MMS

Next year could be it for AT&T. Customers are losing patience with spotty service. Lawyers are filing class action lawsuits about the lack of MMS. Now Piper Jaffray senior research analyst Gene Munster has forecast the end of Apple's iPhone exclusivity deal with AT&T.

According to Munster, the economics of the situation don't make sense for Apple, as evidenced with the success they've had in France moving to a multiple carrier business model. Market share for the iPhone in France has increased to 40 percent since they ended an exclusive deal with Orange.

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.

You may have been lead to believe that your original iPhone was so dated the radio couldn't handle MMS (Multimedia Messaging Service) even if if Apple and AT&T wanted it to. The truth is out there, and it has arrived in the form of an app available now via Cydia.

ActivateMMS2G is an application that promises to activate MMS capabilities on your original iPhone. The software will specifically NOT work with the iPhone 3G or the 3GS, which are slated to receive MMS support from AT&T later this summer.

Apple engineers just keep coming up with cool ideas. It's too bad they are light years ahead of mobile carriers. Another patent has been discovered that would allow iPhone users to share media during an ongoing phone call.

Imagine talking to a friend and playing a pop hit for this person without leaving the phone call. Not only will you both hear the music, you can discuss how bad it is in real time.