At the risk of invoking a round of reader rage, I'll admit that I've never really been that hyped on the idea of MMS on the iPhone (and, by the way, get off my lawn). If I want to send someone a picture, I've got their email address; I'll just send them a picture. No big whoop.

I do have some friends and colleagues who 'came up' on mainline camera phones and they gleefully pop pics back and forth via MMS. I also appreciate the ability to decode the snapshots my wife sends from her Motorola RAZR, but overall I wouldn't rate it among the top iPhone features I was eager to get from AT&T (not like the ongoing lack of tethering, which is making me grind my teeth in my sleep).

That prejudicial attitude may have made me a little skeptical when I met with FunMobility's CEO Adam Lavine this week to get a preview of his company's new free app FunMail [iTunes link], which promises to leverage the Semantic Media Project and add appropriate imagery to your MMS messages, short emails, Facebook wall posts, et cetera. It's available in the US App Store as of last night.

Sure, the app is simple enough to use (once you register and accept the company's TOS, which may subject you to occasional text messages from them if you don't opt out) -- type in your message, and the system gives you the text (up to 140 characters) atop your choice of image from a list of five, sourced from FunMobility's licensed libraries along with Creative Commons remixable content from Flickr and other repositories. If you want to include a hidden search term, putting it at the end of the message with a double-hash (##) will tell FunMail to search those words without including them in the sent message. You can send it to any mobile phone number in your address book, to email recipients, or to your Facebook friends or wall via Facebook Connect. The result is a little bit inspirational office poster, a little bit LOLcat, and in some ways strangely intriguing... but not really, you know, useful.

The long awaited and much vilified AT&T MMS service was finally launched in the U.S. yesterday. I've scoured the Apple support boards, and it seems like it was pretty tame, with some reports of failure to get the update, failure to get the MMS functions after an update, late delivery of MMS messages, and so on.

In my own circle of friends it seemed to go OK, but most of them didn't need MMS and didn't really care about it one way or the other.

So how was it for you? The update of your dreams, or your worst nightmare?

As the AT&T iPhone MMS launch is only one day away now, Engadget is reporting that they heard some launch details from AT&T. Specifically, AT&T has stated that it expects MMS for the iPhone to launch in the "late morning" Pacific time, which would mean it "early afternoon" Eastern time.

Also, this update will arrive as a carrier settings update, which means you'll have to connect your iPhone to iTunes to update. These updates are very small and don't require a restart. Just make sure you and your iPhone are ready to update on Friday.

Well, it looks like they were telling the truth, for once. Last weekend, a friend of mine just happened to forget that my iPhone couldn't receive MMS messages, and sent me a picture he had taken. So needless to say, I was surprised when I saw the MMS notification, complete with picture, show up on my phone.

I was fully prepared to hop on to TUAW and write up a post, letting everyone know that MMS was turned on a full three weeks ahead of schedule. To be on the safe side, I decided to check with others to see if MMS was working for them. Unfortunately, everyone I asked said MMS was still not working on their phones.

Here at TUAW, we have received several tips over the past few months from individuals who have indicated MMS had suddenly started working for them. Many of these were from people who had also installed an updated carrier settings profile to their phones, which has produced mixed results across the board, ranging from MMS actually working to accidentally removing Visual Voicemail and even the basic ability to make phone calls. Even with these profiles installed, however, most people were still unable to use MMS due to settings on their AT&T account which prevent iPhones from sending media messages and filter incoming messages through their web-based "Multimedia Messaging" platform.

For the record, I was running the iPhone 3.0 software, and I had previously modified my carrier settings, although that hadn't really made much of a difference until now. I had been lucky, in that I had found a profile that did not break anything, and had even temporarily enabled tethering on my phone, which I successfully used for about five minutes to try it out (although when I later tried to use the tethering during a recent power outage, the option mysteriously disappeared from the settings panel after I turned it on). So I had to draw the conclusion that my newfound ability to send and receive MMS messages was probably related to the carrier settings I had previously tinkered with, and I was doubtful that it would last.

Now here we are a week later, and MMS is still working for me. But what's even better: reports are flowing in from around the country that MMS has started working in different markets. There are still quite a number of people out there that don't have it yet, but it looks like AT&T is actually serious about meeting the September 25th deadline. Yeah, it's definitely not "later this summer" as promised, but at least we are finally seeing some progress instead of just vapor dates and promises.

