Tag Archives | MMS

AT&T Manages a Successful iPhone MMS Launch

Posted by Ed Oswald on September 29, 2009 at 1:46 pm

I will eat my words, somewhat at least. After launching MMS for the iPhone on Friday, it appears AT&T has managed to launch the functionality without much of a problem after all. Yes, there were some hiccups and glitches, but nothing widespread from what we can gather.

My own personal experience with MMS has been positive. Friday was bumpy from time to time, including one or two messages that seemed to take minutes to send. But none of them failed, and to my knowledge every one of them made it to their destination. I could complain about Apple’s implementation of MMS, but hey that isn’t AT&T’s fault.

I’ve received some reports from my Twitter followers (shameless plug: @edoswald) which reported some problems early on:

User @CanonThom:

“An MMS message sent to a non-updated iPhone disappears. Sent to a non-iPhone but still AT&T seems to work. Non MMS texts work fine”

User @walter_theman:

“my signal is fading in and out, mms will send on occations and others get the red !”

AT&T’s Facebook page is also abuzz with some problem reports, but nothing that seems overly serious, here’s a roundup of the most common issues:

– Problems with receiving MMS from Verizon
– Problems sending MMS to Verizon (I have received/sent fine here)
– Intermittent failure to receive or send MMS
– Slowness in sending (I’ve seen this)

In the interest of fairness, AT&T contacted us shortly after my initial post asking to be able to respond. I have been in contact, however I haven’t received any official response as of yet. When it comes I’ll be sure to update this post.

I’ve also asked for some idea on the added strain on the network, which was apparently one of AT&T’s chief concerns when MMS was first announced for the iPhone earlier this summer.

Are you having problems at all? Have they been resolved? Let us know in the comments.

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Can AT&T Pull Off a Smooth iPhone MMS Rollout?

Posted by Ed Oswald on September 24, 2009 at 11:12 am

We are now less than a day away from the start of the long-awaited rollout of MMS on the iPhone. AT&T is planning to roll out the functionality in bunches starting at 10am ET, with a text message being sent to iPhone customers when the account is enabled for MMS, according to an anonymous source quoted by Broadband Reports.

The question now is, given AT&T’s history, will this rollout go off without a hitch? It’s questionable. During tests, the carrier’s MMS servers reportedly failed for those invited to participate. Additionally, in the test groups, “record traffic” was reportedly seen during peak hours. If the situation is as reported, it seems to suggest that Friday could be another one of those days for the carrier’s millions of iPhone users.

If traffic is 40 percent higher than normal as some are predicting on Friday,the grief that iPhone users may experience could bleed to non-iPhone users, further damaging the company’s already weak standing for service reliability with a good chunk of its customers.

Certainly, it’s going to be interesting to watch how AT&T’s network does in the first days of the rollout. Since users will have to connect to iTunes to sync the new “carrier file” which enables the functionality within the iPhone’s software, it’s fairly likely we won’t see any potential problems crop up until later in the day or on Saturday.

Sorry AT&T, but I’m not holding my breath here that you guys can do this. Too many times since I’ve switched to you folks in October for the iPhone 3G you’ve let me down. I never thought I would actually want to go back to T-Mobile and EDGE data (yep, that’s all they have here), but at least they weren’t dropping calls.

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The iPhone’s in Court Over MMS Delay

Posted by David Worthington on August 13, 2009 at 5:02 pm

iPhone in Court A class action filed in a Louisiana district court is alleging that Apple and AT&T are improperly advertising MMS (multimedia messaging service) for the iPhone without having provided it, according to reports published today. Ultimately, a judge will decide whether the case is credible enough to move forward.

When Apple released iPhone OS 3.0 in mid June, it said that its MMS capability would be enabled on AT&T’s network this summer. I was as disappointed as the next person to hear it wouldn’t happen immediately, but am even more disappointed by how quickly frivolous lawsuits are filed.

It is beginning to get dark a little earlier now, but it is still summer. The class is seeking 10,000 participants. If 10,000 people are so distraught over their inability to send multimedia messages that they sign onto this nonsensical lawsuit, those people need to go outside and enjoy their lives a bit more .

The basis of the class is that Apple and AT&T “advertised heavily that the new version of iPhone, the 3G, as well as the even newer version the 3G-S would allow MMS. Apple’s print and video advertisements in and on television, the internet, the radio, newspapers and direct mailers all touted the availability of MMS,” court filings allege.

The filings claim that AT&T’s towers do not support MMS, yet the iPhone is only available on that carrier. If that was indeed the case, why was I able to send and receive MMS messages on other AT&T devices that I have owned in years past?

The action was filed under the Louisiana Unfair Trade Practices Act in addition to other State civil codes. It has been filed, and so going forward, a hearing will be scheduled, and then a judge will decide whether the case has enough merit to move on.

Apple is already plugging away at the iPhone 3.1 update. Would it kill people to wait for it? What harm is being done by this delay that should be remedied by a court? If the commercials jumped the gun, Apple and AT&T should pull them, and maybe pay a fine, and that’s it.

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