Should you be a stickler for signs galactic , there are less than two weeks left in summertime , which entail two weeks for AT&T to deliver on its promise of a “ late summertime ” reaching appointment for the iPhone ’s Multimedia Messaging Service ( MMS ) support . Apple denote the iPhone 3.0 software , which include support for MMS , at its June Worldwide Developer Conference , but in the inclination of supporting carriers , AT&T was conspicuously absent .
Why the time lag for a characteristic that most schematic cell phones have had for long time ? AT&T said in June that it was “ settle interior system upgrades , ” and maintained that the lack of MMS had nothing to do with its 3 G web , buta recent report in theNew York Timesbegs to differ .
As many have suspected , the perpetrator here may be the intersection of the iPhone ’s capability and its extreme popularity . TheTimessays that the average iPhone user can wring up ten times the amount of data usage as an average smartphone owner . In part , that ’s due to the iPhone ’s built - in functionality , which allow for easy Web browsing , vitamin E - mailing , and , of course of action , the omnipresent societal - web updating . add together in the iPhone ’s unlimited data point plan , and there ’s minuscule grounds for owners to cap their utilisation . All that means an astounding amount of data deny AT&T ’s pipage .
Hence also the postponement in MMS and tethering , both features which could potentially eat up a lot more of AT&T ’s bandwidth when flap out to the nine million iPhone customers on the company ’s web . AT&T say that it ’s putting a chunk of money into upgrading its equipment to meliorate internet public presentation , but with most of those enhancements schedule to take effect next year , the interrogative is whether it will be too minuscule too late .
iPhone owners have small resort at the moment , as the handset is n’t usable on any other connection , but they ’ve been making their interpreter listen for some metre now — insomuch as that ’s possible when their vociferation get dropped or text messages do n’t get drive home on meter .
More perturbing to AT&T , however , will be the repercussion from Apple itself , which ca n’t be happy over the light link in its shining iPhone future tense . rumour abound over the condition of the provider ’s single sight with the iPhone maker , but some paint a picture it could be up as soon as next twelvemonth . Whilea sweeping jump to a challenger such as Verizonis improbable at that point , Apple has shown itself willing to make deals with multiple mail carrier in other countries , which could be a possible action in the U.S. as well . Not only might that make the cell phone market more free-enterprise in the U.S.—which would no doubt interest the FCC — but it also might avail lot the operose traffic congestion by unfold it among several operator ’ mesh .
If the iPhone has prove anything , it ’s that mass are clamor for hand-held devices that do more and , as such , it ’s only the beginning . With the popularity of Apple ’s gimmick and the introduction of comparably powered French telephone from contender like Palm , Google , and BlackBerry , users are only depart to be doing more and more with their phones . It seems that the dentition bother AT&T is having now may just be the forerunner of the root duct to come .
