iPodTouchFans forum user 42395_skyline found a couple of entries in the “Facetime App” property list that hinted towards group video chat which might be available in the future.  The discovery of an unknown key in a FaceTime property list hints at the possibility that future versions of the app will support video “conference” calls.

String found in iOS firmware:

<key>AllowsMultipleConnections</key>

<false/>

As per the forum member who spotted a key; “it is set to ‘false’ by default, but setting it to ‘true’ doesn’t seem to have any effect.” Although this would be a fairly useless feature on iPhones and iPod touches, an iPad with a front-facing camera would certainly be able to benefit from the ability to talk to multiple video callers at once given its larger screen.

iPodTouchFans forum user 42395_skyline found a couple of entries in the property list /System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/IMCore.framework/imagent.app/PlugIns/FaceTime.imservice/ServiceProperties.plist that raised eyebrows. The first, AllowsMultipleConnections, was the most interesting one – apparently, it’s a placeholder for functionality that will exist in the future, as setting it from the default ‘false’ to ‘true’ had no effect for most users, (with the exception of a few whose devices went into a respring loop as a result of modifying the file). The second, HandlesChatInvites, suggests the idea that FaceTime might support at least text chat from iChat or other IM services. The iChat IMaccount.h header file also includes this property.

Apple already provides this functionality in iChat for Mac. If they bring FaceTime to Mac having the best of both worlds makes sense. Likewise, with Skype adding multiple video calls in their Windows version, this would appear the next step for Apple to take to try and get people to start using their product over Skype. Also with the iPad 2 coming next year with most likely a front facing camera, this would be a logical feature to throw in considering the large real estate on the iPad’s screen.

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Source: iPod Touch Fans

Authors: _GadgetNews

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