As promised, AT&T's iPhone finally has the capability to send multimedia messages to another phone number. Whatever AT&T had to do to gets its act together, the carrier did it.
The update went live just a moment ago, and I've successfully sent my first MMS on CNET's iPhone 3G. I was able to exchange photos both with another iPhone and a Samsung SPH-M330 on Sprint.
You'll need to connect to iTunes to receive the update, which should download in seconds. We were able to send an update immediately, but you may have to restart your iPhone first.
To confirm that your device is ready, go to Settings > General > About. Your carrier version should be "AT&T 5.5," and you'll need the latest iPhone 3.1 software update. Also, remember that owners of the original iPhone will miss out on the fun.
For more information, check out Apple's links for updating and enabling carrier settings. And if you're having problems, see Apple's troubleshooting tips or the MMS send failure fix from iPhone Atlas.
Welcome, AT&T iPhone, to 2003. Now we just need that tethering.
It's already known that AT&T is activating MMS for the iPhone on Friday, but the company has now narrowed the time frame to within a few hours.
(Credit:
Apple)
As reported by AppleInsider, AT&T's official Facebook page said the service will be activated late morning Pacific time Friday. That's not exactly definitive, but at least no one will need to sit around all morning wondering if it's on yet.
The iPhone's multimedia messaging service will allow the transmission of photos, contacts, audio files, and locations with the Messages app, according to Apple.
In order to get the service, you will need to download a "new carrier settings update enabling MMS," according to AT&T. The update will be available through iTunes, the company said.
It seems odd that an update is needed when some users have been reporting for the last 10 days that MMS has been activated on their iPhones.
Despite AT&T bringing one of the most requested services to the iPhone, comments on AT&T's Facebook page could be described as sarcastic at best.
"Welcome to 2003 AT&T!" one comment read.
"I hope it crashes badly....this will make them spend all that money they charged us for something that we could not even use for months!" wrote another.
While some people scorned AT&T's delay in delivering MMS, others echoed the recent sentiments of CNET News' Elinor Mills and suggested the company improve its network.
"I rarely use the network at all. I pay...every month for a handheld mac. I only get enough service at my home to text, we don't have 3G anyway so I use my own wi fi...I am paying twice for the Internet. I could care less about MMS because I'd rather get signal and make calls (than) send picture messages," one person commented on AT&T's Facebook page.
MMS finally arrives on the iPhone.
(Credit: Corinne Schulze/CNET)Congratulations, iPhone, you can finally join the cell phone family. AT&T announced Thursday that the long-awaited multimedia messaging would arrive on Apple's device in the United States starting September 25. The iPhone 3GS and iPhone 3G will support the service, but owners of the original iPhone will miss out since that handset lacks the proper radio.
In its brief statement, AT&T offered few reasons why it's taken so long to get such a basic cell phone feature. It only said MMS "required us to work on our network MMS architecture to carry the expected record volumes of MMS traffic and ensure an excellent experience from Day One."
The carrier also said it appreciates the patience of its customers (it better) and that it knows that many iPhone customers are "eager" (that's putting it mildly) for the MMS rollout. Other iPhone carriers around the world have offered MMS since the 3.0 update went live earlier this year.
On the magic day, you'll need a software update before you can send your first photo to another phone number. As we reported last month, some users have seen the MMS commands on their iPhone after the most recent software update, but they've been unable to use them.
And in case anyone is keeping score, September 25 is three days after autumn officially begins on September 22. At Apple's WWDC in June, a company exec said MMS would come later in the summer. And one more thing: we're still waiting for that promised tethering support.
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Apple)
For at least the third time this month, Apple and AT&T are being sued by a consumer complaining of being duped into believing that multimedia messaging, or MMS, was already available on the iPhone.
Filed in the Northern District of Ohio on Wednesday (PDF hosted by Wired), plaintiff Deborah Carr says Apple and AT&T misled the public into believing that the iPhone 3GS was capable of sending and receiving MMS messages on the device. The lawsuit claims that Apple's "print and video advertisements...on television, the Internet, the radio, newspapers, and direct mailers" all mention the availability of MMS on the device.
