Rumor: iChat coming to iPhone OS 4.0?

Last Thursday, Steve Jobs gave a developer preview of iPhone OS 4.0. The updated mobile operating system has over 100 new features, but only 7 were given the limelight in Jobs’ presentation. That leaves the possibility of iChat being one of those 100 features quite high, and with the recent findings made within the iPhone OS 4.0 SDK, rumors are certainly pointing to the Apple instant messaging application coming to the iPhone platform in the near future.

9 To 5 Mac has been routing through the software development kit, and has found several references to a possible iChat application. They found files relating to video chat moderators, chat rooms and a bunch of audio files that are the same as those used in the desktop iChat application. Of course, these are all small things—there’s no actual application hiding in there, or word from Mr Jobs himself, but it’s a start.

The biggest question is why did Apple feel this is not worth mentioning in the press event? Well, for video conferencing to be available on the iPhone, there would need to be a front-facing camera in the hardware. Therefore, if Apple had mentioned iChat as one of the features coming in iPhone OS 4.0, it would have surely given the game away about the next-generation of mobile hardware coming from Cupertino. That’s not Apple’s game, as well all know. As a result, the iChat application was hidden, leaving only a few files that form part of the software development kit in other areas—possibly the Gamecenter.

As always, it’s just a rumor for now, but the odds are stacked quite highly in favor of an iChat mobile application. It’s a feature I’ve longed for since day one, so I really hope to see this come to WWDC this summer.

Via [9To5Mac]