Apple is considering adding a video record feature to the iPhone, an omission which users have long complained about. It may soon become a handheld videophone platform, with support for mobile video-conferencing calls. Apple was awarded last week a mammoth 358 page patent that covers all aspects of the iPhone's user interface, with especial emphasis on multi-touch and the way gestures are implemented. One of these pages talks about the Video conferencing feature integrated into the iPhone, with a camera lens that can be rotated backward or forward, coupled with the touchscreen as a viewfinder. The phone will be 'doped up' with other applications for blogging, instant messaging, digital video capturing, video conferencing, MMS, etc. Multi-touch aspects of the patent, without any doubt, are the most important to iPhone's future.

[Wired]