The iPhone 3G S launched a few months ago, but AT&T users haven’t been able to take advantage of a few much vaunted (and much needed) features as yet: MMS, Bluetooth file-sharing, and tethering are the Big Three. This, of course, despite the fact that AT&T is the “flagship” carrier! But never mind all that, because today we have some good news in the way of this latest bit of gossip: starting with iPhone OS 3.1, AT&T users will, in fact, be able to use MMS and Bluetooth file-sharing. Welcome to 2006, iPhone owners!
I kid, of course, but it is ludicrous that we’re getting so excited over a feature that’s been around for many years now. But I guess that’s what makes the iPhone so great, all that bleeding edge technology.
The key is Apple’s event next week, on September 9. (A few people from the Crunch Team will be there.) That’s when it’s expected that Apple will announce these new features—if not at the very event, then sometime that week.
Keep in mind that that Apple event seems to be music-centric. Whether that means new iPods with built-in cameras, the Beatles coming to iTunes, social media functionality built into iTunes (“Jim played ‘Paint it Black’ 22 times today. He must be going through a phase.”), or whatever, who knows.
In other news, the New York Times is finally getting around to something that we have known for months: the iPhone is just killing AT&T. Anyone who was at SXSW last March knows first hand how all those iPhone-toting attendees brought AT&T to its knees. Basically, iTunes users, with their excessive data consumption, is pushing AT&Ts’ network to the breaking point; some might even call it broken. (Comedian Jim Norton often ranks about his terrible iPhone reception, on the West Side of New York City.)
So, yeah, three cheers for MMS, maybe.
AT & T sucks,,it is a very bad carrier with slow 3G and tons of 3G data ristriction for iPhone.
iPhone is the best smart phone ever needs better carrier support with high speed internet.Verizon is good for iPhone in USA.
Depends on your location. In my area AT&T is great! Fast 3G speeds (faster than VZW – I tested, but that was last year), no phone/connection issues.
An awesome and exciting important service from iPhone can be expected in a few more days. Hope AT&T keeps its promise!
Thus we shall wait and see to what extent the iPhone MMS service reaches people?
I agree with The_BORG, I actually get fairly fast 3G speeds in my area. Equally as fast, and sometimes faster, than Verizon. I’m not always thrilled with the way AT&T handle things (MMS, tethering, etc.), but they do ok in some areas.
i so agree with JD ..i cant wait till Verizon gets LTE so tat iPhone can come over..it will have better data n network coverage overall !!!!
Feel so good to not care about this article. Ditched my iPhone for a Blackberry Bold and love it
As our Canuck friend points out below – the truth is that all of the American carriers are a complete joke to any one outside looking in. We’re talking VZW & ATT just now achieving levels of service and speed that were available nearly 10 YEARS AGO in many countries in Europe, Asia, SOUTH AFRICA, etc. Canada is a good example that disproves the argument that we are lagging behind these countries just due to geographic size. The facts are the U.S. carriers continue to drag their feet and rake us over the coals in order to make as much passive profit as possible.
While the FCC was so busy liquidizing bands of the spectrum to the tunes of billions of dollars a few years ago, they should have been leveraging that position of strength to get these companies off their asses and rolling out real upgrades to their networks. How many jobs would have been created if the mobile carriers were truly racing to outdo each other on 3G, 4G, etc and the cable companies had any motivation (competition) to lay down fiber nation-wide?
ok end rant
Hope all these rumors would be revealed on the event. The event will unlock and show whether iPhone app approval sucks or AT&T sucks Apple. Waiting for the day of event.
No, you suck retard. You obviously no nothing about wireless technology. VZ’s network would be hurting just as bad if they had the iPhone. Shut your fricking mouth unless you know what you’re talking about.
I assume that this will apply to all iPhones, not just the 3GS, right?
Only the 3G and 3Gs will be able to do MMS. The original iPhone can’t.
Note that the inability to handle MMS on the original (2G) iPhone is not a technical limitation, but a software choice made by Apple. I’m not sure why they put in this restriction–There are already many legitimate reasons to upgrade to a newer phone so the artificial obsolescence isn’t really needed to drive new purchases.
