Man, multimedia messaging? Apple sure must feel brave after conquering cut/paste in their second version of the couple-hundred-dollar iPhone!

PLEASE, give it Stereo Bluetooth!

Um...I might get disemvowled or banned for this, but this isn't a consumer issue. It's interesting, sure. But it doesn't help consumers make more informed decisions, or embarrass a company into doing the right thing.

What new features?? These features have been leaked weeks ago..

@tedyc03: Well, you could say it is a consumer issue. Say your cell phone contract is up with somebody not AT&T. You seen a good number of people with the iPhone but you weren't sure to get one because of screen-typing. I might get one now because you can do horizontal typing. Consumerist just aided me in making an informed decision!

"Leaked photos have surfaced showing off the third-gen iPhone's rumored firmware upgrades"

To be clear, this has nothing to do with a third-gen iPhone that hasn't been announced yet. This is a firmware upgrade for existing iPhones. That's not clear from your post.

@bloggerX: This is precisely the reason why. This is a consumer issue because it affects consumers and their decision making process. When my contract with Verizon ended, I knew I wanted the iPhone. I knew about its features and I knew my reasons for wanting to get it. If no one ever reported on this, how would I know?

Also, the point of Consumerist is not to "embarrass a company into doing the right thing" - it's to help consumers make better decisions, stay aware of certain topics, and better understand the world.

@Cant_stop_the_rock: Ok, I'll clarify.

Does it finally beat DOS? Because DOS had multitasking via TSRs...

@tedyc03:

As much as I love Apple, I have to agree. This seems like a post for Gizmodo or Engadget. I come here for consumer-interest stories, not product announcements.

Now, if AT&T was doing something crazy with their contracts (raising costs a great deal or reducing them), I could see the spin a bit better.

@bloggerX: ok, it has stereo bluetooth

ttp://www.mygreenbayrealtor.com/Green_Bay/Wisconsin/Homes/113/New_Franken/Agent/Listing_1727477.h

only the 3g and up, though

@tedyc03: Uh, how is it not a consumer issue? Many consumers here are iPhone owners and are probably interested in the new iPhone which they will probably buy at some point.

@lpranal: ugh delete that, please. here's the correct link:
[www.slashgear.com]

@tedyc03: Totally with you here. To the rest saying this is a consumer issue: By that definition, every new phone released is Consumerist-worthy news, because hey, it'll help you make an informed decision, right?

This isn't a site to help you find the best phone. There are lots and lots of those, and that's precisely why this story being here is redundant and unnecessary.

@Ben Popken: actually, aren't some of these features exclusive to the new iphones? Or will the compass , for example, work with 3g iphones?

@Ron00: Not even "leaked" - many of these features were announced by Apple themselves when they announced the new software version earlier in the year.

Yeah, this post is kind of... *really* old news.

And BloggerX, yes it has stereo bluetooth. Again, Apple already announced this.

@aphex242:

every new phone released is Consumerist-worthy news, because hey, it'll help you make an informed decision, right?

Do you honestly think they post every single user complaint ever, or every article about consumerism ever? Because, no, they don't: They pick and choose.

@bloggerX: @pecan 3.14159265: @nakedscience: I would say it not a consumer issue because it is a RUMOR. They have not said anything yet so all this is purely speculation.

@nakedscience: Of course I don't. I'm simply stating that I believe a firmware update for a fairly popular phone doesn't qualify as Consumerist-worthy news, as have several other commenters. I celebrate their ability to pick and choose, but happen to think this was a big miss.

Even the consumerist is now trying to get a piece of the apple rumor-mongering pie?

I hope that this means there will be a software upgrade for the Ipod Touch as well...

@aphex242: I agree with those that have said this isn't a consumer issue. Sure it's their web site and they can dictate what they post here, fine. Sometimes I refer people to this site because it's great for consumer issues. They'd probably be a bit confused as to why there was an iphone software update post. By this logic how come there aren't any posts about leaked BlackBerry OS upgrades? Stick to Gizmondo or Engadget for something like that.

@aphex242: Agreed. This is not appleinsider.com or other apple rumor sites. This does not belong up here.

@tedyc03:

I agree. It appears Consumerist.com has some interest in Apple and the iPhone. I was unable to find any mention of the Samsung Omnia i8910, a far superior product than Apple's iPhone. Additionally, why is there no mention of Microsoft's announcement of a new gaming system that eliminates controllers? Or there announcement of the release of Windows 7 in October? While consumers have some interest in this subject, it appears there's some bias.

@Nate128: "They'd probably be a bit confused as to why there was an iphone software update post."

Really? Are the people you refer this site to that clueless?

@LegoMan322: ::edit:: until they fully release the product.

@nakedscience: Mainly I was thinking people like my parents. They're not technologically savvy, and yes they're clueless about stuff like the iphone. YE GAWDS MAN! HOW CAN PEOPLE LIKE THAT BE OUT THERE?????!!!?!?!

@Nate128: If they aren't "technologically savvy" then they are likely not technologically savvy enough to navigate this blog period. You'd be better off linking directly to teach article instead of throwing them to the winds.

