Twitter has upgraded the direct messaging capabilities for its texting service. Now, in addition to tweets, users whose service providers support MMS can attach and share videos. To send, all a user need do is enter the text of a tweet as normal, attach a photo to the message, and send it to the relevant Twitter code.
Mogreet, a mobile platform marketing agency that measures video-based MMS advertising, released its second-quarter 2011 analytics report analyzing consumer behavior in viewing and reacting to video advertising. The survey showed that Verizon lead the pack in mobile messaging views by carrier, while Apple's iPhone was the dominant choice for viewing MMS ads by handset type.
Apple and AT&T have been targeted in yet another lawsuit over the initial lack of MMS support on the iPhone. The latest suit, which aims to establish class-action status, has been filed in New York City. As with the other disputes, frustrated customers claim Apple and AT&T mislead customers into believing MMS functionality would be added sometime in June to the iPhone 3G and 3GS.
Apple is facing yet another lawsuit over delayed MMS support on American iPhones, court documents show. Although the feature was eventually enabled on September 25th, the case's plaintiff -- Alabama resident Clyde Franklin -- charges both Apple and AT&T of misleading the public on MMS availability, with promises that it would become an option on the iPhone 3G and 3GS with the arrival of the v3.0 firmware. It did not, and Franklin notes that only a small disclaimer on the Apple website made mention that AT&T support would only come in "late summer."
A lawsuit filed in a US District Court in Minneapolis has once again accused Apple and AT&T of failing to warn about MMS limitations, according to the Pioneer Press. Plaintiff Kyle Irving charges that both companies have breached contract, avoiding a duty to inform the public that MMS services would not be available in the summer. In particular Irving explains that on buying an iPhone in June, he was promised that the device would have MMS capabilities.
AT&T on Friday enabled MMS functionality for iPhone customers, after a long wait and a range of criticism. Users can enable the messaging service after downloading a carrier settings update via iTunes and then rebooting the iPhone. The update is expected to be gradually deployed through the day, helping to prevent network strain as users flood the servers with the first messages.
AT&T has confirmed several details of the iPhone MMS launch scheduled for Friday, September 25th. The carrier will enable the service via a carrier settings update that will be available to download from iTunes. The update will go live sometime late morning, Pacific Time.
AT&T is allegedly "very nervous" as the launch date for iPhone MMS quickly approaches, an unnamed source familiar with the carrier told DSL Reports. The company has requested hourly updates from their MMS aggregator partners, in an attempt to quickly discover delays or outages as the service goes live on Friday. Project coordinators expect approximately 40 percent higher traffic throughout the entire day.
A second class action lawsuit has been filed over Apple and AT&T's lack of MMS messaging support, documents show. Submitted in a US district court for southern Illinois, on behalf of Tim Meeker and other unnamed plaintiffs, the suit accuses Apple and AT&T of having "misrepresented and/or concealed, suppressed, or omitted material facts as to the iPhone having MMS functionality." Representing Meeker's party is the lawfirm of Rosenblum, Schwartz, Rogers, Glass, P.C..
A new class action lawsuit has accused Apple and AT&T of misrepresenting MMS availability on the iPhone, reports say. Filed in a Louisiana district court, the suit observes that Apple has heavily promoted MMS -- the standard means of sharing cellphone photos and video -- using print, TV, radio and the web. AT&T is said to be involved in similar campaigns.
The upcoming iPhone operating system, version 3.0, could add several long-awaited features such as MMS messaging support and tethering, unnamed sources have told the Boy Genius Report. Although the multimedia message format is relatively commonplace, enabling video and image transfers between phones, Apple so far has excluded the technology from its handset and forced users to download third-party apps as a work-around.
The identity of TeliaSonera's MMS application for the iPhone may have already been revealed, an announcement hints. Mobispine has announced the creation of what it calls the "world's first true MMS for the iPhone;" critically, the software relies on the actual MMS protocol instead of a substitute, such as a text message with an embedded URL. The company is also based in Sweden like Telia, and is marketing the app as "white label" code, with the aim of having cellular carriers impose their own branding on it.
Swedish telecom company TeliaSonera is working on an MMS workaround for the iPhone, a company spokesman says. MMS is used on many cellphones to send photos and videos, but despite its commonality as a format, the technology has been left off of the iPhone in favor of e-mail and third-party applications. Some form of MMS is slated to arrive within the next two months, says Telia's Bengt Olsson. It should be incorporated in the form of an application, possibly alongside software easing access to WLAN networks.
A new iPhone application has been released that attempts to mimic a missing feature from the device, MMS. Flutter is a free app that provides an alternative to e-mail for sending picture messages to other cellphones. The software works by attaching a picture to a webpage, then sending the recipient a text message with the appropriate link. Images can be sourced either from a user's iPhone album, or captured without leaving Flutter.
UK carrier O2 has disabled a web-based system for viewing MMS messages without an MMS-capable phone, according to a company spokesman. The move follows allegations that photos, messages and even phone numbers have leaked to the web through Google indexing, putting the privacy of its customers at risk. A person claiming to be a victim of the O2 technology says she is now receiving unwanted text messages.
Two new native applications for the iPhone promise to open up the abilities of the device. A member of ModMyiFone has devised an MMS application, which will finally let users send photos to other phones without e-mailing them. Users simply enter a title and the receiver's phone number, and then select an image from the list of files found. As the app is only at v0.1, there are some notable limitations; it cannot for instance receive MMS messages, nor can it send out video or accompanying text. Likewise, users must jailbreak their iPhones to install it, and manually enter their carrier's MMSC settings.
