Today’s the day everyone on AT&T has been waiting for — MMS lands now. Well, now-ish, because AT&T is doing a rolling roll-out, and we’ll see how the network holds up.

AT&T MMS Update: We know you’ve been eager for this service so we wanted to offer a quick update on the launch plans for MMS on Friday, Sept. 25. Late morning, Pacific Time, on Friday, the new carrier settings update enabling MMS should be live and ready to download through iTunes. We’ll provide the steps and all of the details you need right here at that time.

If you’re waiting for MMS to come your way — whether to use or just to check off your AT&T bucket list — check out our MMS for iPhone walkthrough after the break so you’re ready when yours lights up. And when it does light up, let us know when and where in the comments so we can cheer (and those nearby can lose their minds with anticipointment!)

iPhone 3.0/3.1 MMS Walkthrough

Messages is the new SMS, and is renamed to signify the addition of MMS (multi-media messaging service). It allows, in the case of the new iPhone OS 3.0 software, for you to receive, vCards (contacts), audio, location, and — for iPhone 3GS only — video to be sent using the Messages interface to any other smartphone or feature-phone that supports MMS and those file types.

Once you receive an MMS, you can tap the icon in the message bubble to get a better look at it. In the case of a contact, you’ll see a page similar to what you get when you call up a contact in Phone, except at the very bottom you’ll have extra, saving and sharing related options that we’ll cover later in the Phone app section.

Location opens in Google Maps as you’d expect, audio and video in iPod, and images pop up full screen where you can tap the share icon to Save Image — but strangely not re-share it…

When it comes to sending MMS, only picture sending can be initiated from within the Messages app itself. Everything else starts a “share” function from another app (i.e. Share Contact is in Contacts, Share Location is in Google Maps, Share Audio is in Voice Recorder, etc.)

There are two ways to insert a picture into MMS. The first is to tap the camera icon, bottom right. A requester will ask if you want to Take Photo or Choose Existing. Take Photo will call up an embedded version of the Camera app. Frame your picture, tap the camera icon, look at the preview and either hit Retake to try again or Use to insert the picture into your MMS window. (If you want to erase it later, just backspace over it like you would a text character you want to delete)

Choose Existing will call up an image picker (like the Photo App). Pick an Album, pick a picture, and tap Choose to confirm.

The second way to insert a picture into MMS is to paste it…

The new, system-wide Cut, Copy, and Paste service has also been introduced into Messages. It works in a similar way to the implementation in the Notes app, and we’ll cover it more fully there. One difference is that double tapping a previous SMS will give you the Copy popup allowing you to duplicate the entire contents of the SMS to the clipboard. Tapping on an empty entry box will launch the Paste popup, so you can stick the contents back down in an message of your own. If the entry box already contains text, double tapping will select the closest word, and double tapping an holding will select the closet word and popup the loupe.

Again, we’ll cover this more fully in the section for the Notes app.

Messages also now includes line-item deletion and forwarding. Tap the Edit button at the top right, select the messages you want — as many of them as you want — and then hit the red Delete button at the bottom, or the blue Forward button beside it. Edit still isn’t the most elegant name for the combination of deletion and forwarding, mind you, but the functionality is consistent with the Mass Edit feature introduced for Mail in iPhone 2.0.

Lastly, Apple has also answered the call for pervasive landscape-style keyboards, and Messages is one of the text-entry apps that received it. For those who want a Cadillac-wide typing experience, enjoy!

(Note to Apple: a way to “lock” the iPhone in portrait or landscape mode would be appreciated, especially when typing while reclining and every little angle change sends the UI spinning.)

Still no MMS for AT&T users. That’s being released on September 25 (though whether it will require an iPhone 3.1.1 update, or just a new carrier file is unknown).

With iPhone 3.1 you can tap the action button at bottom, left to save them to the camera roll, just like you could previously do with pictures under iPhone 3.0.

