Decaflon

The camera inside the iphone supports video there's just very limited software available to use it. I've got a video recorder app installed, but it only takes about 5-10 seconds before stopping. There is a developer working on live streaming video from the iPhone camera now.

Doh'. That's the group.

Then why is Apple lagging on the video then? That makes no sense to me at all. When I bought the iPhone I specifically asked if my iPhone would support video via a software upgrade and I was told no, perhaps the next generation phone would. My eyes popped when I read about using iPhone on Qik.

Can they made a EDGE to 3G upgrade via a software update or is that something hardware related?

That's hardware... at least it is the way they didn't. I'm not up to date on the hardware specifics, but I do know that the 3g phone has a different chipset for it's data transmissions. That let them not only do the 3g, but improve the battery life.

Both original and 3g can definitely do video. I would wager apple hasn't done a 1st party video because that would drain the battery FAST.

I'm not that technical, but what is the difference between the lenses used for cameras vs the ones used for camcorders? If nothing differentiates them then maybe it is just a matter of Apple trying to get the software down right.

I have no idea but I was told that the iPhone wasn't capable by an AT&T salesperson. I thought they knew what they were talking about. When I read about Qik (which is why a bunch of people dropped their iPhones and bought Nokia's) for the iPhone I was stunned.

@Ozone - I forgot about the battery. Yes, video would drain it very fast. I wonder if I upgrade phones will they force me to upgrade my plan as well. Most likely. :(

I just recorded a video with my first gen iPhone using some third party software called VideoRecorder.

I'm sorry the AT&T sales person was an ignorant ass. It may be a bad habit, or just unfair, but I will never take what a salesperson says as fact. It doesn't matter what company they work for.

iPhone has always supported video and I believe there was a third-party video recording application out within a couple weeks after the iPhone was initially jailbroken and a working compilation toolchain was put together. AT&T and Apple reps are only going to respond to the built-in uses of the phone so that's probably why they told you what they did. There are SDK-based recording apps being put together now that will support greater than 10fps recording based on some unique compression algorithms, so that will be interesting to see once they go live.

A watermelon is used for eating but it doesn't mean you hit it with a baseball bat and make it explode. Watermelon salespeople aren't going to pitch you the second usage, but it doesn't mean you can't do it.

@Ozone, I'm with ya re: salesperson talk. I never trust anything unless I've dug it up in my own research.

I researched the points that were important to me about the phone and asked about video on a lark. At the time video on the phone wasn't a priority to me. Mike might remember - I was more concerned about being able to use the touch keyboard. I've always hit a key with my nail which doesn't work on the iPhone so I spent more time seeing if I could adapt to the keyboard with my long nails. Which was comical.

Perhaps they told me video wasn't available because, without jail breaking the phone, it isn't. "Technically" they were right I suppose. I haven't modified my phone and I have to remind myself to check for updates because I rarely use iTunes.

It's good to know the phone is video capable. I'm still on the fence whether I will upgrade. I figured they would make up the price with a change in plan pricing. AT&T didn't disappoint. :(