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]

9:10 AM on Mon Aug 13 2007
By jesusdiaz
31,752 views
24 comments

Comments

websyndicate at 09:03 AM on 08/13/07
Reply by Email
*

Nice
sicboater at 09:34 AM on 08/13/07
Reply by Email
*

It is pretty awesome to see so many people banding together in order to come up with some cool solutions for this device. I hope it pushes Apple to update again very soon...
gadgetmom at 09:35 AM on 08/13/07
Reply by Email
*

That is great!
James at 10:12 AM on 08/13/07
Reply by Email
*

Too bad there's only 1 camera, on the back none the less.
jawzxy at 10:20 AM on 08/13/07
Reply by Email
*

@James: Did you miss the part about the periscope?
I would buy this software and the periscope, if it folded flat...
apeguero at 10:48 AM on 08/13/07
Reply by Email
*

One more reason why I don't want to buy the iPhone just yet. Any rumors of when iPhone 2.0 may come out? Holiday season maybe? My fingers are twitching.
axiomatic at 11:29 AM on 08/13/07
Reply by Email
*

Wow, thats so 1990!

;-(
xXxRHINOxXx at 11:38 AM on 08/13/07
Reply by Email
*

Hopefully they can work out the kinks so everyone doesn't look like a deer caught in the headlights.
Joseph at 12:08 PM on 08/13/07
Reply by Email
*

Jesus, you bricked on the reflection... its still blue.
Joseph at 12:12 PM on 08/13/07
Reply by Email
*

Ah I just had a great Idea. This could be awesome if it was modified to support off-site video recording. You set this thing up to record video and store the actual video on a server somewhere. Now you've got a video recorder anywhere you are!
TheRealChip at 12:53 PM on 08/13/07
Reply by Email
*

When you have to add a makeup mirror and holding device to your cellphone for video only conferencing, when does the iphone cease to look "cool"?
TheRealChip at 12:54 PM on 08/13/07
Reply by Email
*

@jos: I think it would be cool if the iphone could be hacked to take video like a normal cellphone in the 21st century.
Weihovah at 12:56 PM on 08/13/07
Reply by Email
*

you gotta be kidding me. that is the most ghetto implementation of video conferencing i've ever seen. leave it to the fanboys to claim this is cool.
Let_everything at 01:20 PM on 08/13/07
Reply by Email
*

@jos: Knowing apple, I'm sure its been thought of and tried.
Delmarc at 01:29 PM on 08/13/07
Reply by Email
*

@sicboater:
It is pretty awesome to see so many people banding together in order to come up with some cool solutions for this device.

...some cool solutions for the device that should ALREADY HAVE these features
richard8a at 02:02 PM on 08/13/07
Reply by Email
*

I think it's cool that the device that has more useful features than most other phones (and easier to use, mind you) still gets ridiculed for the couple it doesn't...
sicboater at 02:12 PM on 08/13/07
Reply by Email
*

@Delmarc:
I whole heartedly agree.
treetrunk at 03:00 PM on 08/13/07
Reply by Email
*

I guess this is what they meant when they claimed to have "reinvented" the phone. Camera on the front- heck no!
huygir at 03:24 PM on 08/13/07
Reply by Email
*

Ok, this is cool... best reason yet to own an iPhone (can't think of any other reasons, though :-).
SMSDHubbard at 06:16 PM on 08/13/07
Reply by Email
*

@Delmarc: Did you just use a BLINK tag?

...

...

Wow. Just.. Wow.
darkwaters at 07:53 PM on 08/13/07
Reply by Email
*

So, all the video you send is reversed.
This means that if you hold up a note, it will be backwards?
alinus at 10:30 PM on 08/13/07
Reply by Email
*

First prize of what ? This is the most ridiculous app for iPhone. I love the periscope thing, why not a connection to a camcorder. Look at any other modern cellphone...they have a front camera for video calls. And the shame is that Apple succeed to develop a nice app as iChat for OSX.
Delmarc at 11:19 AM on 08/15/07
Reply by Email
*

@SMSDHubbard:
Yes I did... hahahahhaha

The inventor of the blink tag, Lou Montulli, has said repeatedly in interviews that he considers "the blink tag to be the worst thing I've ever done for the Internet".
rdpurdom at 10:22 PM on 08/20/07
Reply by Email
*

I read the words of these MacSlammers, pounded out on their "computers" and I can feel the envy in their words. Take this new potential product for video conferencing on the iPhone. The gripe about it not having video capabilities like "normal" cell phones of the 21st. century. Or they say it is a Ghetto device. Don't they realize that this is the first try at something like this on ANY cell phone on the planet? Does it need some work? Of course! Can ANY other phone anywhere do this at all? NO! ANd this happened in the first week? Yea, Apple has it going on. Just wait till version 2.0!