iPhone Software

Update: Apple iPhone 3G and 3GS will support MMS. AT&T will begin support of MMS on their network starting on September 25, 2009.

iPhones across the world have had MMS (Multimedia Messaging Service) capability since the iPhone 3GS was released on June 19. Apple declared that AT&T would make MMS available to its customers in "late summer" of this year.

Well it's getting close to crunch time for AT&T. Last time we checked, the second half of August can be referred to as "late summer" here in the Northern Hemisphere. There's been no MMS news except for disgruntled iPhone owners complaining.

Users are reporting a bug in iPhone firmware 3.0 that prevents photos from appearing on the camera roll. Although image files are present on the device and can be copied with iPhoto, thumbnails are hidden on the camera roll.

The camera roll even counts the correct number of photos as it hides a portion of the files. Users have determined the problem arises when numbers in photo filenames exceed 10,000. For some reason the iPhone OS 3.0 camera roll does not display these files.

Now iPhone users can get even more free apps. There's a new way to keep track of developers that run promotions. Many companies will temporarily drop the price of an app for a limited time, or even offer the application for free.

FreeAppAlert organizes all of these deals into a central location. Every day tens of paid iPhone apps are listed that have dropped their price to FREE for a limited time.

Maybe the conflict between two giants was brewing in the background the whole time. The partnership between Apple and Google looks to be on edge ever since Google decided to get into the mobile phone business, launching the open source platform Android.

Apple, as we know from countless reports of application bans, rescinded approvals, and the rejection of Google Voice, keeps strict and inconsistent control of their iPhone OS. In fact, previous Google apps appearing in the App Store have had the privilege of using tools hidden from the average developer.

Apple released the iPhone OS 3.0.1 firmware update the other day to fix an SMS security flaw. This has rendered purplera1n useless, and creator Geohot has abandoned the project for now. That being said, redsn0w from the iPhone Dev-Team still works.

There's one thing to look out for when using redsn0w to jailbreak 3.0.1. After updating to the official 3.0.1 through iTunes, running redsn0w will ask for the IPSW file to use for jailbreaking. Select the 3.0 IPSW, not the 3.0.1 version you just installed. For owners of the iPhone 3GS or a newer 3G, you may not already have this file.

We've seen how to paste full-resolution photos into email using iPhone OS 3.0. The latest reported changes to firmware 3.1 will allow even more functionality by making it possible for users to paste full-resolution video directly to email.

As seen in this video, it's a simple process. Just hold down and use the copy function, then switch to email and paste. This feature is illustrated using iPhone OS 3.1 beta 3, which was just released this week.

Apple is asking iPhone application developers for keywords to help describe their software. The company sent an update asking for 255 characters made up of keywords separated by commas:

“It is important to enter keywords for all applications as soon as possible so your application can continue to be successfully located on the App Store. Keywords can be updated with the submission of a new binary.”

Now that you have your shiny new iPhone, should you spend another $99/year to subscribe to Apple's MobileMe service? MobileMe has replaced Apple's former .Mac service and now includes many useful features for iPhone users.

Apple is offering a free 60-day trial of the service, which includes 20GB of iDisk storage and 200GB of monthly file transfer bandwith. Here are some iPhone-specific features of MobileMe.

For those iPhone users with a MobileMe account, Apple has released a free application called iDisk. This utility allows iPhone users running iPhone OS 3.0 and later to view and share the contents of their MobileMe iDisk on the go.

iPhone supported file types are viewable in landscape or portrait, and can be zoomed in using standard pinch gestures. Using the Share button, MobileMe subscribers can send emails with links to large files without even downloading the file. Public folders are also accessible using the iDisk application.

Sometimes waiting for automated phone menus and dialing extensions can be a real drag. Luckily, the Apple iPhone has an easy way to automatically dial extensions when needed.

All you need is the contact you're trying to reach and the relevant phone number and extension you'd like to add to the contact information.