But seriously, people: Scroll bar. Use it.

@lpranal: Thanks for the link!

@nakedscience:

I have to agree with Nate128 on this. My grandparents have a cellphone from several years ago and will never get a new one so long as it works. They rarely use it and couldn't care less about the latest and greatest. But, when it comes to computers, my grandfather knows the ropes. Finding a website like this would be no problem for him. You're over-generalization is seriously flawed.

@Cant_stop_the_rock:
I should have said it's a firmware upgrade for all iPhones, not just existing iPhones, since obviously the third gen phone will use the new firmware. I just wanted to make it clear that Apple isn't just adding features to new phones, they're adding features to old phones. Some features will not work on all phones. Some won't work on the original iPhone, some presumably won't work on the 3G iPhone. But the features that people are waiting for, like MMS, will not be limited to the unannounced 3rd generation iPhone.

I'm not sure about the compass, but there's no reason a compass wouldn't work on the 3G iPhone since it has GPS. GPS requires you to move a short distance before you can get an accurate compass reading, but it works well enough that there'd be no reason to add additional hardware to enable a compass.

Very odd post for consumerist. I can understand posting info about a cool update that adds features to a phone one already owns, that fits perfectly with what the consumerist does. But leaked screenshots? Odd.

In any case, as a current iPhone owner, I am so over it. Nothing in the 3.0 update changes things enough for me to want to stick with it now that I've seen and played with the Palm Pre. That phone is so slick it makes the iPhone seem primitive.

@shepd:

So does the iPhone, but Apple has limited which programs can continue to run in the background. Not sure why they do this - perhaps it's so developers can assume they will have a certain amount of memory and system resources available to them. There is some performance degradation when you jailbreak the phone and install stuff that runs in the background.

@Cant_stop_the_rock:from what I've read, the 3rd gen iphone has a built in magnetic compass. I can't tell whether or not the 3g iphone has one, i'm guessing not since it hasnt yet bet implemented. a GPS compass only works when you're moving, and wouldn't be as accurate if you were , say, on a trail or boat and needed to follow an exact bearing. it's still just speculation at this point, and I think there are accelerometer-based compasses out there, i just think you'd need to have a magnetometer built in to get the same functionality as a traditional compass

@JohnTheBastard: Yep...pull up your boots.

@William Brinkman: Yeah, wow.

My friend keeps trying to message me pics, so I get a text that says "You have a multimedia message!" with a link to follow and a user ID that's some long meaningless string of characters, like hy59jwe9q2, AND a password to enter. Which I of course can't copy-paste. So I click the link to launch Safari, and have to somehow recall both those nonsense strings in order to log in to see whatever silly pic my friend sent me.

Note to Apple: my iPhone should not at any point require a pencil and paper to operate.

I still LOVE my G1

@bluewyvern: Maybe Apple should start selling and marketing iPencils and iPaper for this very reason...

@Gramin: Erm. I didn't overgeneralize. HE is the one that said that people he sends here wouldn't be technologically savvy enough to realize that this is one post out of many.

@bluewyvern: I don't get why this wasn't handled by AT&T - a much better workaround would have been to simply mail us those images. How long would that have taken to code up?

AT&T's new text could have been:
"You have received a multimedia message! It has been mailed to at [youremail@domain.com]. If this email address is not correct, please click this link: [[blah] blah blah...]"

@ogremustcrush: The Pre might be better (I'm not convinced) but you'd have to be on Sprint. From the stories I've seen on this site, that's like asking to get kicked in the shins.

I would have jumped on the new iPhone, but since Google updated Android to v1.5 two days ago, I am in love with my G1 again. I like the iPhone though.

Just a note, this is old news. iPhone 3.0 has been in beta for awhile, giz has been reporting for months on this.

And whoever mentioned early that apple brought copy paste to the second gen iPhone, you're wrong, copy/paste wont be available until this software releases.

yay apple.

@bluewyvern:
I agree. AT&T should have a system setup where you can choose to automatically have any MMS messages, sent to your #, automatically forwarded to a user specified email address.

But really, just tell your friends to send MMS pics to your email address instead of your phone number.
My sister has Verizon and since she started emailing me the pics I've had no problems at all.
You can even reply to the email and the response will appear as a text reply on their phone.

@tedyc03: I agree. It's an advertisement, and belongs on Kotaku, a Gawker blog (which Consumerist used to be).

Wait, wait, wait... so up until now, there's been no MMS, no horizontal typing, extremely limited multitasking capability, and no stereo bluetooth, all so you could get access to some shiny pay-to-download apps that have to be vetted by Apple first?

Wow. I sure am jealous of all the iPhone users out there. I wish I'd spent the extra $100 instead of getting my Omnia.

Is it just me, or do all the people who rail against the iPhone sound more smug than the people who actually own the iPhone?

If iPhone keeps up these amazing developments, it's going to be almost comparable to the G1 one day.

@bluewyvern:
I just have this thing on there called e-mail that has the ability to attach and view pictures. Pretty new fangled and insane and what not.