How do I know this? I’m already using MMS on my 2G thanks to jail breaking and entering the carrier specific settings for T-Mobile. Sending and receiving work just as they have on any other phone.
… and the 3G iPhone can handle video. My point is that Apple has announced that the original iPhone won’t have MMS.
This better be across all iPhones. I’m curious as to what the price for the MMS packages will be. You know we’re not going to get it for free. http://ziggytek.com/
They already said it’s going to be free.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/06/15/att_free_mms/
Sure they can say it’s “free” when you’re already paying $15-$20 a month on top of your data plan to text.
It’s not “free.” It’s just that there is no distinction between a SMS and MMS message. So if you run out of text messages, you will be charged.
Their summer deadline was almost here. Now I need Google Voice to support MMS and I’ll be a happy camper.
Really, if the iPhone was on Verizon, who is to say their network could have handled the strain. ATT constantly gets a black-eye, but I am not sure VZW would have been any better.
All carriers suck and all carriers are great – just depends on where you are trying to use them. I have had them all and had good and bad with them all. Right now, ATT is doing OK for me.
That’s why getting rid of the exclusive contracts and spreading the network stress out between all major carriers and even some regional ones makes the most sense.
Then consumers can choose between features offered on certain networks, call quality and best pricing.
Bryan, that’s the fricking dumbest thing I’ve ever heard!!!
That’s like saying McDonalds should be able to sell the Whopper!
BULLSH!T !!! Suck it up! Being the best carrier should give you some priviledges and exclusivity to whatever products you get get under your belt.
if the iphone wasn’t locked into AT&T then people would have never jumped ship from other carriers just to own the iphone. If AT&T can’t handle the data load that comes with exclusivity, then take the iPhone to a company that can…if not remove exclusive deals.
depends. even if it wasn’t exclusive to one carrier, if they only had a gsm version then there are only two choices here in the US. att & tmobile. So some people would jump ship from verizon, sprint and would probably choose att over tmobile.
and I don’t think that any network, verizon or otherwise, could have handled the data load.
lol…. us canadians up here… just enjoying these features casually… its funny to think such a big populous country like the US cant have a reliable GSM service…
Then there is Rogers up here, only have had GSM up here for like what … 10 years? and surpasses CDMA 100%… I couldn’t imagine Bell or Telus with an iPhone… do people not understand the term 3G?
First of all 3G is a term… 3rd Generation…
Now i know in Canada Bell and Rogers have 3G…
But lets break this down Rogers GSM 3G connection is 5 times the speed of Bells CDMA.. so even if Verizon launched iPhone.. I agree you will have amazing cell reception… but 5 times slower the 3G…
GSM 3G is 3.1mbps (ish)
GSM 3.5G (Rogers Currently) is 7.2mbps…
GSM 4G 21mbps… Rogers is launching as well as Bell and Telus…
The real solution would be for Verizon to launch GSM.. cuz apple isnt going to go and make a special CDMA version.. why bother? it would break the bottom line…
you’re a little confused.
How well do you guys check out your sources? Do you know that the original article this all goes back to is dated August 3 on some little-known blog (funkyspacemonkey.com – who the hell are they?) who claims an “AT&T ninja” told them this? Who wants to bet that this “AT&T ninja” is a customer service rep who actually knows nothing and just made something up because they wanted to give them some sort of answer?
Come on, guys. I expect more from TechCrunch.
If the OS 3.1 upgrade will kill tethering, I’ll pass on MMS for now.
word.
jailbreak, pdanet.
good wallah
I’m using GetMMS (http://www.uquery.com/apps/304636819) for a looong time :)
Nice picture Tech Crunch..lol
Crap! This means my iphone will be even less reliable now cause of everyone sending MMS! AT&T’s network has been getting worse for every iphone user they add. I imagine this will just slow down the network even more….
I am far from a fan of AT&T… However there is no reason to believe that any of the other carriers would have done any better at handling the millions of iPhone users with their “excessive data consumption.”
All the major carriers blow… ALL OF THEM.
And while it’s lame that AT&T took a few extra months after the announcement of MMS for the iPhone to get it to us I put more of the blame on AT&T.