For those who are wondering where MMS has landed, HowardForums has a thread running with many people reporting which locations are up and running. Also, it's worth mentioning that the majority of users who have reported MMS as working have the "AT&T 5.0" carrier profile installed, which is included as part of the iPhone 3.1 update. So be sure to update if you haven't already!

Thanks to everyone who has sent tips in regarding MMS in their area.

We've complained often about the PR mistakes that AT&T has committed. Customer communication has been poor or absent.

The result has been sinking approval for the company, and AT&T is pretty much getting the blame for any problems the iPhone has.

After finally announcing a date for MMS functionality yesterday, AT&T is taking the proverbial bull by the horns and talking about the issues that have left many customers angry and hoping for a way out of their AT&T contract. Namely: 3G coverage concerns and bandwidth issues that affect speed and connectivity.

So now we have a YouTube video with a dude that looks a bit like 'Mac' on the Apple TV ads (or Stephen Colbert's kid brother). He's a bit untidy and has a couple days of stubble, not the usual AT&T pristine spokesperson (think Bill Kurtis on the AT&T Mobility ads). He identifies himself as 'Seth the blogger guy.'

I couldn't find the new video on the AT&T Wireless site, but it may be there somewhere. I did notice that the company still hasn't updated the MMS information, so it still says 'coming late this summer'. Oh well.

The video is below.

We've seen Seth before. He was hauled out in all his geekiness in July to talk about AT&T free Wi-Fi at company operated hotspots. We also had the pleasure of his company in June to talk about the unpopular iPhone 3GS upgrade policies.

Well, does it work for you. Feel all better now? I didn't think so.

Hot off the proverbial presses. Finally, AT&T has a date for MMS! The word came to me a few minutes ago from Brad Mays of AT&T.

The date is September 25th, which does indeed fall a few days past the official end of summer. It was important to give our customers a positive experience from day one. We support more iPhone customers than any other carrier in the world so we took the time necessary to make sure our network is ready to handle what we expect will be a record volume of MMS traffic. We truly appreciate our customers' patience and hope they'll understand our desire to get it right from the start.

The service will be enabled with a software update on the launch date. Customers can obtain the update from iTunes, just like all other iPhone updates.

As for tethering, by its nature, this function could exponentially increase traffic on the network, and we need to ensure that some of our current upgrades are in place before we can deliver the expanded functionality with the excellent performance that customers expect. We expect to offer tethering in the future.

He also added some comments on the network in general:

The unique capabilities and high usage of the iPhone's multimedia capabilities required us to work on our network MMS architecture to carry the expected record volumes of MMS traffic and ensure an excellent experience from Day One. We appreciate your patience as we work toward that end.

We're riding the leading edge of smartphone growth that's resulted in an explosion of traffic over the AT&T network. Wireless use on our network has grown an average of 350 percent year-over-year for the past two years, and is projected to continue at a rapid pace in 2009 and beyond. The volume of smartphone data traffic the AT&T network is handling is unmatched in the wireless industry. We want you to know that we're working relentlessly to innovate and invest in our network to anticipate this growth in usage and to stay ahead of the anticipated growth in data demand, new devices and applications for years to come.

So there you have it. As you can see, AT&T isn't saying much about tethering. It may be more than the current network can stand. At least some good news for a change. We'll keep you posted.

Reminder: MMS will only work on iPhone 3G and 3GS models.

The iPhone Blog is reporting what's purported to be in the next, and hopefully imminent iPhone update to version 3.1. As we've reported, developers were seeded with the beta Tuesday.

Here's the list:

• Voice Control now works over Bluetooth
• Updated AT&T profile to 4.2 (MMS is now enabled)
• Improvements to OpenGL and Quartz.
• iPhone vibrates when moving icons
• Non-destructive video editing means trimming a clip no longer saves over the original video but gives you the option to "Save as copy..."
• APIs to allow third party apps to access videos and edit them.
• Updated modem firmware to 5.08.01

If true, it will put smiles on a lot of iPhone owners' faces. The omission of Bluetooth voice control seemed downright silly. Losing your original video after an edit seemed pretty counter-intuitive as well. It also appears MMS will appear in the update, but that only matters if AT&T turns it on.

No firm dates for the update of course, but if the above is accurate it will be a good one.

