Everyone’s buzzing with excitement over the announcement of the new iPhone 3GS, especially since it comes equipped with a lot of exciting software and hardware features, like the new 3-megapixel video camera. However, the placement of the lens is rather odd; instead of being located above the touchscreen, it now faces away from you – the wrong way for video calls. It’s as if the new iPhone 3GS was designed to prevent video calling apps from working, which is not good new for Skype users. Although iPhone programmers can use the camera to store videos, they can’t write apps that will route the stream, which means that Skype for iPhone will probably skip adding video call features anytime soon.

There are four reasons why this may have happened. First, it could be due to simple manufacturing economics; it’s too early to lower the costs of video components. It could also be because video-to-file is easier to manage than streaming video. Battery life could also be a factor – video calls eat up batteries very quickly. But I think the real reason is that it’s a carrier issue. Mobile operators are threatened by the potential of VoIP and the big savings they offer to consumers. I imagine AT&T would be hostile to any VoIP-friendly features on the iPhone.

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