Apple to release iChat Mobile for next version of iPhone or rumored iSlate?

Update: Uh oh - looks like Mark messed up on this one. -any apple.com/ichatxxxx goes to the iChat website. -Ed.

When you go to apple.com/ichat you are taken to Apple's standard iChat site for Snow Leopard. When you go to apple.com/ichatmobile, you are taken to the same place. This URL seems to act as a place holder for a future product.

What kind of future product? Well, there are a number of possibilities. The first is that Apple is looking to release a iChat like web-app for iPhone's and iPod touch or an App Store compliant native app.  Something along the lines of Meebo.  Think of the way MobileME does Web email with the same look and feel as the Macintosh Mail.app.  Perhaps Apple has a web based version of iChat planned.

The URL could also be evidence of Apple including a mobile version of their iChat software in iPhone O.S. 4.0 as a text and audio based mobile IM client. Over the last couple years there have been several rumors pointing to Apple making a version of the iPhone with a built-in iSight video camera, which would require an apple included application to utilize the feature.

Another possibility is iChat mobile being apart of the rumored iSlate (tablet) device. In this case, why would Apple choose to call the application iChat mobile? This may be to form a clear distinction between the operating system running on an iSlate and the full version of Snow Leopard. Apple uses the term iChat for Snow Leopard so it would be deemed fit for apple to use the name iChat mobile for a lighter and stripped down mobile operating system.

Apple doing anything with that URL is a possibility, but absolutely nothing has been confirmed as of yet.