AT&T is About to Release iPhone MMS. So What?

MMS is an old technology. Yes, it allows you to send multimedia messages back and forth between phones that may not support email, but really, while the addition of MMS to the iPhone is really just a checkbox addition to the feature set. It allows AT&T to say, "yes, we support MMS on the iPhone." Strictly speaking, it's not a big deal.

AT&T is trying to get some positive PR out of adding iPhone MMS (as well as eliminating all the grousing about its lack). The carrier really needs that good press, as customers continue to complain about dropped calls, poor signals, and lack of the 7.2 mbps HSPA support that was noted as a major advantage to the iPhone 3GS (the S is for speed), and which is non-existent for almost all customers.

Other things still missing from the iPhone include the promised tethering feature, another feature that was promised when the iPhone OS 3.0 was announced earlier this year. Tethering allows you to connect your smartphone (not just an iPhone) to your laptop or PC and use it as a modem for times when you're not around wi-fi. Personally, that would be a far more enticing feature than iPhone MMS.

Google Voice would also be a great addition for the iPhone. Although Apple continues to say that it has not rejected Google Voice from the App Store, Google disagrees and says the app is dead. Google Voice is the sort of app that makes one want to jailbreak one's iPhone. Once again, way more important than iPhone MMS.

Still, AT&T's "switch" for iPhone MMS will be flicked on later today, if all goes well. Some users have already seen MMS activated on their iPhones over the past week or so; AT&T has been rolling the feature out randomly to users to prevent a huge hit to their network.

Current plans for actually turning on the feature include a late morning (local time) launch with a text message sent to your iPhone when the AT&T network is ready for iPhone MMS. You'll then have to plug-in to iTunes to get what's probably a small carrier settings update for your device.