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Two New iChat functionalities on the way

B

bobindashadows

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Mar 16, 2002
419
0
Hey guys, I was just poking around in the iChat files, and I'm sure someone has already pointed it out, but i did a search for "iChat speech" and "iChat mic", "iChat camera"... i was in the private framework for iChat (i know the guy who figured out how to add your own emoticons to iChat, and he directed me there), and I found two very interesting .tiff files, mb-mic.tiff and mb-camera.tiff. the "mb" files are the little buttons in an ichat window, such as "B" for Bold, "I" for Italics, and the paper clip for sending files. These haven't been made into butotns yet as far as i can tell, but one is definitely of a camera and one is definitely of a microphone. In other words:

Unless Apple pulls a "minimize in place" feature deal on us again,
1. iChat will have talk support between buddies
2. iChat will be able to support... web cams? Not sure about the camera, i'm can't put it up here because their tiff files but if someone has a server or something and can host them, they aren't hard to find, they're located at:
Root/System/PrivateFrameworks/InstantMessage.framework/Versions/A/Resources/
 
Cool

I think that would be sweet. I don't have a web cam but I would get one. Just see what happens.
 
more confirmation

I just found more confirmation of this, in the Localizable.strings in the english.lproj folder. I found:

/* Minibar tooltip */
"Turn the camera on or off" = "Turn the camera on or off";

/* Minibar tooltip */
"Turn the microphone on or off" = "Turn the microphone on or off";

These are the little tips that show up when you hover your mouse over the buttons. Looking good guys, it seems very likely that iChat will be turning into a full videoconferencing package!

Update: After searching through .nib files, I also managed to find a contextual menu which had the options "Basic", "Microphone", "Camera", and "Both". It was labelled "Minibar Menu - TESTING ONLY". I am attempting to use my extremely limited interface builder ability to create a button to activate it.

Update: After creating a button labeled "Hack" attached to the menu, it turns out that the menu does cause have some effect. It causes the two aforementioned icons to appear in the minibar, and these darken when clicked. They do not do anything, however, under chats, instant messages, whether they be AIM or rendezvous.
 
Originally posted by Skandranon
That. Is bad as ****.

:cool:
Click to expand...

bad as or bad ass? heh well here's a screenshot of the window. I've got a theme on it so ignore the slightly different menu bar and stuff. And you can ignore my desktop too *suspiscious* Hope you guys enjoy.

The biggest thing is the menu which will eventually be implemented in some form and the two little icons in the middle. Like i said before, they darken when you press them. If you want the file to just have it installed and show off to your other mac friends, just email me at nater42688@yahoo.com and I'd be happy to send the file and isntructions on how to install. Note: an administrator password is required to do it.
 
Very interesting...

A good application for MPEG4, but where are the OS X compatible webcams? Would you need a full camcorder...?
 
I have an older USB webcam, and haven't been able to get it to work with OS X :(

This feature might be a rendezvous feature...

Maybe you'll be able to IM someone with a phillips home theater system, and they just push a button on a remote, and they can see and hear you, it'd be the easiest form of video conferencing I've heard of.
 
video conferencing

A few weeks ago I was told from an apple employee to look out for video conferencing software from apple and that it wasn't too far away. I'm guessing this is it. He said he didn't want to tell me too much and that he'd rather have me be surprised. Bastard.
 
totally off topic

Hey Bobindashadows,

On that screenshot of your desktop, what application does that icon for the AustinPower.avi movie belong too? Just curious since I've never seen the icon before and am always into new ways of playing .avi's (even though vlc works well).
 
Re: totally off topic

Originally posted by Bradcoe
Hey Bobindashadows,

On that screenshot of your desktop, what application does that icon for the AustinPower.avi movie belong too? Just curious since I've never seen the icon before and am always into new ways of playing .avi's (even though vlc works well).
Click to expand...

it's the divx validator...sometimes when people download divx movies they are messed up and the sound doesn't work...run divx validator and it converts the movie to work...truly amazing
 
Re: Re: totally off topic

Originally posted by mnkeybsness


it's the divx validator...sometimes when people download divx movies they are messed up and the sound doesn't work...run divx validator and it converts the movie to work...truly amazing
Click to expand...

right on the money... there's also an app called avi2mov you can use if you want to skip the whole avi format, and it works most of the time when the validator gives an error.
 
This will be GREAT! I would love to have spoken conversations with my friends who have Jag, but I think these options might be a 10.3 thing. Mabe...

I do know that it will be really great for Apple in the nuisness world. iChat is so incredibly simple and easy to use that if they added webcam support ot would make for reaaly good and siple way to wage video confrences. Not only will it be simple to use, but it will be part of your computer so you have emidiate acces to all your filse without having to shufle through paper. Also, you can directly and quikly send the documents to all the people in the meating instead to having to read, fax, e-mail, or type it to them, all wich can be slow and/or unefitiant and/or inconvenient. If Apple did this it would be a very good reson to add on for companies to upgrade to OS X or even to swich to the mac.
 
Encrypted Chat Rooms

I was looking around in localization .strings files, and I found a couple about encrypted chats:

/* Generic no-encryption warning banner */
"Chat is not encrypted." = "Chat is not encrypted.";

/* Person-specific encryption reassurance banner */
"Chat with %@ is encrypted." = "Chat with %@ is encrypted.";

/* Person-specific no-encryption warning banner */
"Chat with %@ is not encrypted." = "Chat with %@ is not encrypted.";

I've yet to find more about this, since I think my mac was fried from power surges yesterday (through a surge protector, no less) but I'll be looking at it before I jump to that conclusion. Hope to find a lot more. See yall later.
 
Guys, check this out... I got it in an Apple e-mail a few days ago. This is a link to the Apple Store online in the UK:

http://store.apple.com/Apple/WebObjects/ukstore?productLearnMore=T4791

It's a link to a mini firewire webcam. I know a friend of mine has been looking for one for some time and was told by Apple Stores in the US that there weren't any (as of a week or two ago!) on the market for OSX - but look at the details on this page and it says: "NATIVE 10.2 SUPPORT - NO DRIVER NEEDED).

The page has a picture of QTBroadcaster on it, but I suppose if the OS sees it, it's just a question of putting the button "back" into iChat before Mac users the world over see each other face to face.

I'm going to comb my hair.

R*
 
No OS X webcams!?!

Originally posted by Rower_CPU
Very interesting...

A good application for MPEG4, but where are the OS X compatible webcams? Would you need a full camcorder...?
Click to expand...

Has finding webcams for OS X been a problem!?!

I've have an iBot Firewire webcam which works for OS X. I've had it about a year or so. Tried out a few VC apps - but didn't find anything I liked much. So it's been collecting dust, waiting for rumoured video support for iChat.
 
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