Rumor: iPod Touch, iPad to get email-based FaceTime?

Rumors that the iPod Touch will be getting a camera have been circulating for a while, and more recently, it’s starting to look like it may come with a front-facing camera. And why not? Adding a feature that makes FaceTime possible would be a plus for this device, as well as offer a new userbase with which iPhone 4 customers can vid chat. Throw iPad users into the mix, and that’s a lot of faces spending time chatting.

But the current incarnation of FaceTime uses contacts’ phone numbers on the iPhone 4. But this begs the obvious question: Neither the iPod Touch nor the iPad can dial out or receive calls, and therefore have no associated phone numbers — so how are people supposed to connect with them?

According to the latest rumor, as tipped by a BGR source, the system is going email-based: “Your Apple ID will be registered with your device/s, and that will allow other Apple devices to start a FaceTime call using your email address. Apple will also reportedly make use of push notifications to deliver these incoming FaceTime connection requests…” It seems a push notification detector for FaceTime was spotted in the iPhone OS 4.1 beta, which was just released to developers. This seems to support the story.

So that would explain how this will work, at least in one direction. You would FaceTime your iPod Touch or iPad friends using their email addresses. But them reaching iPhone 4 users still requires a phone number, which neither device can dial. That’s kind of weird, but okay; maybe it’s just the first step to the whole system going email-based for everyone.

If this is true, then there’s some good news and bad news here: FaceTime doesn’t work without a camera. So if this pans out, we’re assured that the Touch and the iPad are getting front-facing cameras (or at least compatible camera attachments). The bad news? Well, this could muck up the works if you use multiple Apple IDs on your device.

Stay tuned.

Via: BoyGenius Report

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