Wait. Can't jailbroken phones use MMS? Doesn't that prove that Apple is lieing?

AT&T towers don't support MMS? I get MMS on my BlackBerry with AT&T, unless I'm missing something here?

Are they going to extend this beyond Louisiana so I can join in too?

The towers support MSS functionality, but once us iPhone users get on, we'll kill it.

The river can support a few boats, but there are thousands who'd like to float on it.

@italianscallion33: I don't understand how giving iPhone users MMS access is going to kill the towers any more than the current e-mail bandwidth, but I guess that's why I don't run a major telecom.

@sleze69: So can every other phone I've used on AT&T's network since 2004.

It's more of a matter of how their servers handle visual voicemail. It would simply break it utterly and completely.

Besides, by the time the suit rolls around they'll have fixed it anway.

@ElPresidente408: I think that particular service may be handled through the Blackberry servers and not AT&T but I'm not positive.

I sent an email a few days ago about thi the other day, basically saying "It's late Summer already."

This is what I got in response:

Thank you for taking the time to e-mail AT&T regarding when we are going to turn on MMS for the iPhone since it is already late summer. My name is Eric Bonitz, and I am happy to help you with your inquiry.

AT&T will enable MMS for iPhone 3G and iPhone 3G S after launch in late summer 2009, after completing system upgrades to ensure that our customers have the best experience with MMS. AT&T is in the process of making final network improvements, necessary to deliver the best possible experience once MMS is made available to our iPhone 3G and 3G S customers. Once the network enhancements are in place, you will be notified via free text message and MMS will be automatically enabled on your iPhone 3G S. I know you feel that it is late summer, but the Autumnal Equinox is not until 9/22/2009. MMS will be here for the iPhone 3G and 3GS soon.

@BrooklynKnight: I would like to know this aswell. Belive me I've pissed off my share of AT&T CSRs trying to get this turned on ever since the hack of enabling tethering and mms for free. We have a messaging package on our family plan so we're paying for EVERYONE (including me) to have unlimited MMS.

@Laura Northrup:
How many stories have been on the consumerist though of iPhones causing issues on AT&T's network? I get where youre coming though.

@dragonfire81: fyi, i've been doing MMS through AT&T on both my WindowsMobile phones and an unlocked Google I/O (Android) phone. Not a single problem.

But like what italianscallion33 and what DeeJayQueue says a few posts further down, "The river can support a few boats, but there are thousands who'd like to float on it. "

I, too, would like to be able to send MMS texts with pictures of Moby in them to my friends. Especially pictures of Moby giving a 'thumbs up!'.

I wonder if this lawsuit will bring up the real reason that this whole craziness is going down.

Also, does it matter that in the advertising and on Apple's website, they always put legal copy of "some restrictions apply, etc etc etc"? Isn't the whole point of that to protect themselves from being sued?

@bornonbord: What you say is true: Yes, things like federal and state laws are the restrictions that may apply. They're getting sued for offering/advertising a service and not delivering it. It's like if I ran a restaurant and you ordered a hamburger, you only get a bun, and thats all I charge you for. If I put, restrictions may apply on the bottom of the menu, that's not gonna cover my ass. Moreso, it would be legal if I was the only place allowed to sell burgers anywhere.

I don't get it either. And anyone can actually MMS back and forth by sending it as a email with 'phonenumber@carrierdomain'. Just have to know which carriers your friends are using and let them know how to forward MMS in that way to you.

@socalrob of the 24 and a half century: iPhone users can email photos, whereas many other phones have *only* MMS; since emailing photos is free-of-charge for folks on iPhone plans, I hardly see an upcoming flood of MMS.

Why would you want to MMS a photo when you can just email it from your iPhone?

@twophrasebark: To send it to any other modern phone that doesn't have email.

@SnowingCookies: I don't buy it either. I had a Razor through AT&T that sent MMS without problem, and now I have an el-cheapo Pantec Slate that also sends MMS. All AT&T.

At the same time, I don't buy the "billing" issue - Huh? I have an unlimited data / SMS plan with AT&T for my slate and their billing system seems to handle it just fine.

@twophrasebark: and in addition, my wife has found that she has new clients that have email, phones and everything but the only way she can actually contact them and get them to respond is via Text message.

They may have phones with email capabilities but they have not set up the email on them. For them, texting is their email. And they are accustomed to getting images via their texts.

@FooSchnickens: Wow, I didn't expect that argument... how does MMS affect visual voicemail?

@twophrasebark: Email has its problems. For instance, once you send one picture-in-email, you can't send another one until the first one completes. A pain in the but if you're in one of the many areas that only has Edge and no 3G, and a downright bummer if you've got no connectivity at all. MMS queues up the messages and sends them once it's got connectivity, regardless of the current connectivity state.

The people have spoken clearly.

I can't figure out something, someone explain me this:

For years Apple never built MMS into the Iphone and said to the world "We don't need it!"

I even believe the 2nd generation Iphone didn't have MMS capability either.

So finally in the 3rd generation them wonderful people at apple finally decide "We will do MMS now" and now everyone is bitching at at&t when they didn't or were not prepared for it?

Seems to me pot-kettle your black syndrome. This seems just as much or if not more Apple's fault than AT&T's?

