Do people still use MMS on smartphones?

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kyhwana2

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Topic # 82198 23-Apr-2011 18:44
I keep seeing people asking for MMS APN settings on their smartphones. Why are these people still using MMS? Don't they realise they can take a photo and upload it to twitpic/picasa/flickr/etc? Even with data charges, it'd be cheaper and faster to upload it to the 'net somewhere. (Not to mention only having to send it once!)

BlakJak

436 posts

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Reply # 461845 23-Apr-2011 19:09
I rarely used MMS even before I had a smartphone... This would be me...

richms

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Reply # 461846 23-Apr-2011 19:10
No, also dont use SMS anymore either other than for a couple of automated things that annoy me and a couple of friends who still persist with stonerphones Richard rich.ms

dclegg

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Reply # 461849 23-Apr-2011 19:15
I do, primarily for sharing photos with my wife. If I uploaded to an online photo sharing service, it becomes a two step process (upload photo and send link). A MMS would also be viewed almost immediately, whereas an emailed link to an online photo may not be viewed for hours.

Dratsab

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Reply # 461856 23-Apr-2011 19:31
dclegg: I do, primarily for sharing photos with my wife. Too much information... Chuck Norris has abolished the periodic table of elements. The only element he recognises is the element of surprise!

muppet

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Reply # 461882 23-Apr-2011 21:18
Becuase MMS is "pushed" to the end-users phone. They get fairly instant notification of a new message. Everything else you've mentioned usually isn't, and even if it is the end-user has to be signed into that service, which requires them to be a user of it. MMS is compatiable with pretty much every phone on the market, regardless if the person using the phone has Twitter, knows how to check Flickr etc. In the same way that Twitter/Email hasn't replaced SMS. I totally get what you're saying - but you just because your world is fully connected doesn't mean other peoples are. MMS is still useful to a certain group of people. Don't get me wrong. MMS is crap. It's buggy, it's expensive and it's a last resort. But you know it'll (probably) work when you can't trust anything else. Checkout the EPIC5 script I work on, LiCe. Makes console based IRC fun and easy to use, just like the old days!

NonprayingMantis

3602 posts

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Reply # 461883 23-Apr-2011 21:29
IIRC, only about 10-15% of people actually have smartphones in NZ, so if you want to quickly send a photo with one of the other 85-90% of people, then you need to use MMS. Plus all the other stuff muppet said (instant receiving of pics etc)

wanghou168

358 posts

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Reply # 461885 23-Apr-2011 21:45
never used mms function Cheapest Online Bookstore Free Worldwide Delivery http://www.bookdepository.co.uk/?a_aid=lhou021 MOBILE: Motorola Defy (Quarx JB 4.1.2) TABLET: Samsung Galaxy tablet OTHER: Asus laptop + Samsung ChromeBook

richms

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Reply # 461886 23-Apr-2011 21:52
Problem is that it looks like crap everytime I have done it. something along the way was turning a barely acceptable image into something icon sized. Richard rich.ms

kyhwana2

2146 posts

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Reply # 461888 23-Apr-2011 21:56
Well, ever tried looking at a photo on something like a Nokia 2730 (or crappier!) it looks like crap

nakedmolerat

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Reply # 461893 23-Apr-2011 22:55
Dratsab: dclegg: I do, primarily for sharing photos with my wife. Too much information... same, i lol'ed when i read that. i use gmail to send photos between android phones-instant notification. cant be bothered with mms as it costs extra. email is included in my paid data bundle. i think in Japan, mms is treated just like sms (ie it is included in the bundles and cost the same as sms)

eXDee

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Reply # 461895 23-Apr-2011 23:43
richms: Problem is that it looks like crap everytime I have done it. something along the way was turning a barely acceptable image into something icon sized. My original HTC ROM compressed them to 50kb or so. My current stock android rom just packs them down to under 300kb. I think not all phones can handle them this big however. I just take a picture and 1click upload it to imgur using Tim Clark's app from the market myself.

GH33

65 posts

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Reply # 461897 24-Apr-2011 00:13
I never send mms, I email most of the time. 20c for mms is too expensive for my likings

old3eyes

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Reply # 461910 24-Apr-2011 09:22
I use MMS occasionally but agree with Richms they look like crap if you try to take them off and do something with them. The MMS standard for WCDMA needs to be enhanced to allow larger pictures to be sent not the postage stamps we have now. What's the point of a 8Mpix camera when the send resolution is only about 10% of that.. Regards, Old3eyes