How did the iPhone ever launch without it and why did it take Apple 2 years after launch to finally add it. Ridonkulous!
Make that “more of the blame on APPLE.”
They all suck because they are more interested in profit than their customers. They shoot themselves in the foot though because people would probably spend more if they did not feel like they were being ripped off.
AT&T is probably the worst though. Next to Verizon. AT&T and Verizon both cripple their handsets while carriers like Tmobile ship stock handsets. I tether all day long on my Tmobile Blackberry for $60 a month. The equivalent AT&T plan is $160 for a crippled phone.
I have the 3G and I can’t MMS now, is this feature going to be available in a few weeks then, i’m a little confused.
If this rumor is true, then the end is truely near for all of us AT&T customers. The network will be even more bogged down. I wish AT&T delays officially making these features available until the network upgrades catch up. I won’t be surprised if AT&T finds ways to get more money out of rolling out MMS and tethering (e.g., enforce billing for any tethering you do; enforce data bandwidth caps, etc.)
Just in time for MMS to be completely outdated! Good Job AT&T!
Spoiled, spoiled, spoiled is what I have to say. It’s not good enough to have phone that does everthing the iPhone does but, you cats r complaining about not sending mms thru text. Send it thru ur email n get over it. After all……You can’t send pics thru text on your PC. N we all know that the iPhone is a mini computer! L.I.G. (let it go)!
If AT&T can’t handle the stress the iPhone is putting on the network then Apple should be allowed to terminate the contract early and lessen the stress by first allowing T-Mobile users to have it and then Verizon and Sprint since new phones will have to be shipped for them.
The phone should be on at least all 4 major carriers anyways. This creates a better environment for the customer since we can then choose the carrier that gives us the best service, coverage and price.
AT&T has been horrendous and has crippled what the iPhone could and should be. I for one will jump ship immediately and gladly pay the $175 termination fee to switch to another carrier (most likely Verizon).
You’re a moron!!!! Shut your mouth! God I’d like to meet you in a dark alley and knock the stupid out of you!!!!
Go to Verizon NOW!!!!!! Get a different phone!!! Otherwise STFU!!!!! VZ phones suck! That’s why you haven’t you idiot!!!
How exactly Bluetooth file sharing not working on iPhone is ATT’s fault??
You can already get MMS on your iPhone without hacking it: http://johndyer.posterous.com/free-mms-on-the-iphone-only-at-the-dallas-app
Sept. 25 – http://www.att.com/gen/press-room?pid=1574
2006? Europe has had MMS for longer than that, first deployment of the service was in 2002!
I can’t wait until all you Verizon lovers jump ship…you will get the same result because once the iPhone hits Verizon, their crap CDMA will be tons slower and everyone that stays with AT&T will be much faster without all you whiners on the AT&T GSM Network.
What about the iPhone 3G people? Would the update permit us to have MMS & tethering?
Nice to hear that finally Apple and AT&T are bringing this “New” feature to an emerging market called USA…
One can download Freedom Pix from the App Store and get started sending pictures now to mobile users or twitter without any SMS/MMS plans required: http://tinyurl.com/nnmsha Also sending to an iPhone is free if running Freedom Pix as well, anywhere in the world. And you can post your pictures on Twitter at the same time so all followers can see it which MMS can’t do.
Huh………I,m already using it on this one. Apple 8gb.
http://www.justcompareit.com/s~q-iphone.aspx?ag=3
This thing about AT&T bringing MMS to the i Phone is good news but only to G3S users. Sept. the 25th? Yeah right; I kind of doubt it. Oh, and even if it comes on that date, will it work? would there be an extra charge for the new data line? Will AT&T over charge there customers like it does with its text messaging? (There sure wouldn’t be any surprises there) What about the users who have the 1st or 2nd i Phone; are they going to make them go out and buy new phones? forget that; if you want to send MMS from your i phone for free to anyone, right now! Go to MMS.ifind2.com and down load the sender today and forget about waiting on Apple & AT&T. Just check out the video on the link below. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2AygkZYjjNY
hello, I find a tutorial to enable mms on iphone 3g on this site:
http://www.messiphone.com/mobile-secret/mms-for-iphone3G.html
My question is that I can the same steps for Oragne