope.
I have to say that I didn't expect this one at all because the iPhone's camera is obviously looking in the wrong direction for videoconferencing, but the Aspeslaghs converted one of the devices they already sell through their company, called the Huckleberry Mirror, into an iPhone stand. And indeed, it works great even while the device they are using is too big to be practical.
They used the iPhone toolchain developed by the iPhone Dev Team wizards to create their app, so it runs natively on the iPhone, capturing video from the iPhone's camera, compressing and sending the stream to a server. The server relays the feed to the other iPhone and vice versa.
According to their page it only has one flaw: it doesn't handle audio, just video. For the sound part you have to initiate a normal call in the iPhone. Quite frankly, I even like that part of their solution, although obviously it would be perfect with audio support. If it works like they say, this hack will be one of the most amazing available. We can't wait to try it ourselves, specially since this means that video capture in the iPhone seems to be possible.
Stay tuned for more details. [Mac Daddy World]
Send an email to Jesus Diaz, the author of this post, at jesus@gizmodo.com.
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