Apple's iPhone 4.0 beta includes linked contacts, iChat sounds

A couple of new discoveries were made this past weekend by developers familiarizing themselves with the first external beta of Apple's iPhone 4.0 operating system, namely the addition of a linked contacts feature and the presence of iChat sounds in the resource files.

Linked Contacts

As can be seen below, a new version of the Contacts app due to ship with this summer's release will let users link multiple contacts together to form unified contact lists. The option "Link New Contacts…" appears at the base of each contact info pane.

Once a linked contact has been added to a primary contact, the info pane for the primary contact merges that contact information for both contacts into a single pane relabeled as "Unified Info." An option at the base of the unified pane lists the number of linked contacts and directs users to a "Linked Contacts" pane to merge even more contacts into the unified list.

iChat Sounds

And as if there weren't enough evidence mounting to suggest Apple is preparing to release a mobile version of its iChat video conference software for its iPhone OS devices, the folks over at iphonehacks.it have tacked on a bit more.

Specifically, they found inside the iPhone 4.0 resources a folder containing reproductions of iChat's sounds that are heard when sending an audio/video chat invitation and accepting an audio/video chat invitation.

Recent rumors have suggested that Apple's forth-generation iPhone, due for release this summer alongside iPhone Software 4.0, could include a forward-facing video camera in addition to the standard camera located on the rear of the handset.

Last week, AppleInsider also discovered the presence of iChatAgent running in the background of iPhones updated with iPhone Software 4.0 beta.