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

AT&T iPhone MMS Arrives Today — Here’s a Walkthrough!

Poor battery life and iPhone are a few words that get mixed together all too often it seems. While some will say it’s fine, others will say it’s pitiful. As many of you know, battery life will fluctuate greatly between users and their individual usage patterns but TiPb wants to provide you with some simple tips and tricks on conditioning your battery to provide a maximum life and squeezing as much usage out of each charge as possible.

The battery in an iPhone is a lithium-based battery which is most common in consumer portable devices. A lithium-ion battery provides 300-500 discharge/charge cycles in its lifetime and the following tips are just a few ways to efficiently gain longer battery lifespans while extending overall battery life of your iPhone.

• Be sure to go through at least one charge cycle per month (charging the battery to 100% and then completely running it down).
• Avoid heat – do not leave your iPhone in a hot car or in direct sunlight.
• Optimization of your settings. Yes, some of these are no brainers but can be effective. Simple things like:
  1. turning off Location Services,
  2. turning off Wi-Fi and Bluetooth when not in use,
  3. fetching new data less frequently,
  4. setting the brightness of your screen below 50%,
  5. turning of the EQ while listening to music,
  6. turning off 3G while not surfing the internet (Yes, we said it…)

All of these add up to better battery life.

After you’ve tried some of the above tips and you are still not happy or your battery life is just horrid all together, you may want to try restoring your iPhone and do not restore from a backup file but rather restore as a new iPhone. All too often we hear about horrible battery life striking many of you after updating your iPhone to the latest software. If this is the case, 9 times out of 10 a separate restore as a new iPhone will clear up your battery issue.

Have some battery saving tips you’d like to share? Leave them in the comments for others to take advantage of!

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

iPhone 101: How to Maximize iPhone Battery Performance

The S stands for speed, and the 3G stands for the third generation, HSPA (High Speed Packet Access – wikipedia link) data network, which is also supposed to bring broadband-like speed to your iPhone’s internet connection. When you’re on the 3G network, you can tell by the little 3G symbol at the top of left of your iPhone’s menu, right beside the signal strength bars and the name of your carrier (AT&T, Rogers, O2, Orange, etc.).

There are several other symbols your iPhone might show instead of 3G, however, depending on the type of connection and reception available in your area and sometimes specific spot.

If you don’t have a 3G connection, whether your area doesn’t support it or you’re just indoors or behind an obstruction that’s preventing it, your iPhone might default down to a 2G connection, known as EDGE, (Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution – Wikipedia link). That’s the little E symbol, and If we keep the same analogy, this is older, slower technology — dial-up to 3G’s broadband.

If you’re getting an E and you really think you should be getting 3G, try going to the Settings Icon and toggling Airplane Mode on and off. That should force your iPhone to re-connect with the network and give you the fastest speed available. Sometimes even moving to a different, less obstructed spot can make a big difference.

If even EDGE isn’t available, the iPhone will still try to connect via GPRS (General Packet Radio System – Wikipedia link) an even older, slower 2G protocol shown with an O symbol (for outside chance?). To stretch our analogy as thin as this signal, GRPS would be the ancient 24K modems.

Of course, if you have Wi-Fi enabled and connected, you’ll get the Wi-Fi fan symbol instead.

If you’ve turned all the radios off and gone into “Airplane Mode”, you’ll get the little airplane symbol and absolutely no connection to the internet whatsoever. (Turn Airplane Mode off — and your connections back on — via the Settings icon on your home screen.)

And yes, you can turn on Airplane Mode and still re-enable Wi-Fi if you really want to.

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

iPhone 101: iPhone Connection Speed Symbols from O to E to 3G (or an Airplane)

For some, even the newly expanded 11 Home Screen, 180 (including 4 fixed dock) app slots under iPhone 3.0 isn’t enough. It’s not about need — it’s about want. Luckily, iPhone 3.0 offers another handy, theoretically unlimited way to access apps: Spotlight. According to David Pogue:

You can install UNLIMITED APPS! Only 180 show up as icons—but Spotlight can find and open all of them! (And yes, we tried. Stopped at 250!)

