There’s been much debate about what the next iPhone, presumably introduced tomorrow, will look like. General consensus appears to be coalescing around a faster processor, more storage space (16/32 GB), faster 3G, a better camera, and a digital compass (to enable direction sensitivity as well as location). Video recording (and editing) seem fairly certain.

The idea of video calling has always seemed like the next big thing, so naturally rumors are swirling that this iPhone will deliver with a front-facing camera (these rumors were around prior to the release of the original iPhone 3G a year ago). I don’t think the 3G network is really ready for video calls, though it’s possible Apple would enable this in some limited fashion over the accelerated 3G that AT&T is getting set up now and over WiFi. I don’t believe there’s any protocol for cell video calls, so presumably this would use something like AOL or Google’s video chat features.

Here’s what makes more sense: with the ability to send MMS’s with video, you could use this for recording video messages that you send to another device. Many people already use texting far more than phone calls…this just takes it to the next level.

It’s still a bit of a pie-in-the-sky idea, but one bit of evidence that suggests it may really happen this time are the parts leaked out of China showing a speaker quite close to the top of the phone. If pictures of these parts are accurate (a big if, but why would someone fake it this way?) I’m sure it’s been moved up for a reason. Making room for a front-facing camera makes sense.