The only other thought could be that Apple is using AT&T as a scapegoat, and AT&T is being paid well for it.

@DeeJayQueue: Well said.

@twophrasebark: Well putting in a phone number is a lot wasier then number@vzwpic.com or number@boostmobile.com, ect ect

They could just release an iPhone app for MMS and have it go through a different servers, than have customer data interface to the primary AT&T servers. This would circumvent any such incompatibility issues. The fact that this hasn't happened yet just proves that AT&T hasn't added the functionality to conserve bandwidth. Just like banning use of streaming media servers over the iPhone...

Um...so they didn't know this when they bought it?

I could care less about MMS messaging.

That whole thing about the towers upgrades is BS, my iPhone has had MMS for months. You just have to do a simple carrier hack on your iPhone and then trick AT&T's system into thinking you are not using an iPhone. The whole problem is simply an account provisioning issue with AT&T.

@Charles Duffy: I read elsewhere that AT&T is scared of iPhone users because we use a lot of those bandwidth-sucking features more than owners of other phones. Which might or might not be true. I'm 22 and I think once I can, I'll MMS like crazy. Twitter is okay, but sometimes I just wanna show something to one person.

With them taking so long, I've started to look into jailbreaking my phone. AT&T is starting to become AOL in the sense that they are unable to keep up with the demand they've hyped.

I would love to join the class action myself.

@italianscallion33: God forbid ATT actually has to plan for the future and spend money to upgrade there network for the supposed onslaught of iPhone users using MMS or Internet tethering instead of hoarding all of their cash for their swimming pools Scrouge McDuck style. It's a fucking joke, but most media providing companies for cellphones/TV/Radio do the the same thing.

@humphrmi:

What else would you expect, honestly? This is AT&T we're talking about. I'm glad they finally gave up begging me to return to their exorbitant long distance service (does such a thing exist anymore?)

It will be interesting to see if this goes anywhere. If it does, it will be particularly interesting to see how the fact that it was announced well before the release of the 3G[s] and OS 3.0 that the MMS would not be available immediately. This isn't a situation where they pulled the wool over customers' eyes. Taking that into account, I think the suit is premature. ATT said MMS would be available by the end of summer; summer isn't over yet. According to meteorologists, summer lasts from June through August. Had they waited until Sept. 1 to file, I might agree that Summer is over and AT&T didn't come through with their end of the deal.

Why does this get the "Consumerist Feature" tag?

@jozhua: @consumerd: Every other carriers in the world sporting the iPhone had MMS working with the iPhone as soon as Apple announced the feature. So yeah AT&T is definitely to blame. For God sakes they said that they can cancel your service if you modify your phone to enable MMS, Apple has nothing to do with this(but they still need to do stuff about the App store).

@sleze69:

The iPhone does support MMS as of version 3.0, it really is AT&T that is holding things up. AFAIK MMS works in other countries with the standard iPhone firmware.

They have no business suing Apple, because the iPhone DOES support MMS and Apple has made it clear that using MMS depends on the provider supporting it. If AT&T has been advertising MMS, they should be sued.

Text messages are sent via the voice channel, but MMS are all data, so the only thing stopping this isn't a billing issue probably, its that AT&T probably blocked all iphone accounts from using MMS in the first place.

@jhenley01:
ummm, how? And dumb it down please for those of us who don't speak geek :)

If the phone doesn't allow MMS, and you love and need MMS, DON'T BUY AN IPHONE! It's simple. Why sue and make customers pay more in the end.

Only Lawyers profit.

@DaveDidNotPay: if I recall when I was with Sprint, we actually did have some phones that supported MMS and some that didn't.

All this talk of the god phone, and people still can't MMS on it. It took three generations of this piece of crap to get cut and paste and video capability. I am truly amazed at how people fall for Apple's marketing while locking down and overcharging for their hardware and services. My last phone was a Nokia regular phone and could send MMS and shoot video. Phone cost me $20 three years ago. Way to be cutting edge apple and apple fan boys.

@humphrmi: Ith the new software you can copy multiple pictures to send through email.

@sleze69: to any "modern" phone? Wouldn't one of those be cabable of doing something relatively simple as sending/recieving email? My guess is that ATT hasn't figured out the right pricing plan to rape their iPhone customers "properly" yet by adding a "feature".

Any chance that Canadian Telus Samsung Instinct users are able to file the same thing over all sorts of updates and goodies promised but not delivered?

@profet9:
Have you actually used the iPhone? What's amazing is that it's so great overall the fact it's missing these features is seen as a minute detail.

@Cant_stop_the_rock: The reason they're suing Apple too is because Apple advertised that 3.0 and 3G[S] would have MMS, and since the only company that's officially allowed to have the iPhone is AT&T, they're complicit.

There is nothing more to this than AT&T lacking the bandwidth. But what I don't get is how the system currently handles the millions of texts, emails with attached photos and videos, picture and video uploads to flickr, facebook, twitter, whatever.. internet surfing, video streaming... but yet can't handle relatively tiny photos being shot back and forth.

My AT&T service has been pretty stellar, signal and speed are very reliable where I live (Washington, DC)... so it really makes no sense for me to lack MMS but everyone else on AT&T and every other network having it.

Nothing can be done until AT&T lets it happen though, or Apple jumps ship. :(