AT&T has officially stated that it won’t be able to meet its self-imposed late summer target for the iPhone MMS service, which means postponing the launch until September 25.

The delay could mean that MMS will launch on iPhones four days behind the original end of summer schedule. The delay has been attributed to the data-centric nature of iPhone users who are straining their cellular network beyond limits.

AT&T says that wireless use on their cellular network surged an average of 350 percent consecutively for the past two years. It had projected that the growth will continue at a rapid pace in 2009 and beyond.

MMS (Multimedia Messaging Service) facilitates easy transfer of supported content types including, images, sounds and contacts over the cellular network. However, the overpriced service, never took off in a big enough way, especially on data-centric smartphones focused on the content exchange via email or sharing by posting to social networks like Facebook.

AT&T’s MMS service will be enabled for iPhone 3G and 3G S customers only as it’s not supported on first-generation iPhone because the device lacks hardware support for it.

MMS is charged on a per message basis so there is a switch in iPhone’s settings interface to disable the service.

AT&T has been called the iPhone’s weakest link more than once. When the first iPhone came out, critics bashed the device over its slow data transfer stemming from AT&T’s sluggish EDGE network. It is evident that AT&T is still unable to cope with the surge in traffic generated by data-centric iPhone customers.

It remains to be seen whether Apple will agree and I have no doubt in my mind that a 4G capable iPhone will be sold on a multi-carrier basis. In fact, the process is already underway, as indicated by Apple’s three year iPhone  deal with China Unicom which was signed on anon-exclusive basis. When US and international carriers deploy 4G networks, a single 4G-enabled iPhone model will work on any 4G network, globally.  Simply put, Apple would rather wait a bit longer than go to great lengths engineering two separate iPhone versions, one for AT&T’s 3G network and the other for Verizon’s CDMA. This is the reason you won’t get a Verizon iPhone before 4G is rolled out nationwide.

A memory corruption issue exists in the decoding of SMS and MMS messages and receiving a maliciously crafted SMS message may lead to an unexpected service interruption that could decode iPhone OS 3.0 including, photos, audio and contact info.

The attack is very simple: Once you have clicked the URL by sending a text message inviting bogus clicking on links, the hackers will have full control of your iPhone. This attack on MMS could allow an attacker to trick the recipient into visiting a malicious Web site or ultimately do something else to harm the iPhone or steal data. The attacks work potentially on any type of iPphone that is MMS-enabled and operating on GSM networks. In particular it is an operator problem and that has already been shared with the GSM Alliance.

Apple has to fix to the bug because according to statements by Apple they had never been applied on an iPhone but, can also be applied on the new firmware of iPhone 3.0.1. It is possible they would have been better not to give so much importance to this problem. However, it seems that all the hackers are paying attention on this bug, which is really beginning to get dangerous.

Note: MMS support from AT&T coming in late summer.

Free iPhone Security Update

The free iPhone OS Software Update includes some great new features, as well as all the features from previous updates. iPhone OS 3.0 also lets you run the next generation of iPhone apps and more. If you have never updated before, now is the perfect time.

Here are a few items to help with checking and improving the security of your iPhone3GS.

• You need to see the Mac OS X Security web page for an overview of Mac OS X security features
• Ensure that you are running the latest version of system software as Apple releases security updates regularly and having the latest available system software version should improve the security of your iPhone apps.
• Mac OS X Security Guides describe steps that can be taken to further enhance the security of your iPhone
• Additionally, the Mac OS X built-in security features from third-party providers could help to increase the security of your system in particular situations

iPhone OS 3.0 supports MMS (Multimedia Messaging Service) where as MMS is not supported in iPhone 2G. This article lists the system requirements for MMS and explains how to begin using MMS on both iPhone 2G and 3G. Basically, you need to verify that your iPhone and wireless carrier meet the system requirements to send and receive MMS messages on your iPhone.

Enable MMS on iPhone 3G

• A wireless carrier supports MMS on iPhone 3G
• You may need to install a carrier settings update
• After installing the carrier settings update, if you still don’t see the option for MMS Messaging in your iPhone’s Settings screen, check with your carrier to confirm that it supports MMS
• Send an MMS message by tapping Messages and adding a test photo
• A coverage area in which you can place and receive a call and access the Internet using Safari on your iPhone with 3G network coverage

P.S. You should see MMS Messaging in the Settings > Messages > General screen of your iPhone. If you don’t see MMS messaging check with your carrier to confirm it supports MMS and connect your iPhone to iTunes to if there is no carrier settings update available in iTunes when you connect your iPhone.

Activating MMS on iPhone 2G

• The iPhone 2G does not support sending or receiving MMS messages
• iPhone 2G OS 3.0 Jailbreaked with Cydia
• You need to enter into Cydia and download the package  ActivateMMS2G available in iSpazio
• Restart the iPhone
• Next go to Settings > Messages and make sure MMS Messaging is ON
• iPhone 2G is updated into Settings> General> Network> Cellular Data Network and add the MMS info for your carrier

Note: If you haven’t jailbreaked your iphone 2G with OS 3.0, then follow the easy steps with Unlock or Jailbreak iPhone 2g OS 3.0 Using RedSn0w on Windows Mac.

Conclusion

If your iPhone meets the system requirements, your wireless account may still need to be provisioned to send and receive MMS messages. Several carriers will automatically provision your wireless account for MMS when you first send an MMS message. Similarly, other carriers will provision customers’ wireless accounts for MMS automatically in large groups at different intervals. You can check with your carrier to confirm you are provisioned to send or receive MMS messages.