Offical iPhone instant messaging will come soon?

Aidan Malley says on AppleInsider: “Apple has set the groundwork for instant messaging on the iPhone and other touchscreen devices with an application for a patent on a universal interface for real-time text chat services.”

Published in March, the USPTO filing describes an interface similar to the existing SMS (Short Messaging Service) text messaging interface for the iPhone, but with key changes.

Apple’s current chat format for SMS (left) and the patent’s alternate version (right).

Examples of composing a new message (left) or viewing chat history (right), both of which are found in existing iPhone software.