So, check off every single one of your 56,000 (maybe?!) apps and sync them over. Then, instead of swiping right through 11 pages only to find the excess unaccessible, swipe LEFT to go to the Spotlight Search screen (or just press the home button again to get there super quick).

Next, start typing the name of the app, hidden or otherwise, you want to access, and as soon as it appears in the results, tap it to launch.

Boom. App pack rat bliss.

Note: Spotlight also shows WebClip icons you’ve bookmarked from MobileSafari to your Home Screen, so you can go crazy with quick access to your favorite websites as well.

And for those who prefer not to fill up their iPhone with apps, remember you can delete an app when not using it and download it again via the on-board App Store app, without any duplicate charges, any time. Cloud management is a reality, and a second option.

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

iPhone 101: How to Access More Than 180 Apps or WebClips via Spotlight on iPhone 3.0

iPhone 3.0 features Calendar Subscriptions, where you can enter the URL for a shared calendar and near-instantly add it to your iPhone.

That’s all well and good to share a family or business calendar, but what about more wide-ranging ones? What about national holidays, religious events, movie release dates, sports team schedules? Luckily, Apple’s already made this simple for Mac OS X iCal users, and even more luckily it works just as simply for iPhone 3.0 users as well.

We’ll share how, after the break…

Adding Subscription Calendars

Just point Mobile Safari on your iPhone to: http://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/calendars/. Apple provides categories for Most Recent, Most Popular, Alphabetical, Staff Picks, plus a handy search box. Once you find a calendar that interests you, click the Download link.

Your iPhone will ask if you want to subscribe (see image above), and once you confirm, will offer to take you straight to your calendar events to see what’s new.

Viewing Subscribed Calendars

Each subscription is given its own calendar in the iPhone Calendar App, so you can choose just that calendar to view. All views, month, day, and details are supported.

Removing Subscribed Calendars

Not all shared calendars are created — or maintained — equally. Movie Release Dates doesn’t seem to include June or July yet (making it rather useless at the moment), though national holidays and others seem quite up to date.

If you subscribe to a calendar that later disappoints, just head on over to Settings > Mail, Contacts, Calendar. You’ll see all your subscriptions listed under Accounts. Choose the one you want to edit or remove, and hit Delete Account if it displeases you.

Share Your Favorites

If you have or find any great shared calendars, please drop a comment below and let us know about them!

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

iPhone 3.0 How To: Easily Subscribe to US Holidays, Sports Team Schedules, Movie Release Dates, and More!

Welcome to iPhone 101, where TiPb helps new iPhone users use their new iPhones — or just gives you a handy link to send to your new iPhone using friends.

This time we’re tackling something near and dear to every child-caring adult’s heart: how to resent your iPhone Home Screen to default. Because as we all know, you let your child at your iPhone, and they can switch around your icons — even blank your Home Screen — in no time flat (and yes, the above is a real screenshot of an iPhone after a 3 year old spent about 5 minutes on it…)

Luckily, there must be a lot of parents at Apple, because they’ve made it lickity-split simple to restore.

From the home screen, tap Settings (yeah, if you can find it — but at least they can’t delete that or any built-in application).

From Settings, hit General, then choose Reset.

From the Reset menu, choose Reset Home Screen Layout. When it asks you to confirm, tap the big red Reset Home Screen button.

And you’re done. Your iPhone’s icons will be back to the way Apple ships them… until your child gets a hold of them again!

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

iPhone 101: How to Reset Your Home Screen Icons to Default

Confession: Jeremy can’t believe we’re posting this, but after a bunch of forum questions, email queries, and a mini Twitter ’splosion, we figured we’d put this up as a public service message to the Jailbreak community.

