14 DAY TRIAL // FaceTime, an open video-chat standard developed by Apple Inc., may be headed to Macintosh computers via iChat, as well as to generic PCs via means of an unspecified application, a French source claims.
A report by iPodnn mentions rumors cited by French website Mac4ever.com which suggest that FaceTime video call support may soon be coming to platforms others than those running Apple’s iOS.
A Google-translated version of the tidbits obtained by Mac4ever is available below:
"Some tidbits reach us in this weekend.
To begin, iLife '11, which we announced this summer (with the disappearance of iDVD) , could eventually go out very soon.
Furthermore, it is rumored that Apple is preparing to leave FaceTime for Mac and PC, the Mac version coming to settle down in the iChat software."
Apple has recently introduced the iPod touch community to FaceTime, the iOS 4 feature that previously offered video chatting only to iPhone 4 users.
By adding not one, but two cameras on the iPod touch, Apple has enabled more users of iDevices to talk to each other via Wi-Fi. On the iPod touch, users are called up by their email addresses.
It would not be surprising to see Apple implement the same method of calling on computers, although the change may not be just around the corner.
As for iLife 11, the new suite has been rumored for launch since early this summer.
iLife is a suite of multimedia applications that ships with every new Mac. Currently comprised of five key apps - iPhoto, iMovie, iWeb, iDVD, and GarageBand - iLife is said to drop iDVD in the upcoming version of the suite, and deliver a new, mystery application.
Apple was expected to unveil the new software at its September 1 event. The company did not make such announcement.