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Journalists Cover Microsoft, Using Macs

It’s not an easy time for Microsoft — with Steve Ballmer having to field questions about being “buffoons” and an “evil empire”  at the shareholder’s meeting (.doc) — so when they get together “the world’s most influential technology pundits and online writers” (nb: we weren’t invited) for Mobius to discuss super-secret mobile tech you’d think [...]

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Review: Voices Is Today’s Best Thing Ever, Grab It Now While It’s Cheap

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iPhoneMMS Is Almost The Real Thing

mms-20081105.jpgI don’t know about you, but I get funny looks from folk when I show off my iPhone, then have to sheepishly confess that it doesn’t do MMS messages.

“Phhhfft,” people say, pulling out their 2-year-old Nokias that they got for free. “Even this crappy old thing can do MMS.”

Apple’s workaround is to send iPhone owners a plain text message with a link to a webapp, where they can view their MMS. In the UK, the O2 webapp is horrible. No-one at O2 has bothered to make it iPhone-friendly. The whole setup is clunky, to put it mildly.

Ross McKillop thinks so too, and that’s why he decided to build a better webapp, one that is designed for iPhone. The result is the newly renamed iPhoneMMS, which lets you view incoming and send outgoing MMS messages, via a complex arrangement of protocols and emails.

It’s still clunky compared to proper MMS support, but it’s a good deal better than the shoddy mess supplied by O2. Until they and Apple get their collective act together to make a decent built-in MMS application, it’s the best option.

About the author

gilest

Giles Turnbull is a freelance writer in England. He is a columnist for PA, and has written for the BBC, Guardian, Daily Telegraph, MacUser, Macworld, and The Morning News. He has a blog you can ignore and a Twitter account you needn't follow.

Email the author | Read more posts by Giles Turnbull.

9 comments

    It’s even worse in the US. MMS messages don’t come through as a text message with a link to a web app. Instead, they come through as a text message that gives you instructions to view the MMS on your computer. The only reason you can’t view it on iPhone is because the online MMS display mechanism AT&T developed uses flash to display the media. Very very lame indeed.

    Just use email. Every phone that can receive MMS has an email address. Using the iPhone’s Mail app, you can send a photo to a phone. I have done this – it works. Just add the appropriate email address to the contacts info on your iPhone and it’s easy. The person can send you a picture by addressing the MMS to your email – like Gmail or whatever you use on your iPhone.

    Alltel = xxxxxxxxxx@message.alltel.com
    AT&T = xxxxxxxxxx@mms.att.net
    Boost Mobile = xxxxxxxxxx@myboostmobile.com
    Cingular (AT&T) = xxxxxxxxxx@mms.mycingular.com
    Einstein PCS = xxxxxxxxxx@einsteinmms.com
    Sprint = xxxxxxxxxx@messaging.sprintpcs.com
    T-Mobile = xxxxxxxxxx@tmomail.net
    US Cellular = xxxxxxxxxx@mms.uscc.net
    Verizon Wireless = xxxxxxxxxx@vzwpix.com
    Virgin Mobile = xxxxxxxxxx@vmobl.com

    Besides, as an iPhone user, email is included – MMS, if it comes to the iPhone, will cost extra money.

    What is MMS messaging?

    Nevermind…I looked it up. But what’s the point when you can just send an email? That type of messaging is more expensive than regular messaging anyway. Just my opinion.

    For people without an iPhone, even if they can send an email (at an unspecified cost – have they got a data plan or is it on some higher-cost pay as you use it basis) it won’t be anywhere near as easy for them to do as sending an MMS. Plus they have to know who has got an iPhone and who hasn’t. It just complicates matters so any attempt to simplify things can only be welcomed.

    “For people without an iPhone, even if they can send an email (at an unspecified cost – have they got a data plan or is it on some higher-cost pay as you use it basis) it won’t be anywhere near as easy for them to do as sending an MMS. Plus they have to know who has got an iPhone and who hasn’t. It just complicates matters so any attempt to simplify things can only be welcomed.”

    No, they can send a picture to an iPhone user via MMS. You can send MMS to email addresses, not just phone numbers – I used to do this with pictures of my kids. I know who of my friends/family has an iPhone and who doesn’t. Besides, if I send them a picture to an MMS address and they have an iPhone, they can let me know. Not a big deal.

    No MMS! Are you sure? Are you positive? My GOD…how primative LOL.

    Nice to see my little web-app mentioned… good news is there’s a native app in the works, along with some forthcoming reductions in the cost of outbound MMS and, hopefully, expanding the service to our friends in the EU across the pond :)

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