Thanks Brad for the tip

Good news for those of you who live with me here in Chicago and also don't have a car: while AT&T has gotten on the bad side of a lot of iPhone owners lately (seriously, that MMS delay is lame), they're at least doing one good deed for us Chicagoans. They've just announced that they're bringing cellphone service to our underground transit systems.

Many's the time I've stood underground out on the Logan Square Blue Line station heading out to O'Hare, bummed that my iPhone isn't pulling up my flight times for one last check, but no more -- with a contract set up this week, AT&T says they'll have service up and running underground by the end of the year. And the deal will generate $3.1 million for the CTA, which could probably use the money.

That may do little to soothe the pain of all AT&T has done to us iPhone users. But being able to use my iPhone underground while waiting for the train will definitely be nice.

If you've been listening to all the clamoring on Twitter, or perhaps have seen the updated Apple page, then you know there was an iPhone event today to discuss a new version of the iPhone OS, version 3.0. While you will have to wait until the summer to get the new version (unless you join the developer program), Apple showed off over 100 new features that we're all excited about. iPhone developers are also getting some love from Apple with over 1,000 new APIs.

Some of the biggest updates include:

• Push notifications will be standard in iPhone 3.0. Apple claims that there was a scaling issue when they first announced this feature last year, with thousands of developers clamoring to use it, so it had to be delayed. Developers will be able to build message, sound, and badge alerts into their applications.
• iPhone will support cut, copy and paste -- copy text and pictures, then paste them in any application on the device. If you change your mind about the newly pasted data, just shake to display a menu asking if you wish to undo the paste.
  
• In-App purchasing -- developers will have the ability to charge a fee from within the application for more levels in a game, magazine subscriptions, eBooks, etc. This solves the problem of the 20 ebook readers that only allow you to read one book each.
  
• MMS -- you'll be able to use MMS on your iPhone 3G (yes, 1st gen iPhones will not get the fortune of using MMS due to the use of a different cell radio). The new Messages application will be taking the place of the SMS app and will allow you to send voice memos and pictures to your friends.
  
• Peer-to-Peer connectivity -- allows iPhone apps the ability to find other iPhone users over WiFi or Bluetooth. This can be using for anything from gaming to sharing data.
  
• Third-party Accessories -- app developers can now access third-party accessories attached to the iPhone. This could allow for developers to interface with their own accessories to create a truly unique experience on the device. One of the demonstrated uses was a prototype blood glucose meter for the iPhone, from a Johnson & Johnson subsidiary, which is already getting attention from our readers; it's not for sale yet!
  
• Apple will now be allowing applications the ability to get GPS coordinates from Core Location and turn that into software that provides Turn-by-Turn directions for iPhone users. However, due to the terms of use with Google maps, developers will be required to license their own maps for this use (meaning that Turn-by-Turn GPS applications will almost certainly be paid apps). This isn't a problem for vendors like TomTom or Telenav, who already have licenses for their map data.
• A landscape keyboard option is now available in all iPhone applications, including the infamous Mail.app.
• Voice memos will allow iPhone users the ability to capture audio and then email it, or send it through the Messages application as a multimedia message.
• System-wide Spotlight searching is built right into the home screen. To the left of the first home screen, there is a magnifying glass, so by flicking to the left of the first home screen will show this search app. You can search for anything, including mail, music, and notes. There is no word yet on how this will interface with third-party applications.
  
• Stereo Bluetooth audio devices are now supported through the use of A2DP technology.

iPhone owners should note that A2DP technology and the use of MMS will not be available on 1st generation iPhones. This is probably due to the iPhone Bluetooth spec used, and Apple has confirmed (during the Q&A session after the keynote) that MMS is not available because of the cell radio used.

iPhone OS 3.0 will be available for regular users "this summer." iPhone developers will be able to get the beta of OS 3.0 sometime today -- Apple is still busy updating their iPhone Dev Center, but we'll let you know when it is available.

iPhone Developer Tommy Svensson has just released an iPhone MMS application allowing you to send MMS messages with your iPhone. This app does not enable the iPhone to receive MMS, just to send it. Being an early release, you can only send images (no movies) at this time.

The MMS app is not yet released via Installer. You can download a copy directly from Swirly Space and install it manually. For more information, check out this ModMyiFone thread.

Thanks, Dima Kovalev.