Two similar cases--one in Illinois and another in Louisiana--were also filed against the companies in August.
According to the latest lawsuit, first reported by InformationWeek, customers were told that MMS would be enabled on June 17, 2009, when iPhone OS 3.0 was released.
That seems rather strange, considering that Apple and AT&T announced on June 8, during Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference keynote that MMS would not be available until later in the summer. AT&T confirmed that time frame to Wired on Friday.
"We absolutely will offer MMS on iPhone 3GS and iPhone 3G with 3.0 upgrades in late summer, once we complete some system upgrades that will ensure our customers have the best experience with MMS," an AT&T representative said in a statement cited by Wired.
Carr's lawsuit does admit that Apple has a notice on its Web site explaining that support for MMS would be available from AT&T in late summer. However, the suit characterizes the note as a "mouseprint disclaimer," referring to the small print.
Technically, Apple has enabled MMS in iPhone OS 3.0. The proof is that 29 carriers around the world activated MMS on the iPhone when the new operating system was released on June 17. It's not available in the United States because AT&T isn't ready to activate it yet, which was disclosed on June 8.
On Monday, Apple announced at its Worldwide Developer Conferences in San Francisco that it plans to finally add data tethering to the iPhone, which will turn the device into a wireless modem to connect laptops to 3G networks.
(Credit: James Martin/CNET)Updated at 4:09 p.m. PDT with a link to a Boy Genius report and a clarification on when AT&T expects MMS and tethering service to be ready.
iPhone users across the U.S. were disappointed Monday to learn that AT&T, the only operator in the country offering the iPhone, won't immediately support a couple of key new features in Apple's new 3.0 operating system that will be available starting next week. But AT&T says these features are coming.
On Monday, Apple announced at its Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco that it plans to finally add data tethering to the iPhone, which will turn the device into a wireless modem to connect laptops to 3G networks. It also announced that the new 3.0 version of the iPhone operating system will support multimedia messaging messaging.
These features have topped iPhone users' wish lists since the phone was launched two years ago. But millions of iPhone users in the U.S. will have to wait a little bit longer. That said, AT&T says the features are coming soon.
... Read more
Carriers will be able to add their own branded MMS applications using MobiSpine's software.
(Credit: MobiSpine)Wednesday's report that a Swedish wireless company was planning to add an MMS application to the iPhone now makes a little more sense.
That's because MobiSpine, another Swedish company, announced the availability of a "white label" MMS service for carriers to use on the iPhone. Telia, the iPhone's wireless carrier in Sweden, has said it plans to bring MMS capability to the iPhone in short order, but it wasn't clear how it was going to make that happen. Now they'll be able to use MobiSpine's application under their own brand, sort of like how "white box" PC makers put together bare-bones systems for local distributors to sell under their own brand name.
One hurdle might be the approval process: MobiSpine's MMS application isn't available on the App Store as of this writing. However, individual carriers might have to submit their own versions on a case by case basis. So far, Apple has resisted the temptation to add MMS, which lets you send photos and videos in the body of a text message, to the iPhone.
Swedish iPhone carrier Telia has apparently convinced Apple to let it offer its own MMS application.
(Credit: Telia)Swedish iPhone users may soon have a way to send each other pictures and video via text messaging.
Telia, Apple's carrier partner in Sweden, is going to develop its own MMS (multimedia messaging service) application for the iPhone, according to a report from MacWorld Sweden. The lack of MMS is perhaps one of the most common gripes about the missing features of the iPhone, second only to cut and paste.
But instead of adding that function itself, or allowing a third-party developer to build it for the App Store, Apple is apparently going to let Telia enable MMS on its own. And it doesn't sound like the rest of the world is going to get a crack at that application, based on the translation, which was verified as legit by a few Daring Fireball readers conversant in Sweden.
Telia will have the application up and running in two months, it told MacWorld Sweden. There were MMS options available to those who wished to jailbreak their iPhones, but this is apparently an officially sanctioned way to text pictures to your friends.
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