UPDATE: Send SMS or MMS messages to multiple recipients by adding them all to the "To:" line when creating a new message. Phone numbers can be entered and separated using the "return" key. Multiple recipients can be added from your Contacts using the "+" button.
Update: Hotmail now offers POP access to all users. Connect here.
Though not offered by all free email providers (i.e. Hotmail), Google offers external email reading via the POP3 protocol as part of the Gmail service.
Setting up your iPhone to read your Gmail is fairly simple.
First, insure that POP is enabled in your Gmail account. Go into your Gmail settings and click on the "Forwarding and POP" tab. Once inside, enable POP access (for either new mail or all mail, it's up to you).
Update: Apple iOS has fully integrated MMS support in the Messages app. The latest firmware also includes support for Apple's iMessage, which can be set up to send messages between iOS devices without using a text plan.
Contrary to popular belief, the answer is most likely YES!... sort of. Web applications are going to have a huge impact on the iPhone. As users will not be able to install their own software, they will resort to web applications. Instant messaging can be achieved through sites like XS4All's web chat site.
Officially, the iPhone will not provide native instant messaging functionality.
Each iPhone owner can receive a free push IMAP email account from Yahoo!. Push e-mail systems provide an "always-on" capability, in which new e-mail is instantly and transferred to the email client from the server. This will be useful as there is no instant messaging software for the iPhone, such as AIM, ICQ, or IRC.