First: don’t panic.

Second: those strange little black icon badges that have suddenly popped up on your Phone, Email, iPod, and perhaps other apps? Yeah, that’s because you installed Backgrounder, and that’s how Backgrounder shows you which applications, built-in or user-enabled, are currently running background tasks (multitasking).

Third: enjoy.

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

iPhone Jailbreak 101: What Are Those Swirly Black Badges on Mail, Phone, iPod?

Welcome to iPhone 101, simple tips for novice iPhone users to help you take advantage of your new device.

Maybe your kid spends way too much time browsing the internet via Safari, uses the camera in ways that are not appropriate, or perhaps they went on a spending spree in the App Store and you didn’t know until your credit card bill came in the mail. Whatever the case may be, find out how to regain some parental control by enabling restrictions after the break!

Settings

Ok, you will want to begin to go into the settings.

General

Once you are in the settings, go directly to the general tab.

Restrictions

Tap the restrictions tab and once on that screen choose enable restrictions.

You will now be asked to enter a 4 digit passcode. Do not forget this passcode, there is no way to retrieve it, and a full restore (re-installation) of the iPhone is needed to reset it.

Restriction Options

After you have entered your passcode, you will now have the ability to restrict any of the functions you see on the screen. Without going through each and every option, lets just take a look at Safari. If you turn off Safari and head back to your home screen you will see that the icon is removed and there is no way possible to reach that application any more.

To re-enable a function like Safari, return to the restriction page, authorize with the 4 digit passcode you entered above, and turn it back on.

So there you have it folks, if there is any reason you need to restrict certain apps or features on your (or your child’s) iPhone, this is how you do it.

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

iPhone 101: How To Set Up Parental Controls on Your iPhone

Welcome to iPhone 101, the best place for those of you who are new to the iPhone to learn the basics.

We all worry about misplacing our precious phones or, worse yet, having them stolen. Some may even worry about snoopers trying to read our private info when we’re not looking. In case one of these things happen, you should really consider protecting all of your personal data on the device. TiPb has got you covered, to see how to passcode lock your iPhone read on after the break!

From the homescreen, tap the Settings icon. From there you will want to press the General tab.

Once you are within the general settings tab you will see Passcode Lock is set to off.

Now tap Passcode Lock and you will be prompted to enter a four digit passcode.

After entering your four digit code you will now see the following options.

• Require Passcode: allows you to select a time period that has to pass before the lock is enabled. If you don’t want to have to enter your code too frequently but still want some protection, you can set this to 15 minutes or even 1 hour or more.

• Show SMS Preview: on by default, this shows incoming text messages on your homescreen. Turning this feature to off will only display “New Text Message” on the home screen, which can keep the identity of your texter safe from snooping eyes if that’s a concern.

• Erase Data: simply erases all data on your iPhone after 10 failed passcode attempts. This is the nuclear option, but if you’re really worried about losing your iPhone and have really important data on it, it can be something to consider.

Once you have configured your settings as you see fit, tap your home button to exit and that’s all there is to it. You have successfully passcode locked your iPhone. It’s as simple as that.

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

iPhone 101: How to Passcode Lock Your iPhone

Welcome to iPhone 101, a single point of success for new iPhone users, and for veterans who know new users and need a quick and helpful place to point them. This time Tekzilla Daily went and did the heavy lifting for iPhone beginners, with a quick how-to video showing Apple’s multi-touch gesture for “swipe to delete”.

In any app that supports it, such as email, SMS, or iPod, you can simply touch the item you want to delete, briskly swipe your finger horizontally across the item, and a red “delete” button will appear allowing you to banish the item from your iPhone forever.

It can be a little tricky at first. Too slow and you might open or launch the item instead. Too quick and it may ignore you. But after a few tries, you should be happily ditching anything you no longer feel the need to keep with you.

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

iPhone 101: How to Swipe to Delete Email, SMS, or Media on your iPhone