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MMS Goes Live on iPhones as Apple Faces Another Lawsuit

Phones finally outfitted with advanced text capabilities

By Jon Hood
ConsumerAffairs.com

September 28, 2009

Apple began rolling out MMS – shorthand for multimedia text messaging – late Friday morning, much to iPhone junkies' relief. The technology allows users to send texts containing photos, audio recordings, and video clips, among other things.

Apple has faced growing criticism from iPhone owners who expected to have access to MMS much sooner. The company had originally promised to make iPhones MMS-compatible by summer, and its June 8 announcement to expect more delays pushed some consumers over the edge.

In August, class actions filed in Louisiana and Illinois charged that “Apple's print and video advertisements in and on television, the Internet, radio, newspapers, and direct mailers all touted the availability of MMS” and that Apple broke its promise by failing to deliver. The suits noted that Apple's website advertised “MMS Support from AT&T coming in late summer.”

The actions cover both the standard 3G model and the upscale 3G S, which includes such high-tech features as a built-in video camera, compass, and voice control. A basic 3G iPhone can sell for as little as $100, if purchased with a calling plan, but runs well over $500 if bought by itself.

Attorneys prosecuting the suits said that as many as 10,000 consumers could be included in the class. Damages per plaintiff were estimated at anywhere between $100 and $700, depending on whether the phone was purchased with a calling plan.

On Thursday, a Minnesota consumer filed a similar lawsuit and sought to join it with the existing actions. In his suit, Kyle Irving says he, too, was told that MMS would be available by “late summer.” Irving's attorney is seeking to join the suit with existing iPhone actions.

The August suits said that Apple's false advertising amounted to “deception, fraud, false pretense, false promise, misrepresentation and unfair practices.”

AT&T Wireless's website proudly proclaims that MMS is “now available,” and instructs iPhone users to connect the phone to their computer, click “check for update” in iTunes, and then restart their phone. Consumers may need to first download software for the update to be successful.

Still, there are reports that the rollout went less smoothly than expected. The Washington Post reported that some users had sent pictures that had yet to be received. Whether such problems are a bona fide glitch or merely a temporary overload of the system remains to be seen.

Really, critics say, Apple has little excuse to have waited this long to get its act together. MMS debuted in 2002 – that's seven years ago – and is already becoming an outmoded technology, according to experts.

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