Well, after promising for months that iPhone 3G and 3GS users would get Multimedia Messaging Service, AT&T has given them all just that. Beginning September 25 an update to the iPhone OS will enable the MMS feature on its network.
In a recent news release on the topic AT&T also addresses the demands the iPhone has placed on its network. Apparently, AT&T’s wireless traffic has grown an average of 350 percent since the iPhone was first released:
“We know many of our iPhone customers are eager for an update on our rollout schedule for Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS). We’ve been working for the past several months to prepare our systems and network to ensure the best possible experience with MMS when it launches – and that launch date is: September 25 for iPhone 3G and 3GS customers. MMS will be enabled through a software update on that day,” the release stated.
Now the iPhone 3G and 3GS will be able to send picture and video messages to other phones using multimedia messages. The original metal-back iPhone apparently will not be supported.
Like text messaging, MMS allows users to send media-rich messages with pictures, video and audio, directly to other wireless phones. Previously, Apple encouraged iPhone users to e-mail those files as attachments. The ease and speed at which consumers can now do this could provide a boost to the imaging industry as the iPhone (mainly 18-35) demographic will undoubtedly now be sharing more images and video – the logic being the more this media is shared the more prints and photo gifts might be ordered.
AT&T is currently the sole iPhone carrier in the U.S.
