it would be nice if we could actually type text messages in landscape mode

Good News for those who want out of their contract!

Could this get us out of that silly 2 year contract? Not that I would be going anywhere.

1) I want MMS support on my iPhone.
2) Sounds like they want people to start using (using more) IMing clients on their phone to save from using text messages.

just wait a minute, i called ATT about this a few weeks ago bc i've an iphone with the 200 msg plan... this report is only partially true... the msg rate hike only applies to those who don't currently have text message plans, therefore anyone with an iphone or other ATT phone with text message plan is safe (still charging .05 for additional msg's)... this is straight from the mouth of the ATT rep that i spoke with

@shorty3508: First thing I thought too.

@Matronix:
actually - quite a few phones use IM over text messaging, even though it appears to sign-on via the internet.

Why are these so costly in the first place? Why does it cost them .20 to transfer:

OK CU @ 5

from one phone to another?

@Jayson J. Phillips:

Yeah I use a web-based IM client on my phone as well as text messaging at times. Just with raising prices like this and only leaving 200 txts (especially like on the unlimited voice/data plan) more will start using these IM clients when they catch on. IMO.

@frigg: Few years ago I did some work for Palm and found out that approx. cost for text is just below .001 cents per message.

How's that for greedy corps?

eh, looks like my last comment didn't post... anyway, afaik this report is only partially true... the new msg rate hikes only apply to those without a current text message plan, therefore iphone users and those with text msg plans are safe (still $0.05 for additional msg's)... this is straight from the mouth of the ATT rep i spoke with

SMS has 5 purposes:
1) communicating in loud settings like concerts.
2) Sending out mass SMS to avoid making 30 phones calls
3) Responding to a call that you couldn't answer with a "Hey I'll call you back, in a movie"
4) Instead of leaving a voicemail, SMS is much quicker and your friends will check it later.
5) ummm. 4 was a stretch so I can't think of a 5th.

I don't text, I call

@thechansen: Number 5 is divorce by SMS!

man at&t and apple love shafting their customers

@thechansen: #5 is Texting while sitting at a traffic light. (I am a witness to this, not the actual idiot doing it...like those that do it while operating a moving vehicle let alone an idling one)

@787style: That's almost the most disgusting thing I've read today.

@Matronix: Apple's little videos show you how to email photos. All you gotta do is email photo to (yourfriendscell#)@teleflip.com. They receive the photo on their phone and if they want to send you a picture they send it to your email address. To make it easier just add a second email address for your friends that has the teleflip in there.

Pathetic - I really wish there was some law against these absurd cell companies and their retarded rates, let alone jacking them up even more for txting of all things. Bandwidth for texting is next to nothing compared to voice. How about you start charging me for using the fucking backlight on my phone?

@frigg: You're wrong, it's not 20 cents; it's 20 to send AND 20 to receive. That's a double charge, 40 cents! This is ridiculous!

Nothing makes me want to spew and line of superlatives at cell providers more than this. STOP texting, people! Why do they charge it? Because they can.

Dear AT&T, I'm going to make it a point to transfer as much data, daily, as possible.

Long story short just get the extra text plan. 1500 texts a month equals 25 send and recieve a day. If you really need more than that you are some kind of social mutant who should cancel your voice plan. Or if you are deaf and legit need SMS, get the unlimited plan.

You're not getting MMS until iPhone 2.0

I don't have a problem with Apple but, at this point, I thought everyone knew that they'd give you anywhere between 80-95% of what you want in a given product. They give you the remaining 20-5% in the next iteration of the product but, in turn, leave some stuff out that you'd want.

So on and so forth. That's why people keep buying the next-gen stuff (see: iPod, iPhone, maybe even Macbook Air 2.0).

Good idea...I'm off to search for a Palm BitTorrent client.

That's really expensive in US. I pay $0,01 per text message in Denmark.

Verizon has been at $.20 for texts for a while now, though they're still only ("only" being used very loosely) at $.25 for MMS. I guess ATT didn't want to be left out in the "rip off our customers as much as possible" department.

Or $9 for unlimited text.

@thechansen:

It was more the receiving part is all...
Just gotta make sure my friends have my email in their phone.

Most technology gets cheaper over time, especially as it becomes more prevalent. Amazing how there's nothing you can do to prevent companies from charging 10,000% the cost of a service, except switch to another provider. Oh wait, you can't switch, because they all do it.

Isn't texting for phones that can't email? I just use email.

@Sqube:

Just can't wait for the "iPhone Take 2" :)

@aphex: Just what I was thinking.

I think AT&T's execs are clubbing baby seals and skinning snow leopard cubs in their ivory boardrooms these days, because thaz just fucked up yo.

@shiny7k:
All SMS really is, is PUSH email with 160 character limit. That they charge you an arm and a leg for. Hence why all cell phones have an email address, such verizon 2155551234@vtext.com

Teleflip is nice because you just have to enter the persons number with out having to remember all the cell phone provider specific addresses. So you have the ability to SMS or MMS using just the email client, and once you send a message to some one they just have to reply to you using the message you sent through teleflip to send a picture or text to your email. But I digress, why send an MMS when you can just upload to Flickr or your .Mac web gallery from your phone?

Just an FYI, the $120 plan isn't anything that special/paltry/whatever to those familiar with AT&T plans. It is just the unlimited calling ($100/mo) + their former MediaMax 200 plan that was unlimited internet + 200txt msgs for $20 --> $120.

at&t blows

2 questions.

- Does getting 200 messages/month, only refer to sending, and free incoming? or does receiving them also count.

- To break your contract due to the ToS changes, do all you have to do is tell them that? Or am guessing there is some very complicated way to go about actually breaking it.

T-Mobile is looking like a much better deal.

This kind of price hike is exactly why I Hacked my iPhone, unlocked it, and stuck it out with T-Mobile!

For all those out there who thinks the phone can't MMS, check out SWIRLYMMS . . . an app for those who jailbroke their phone. Works great, can send and receive mms's . . . .
Now the landscape typing in text messages would be great!!

And can we complain some more? If you plan on texting a lot pay for unlimited . . .its not a hard concept to understand. You are only going to get screwed if you are cheap up front.

When I first joined up with US Cellular in August of 05, the rates were 10 cents per text (send only, everything received including calls is free) and 25 cents per MMS.

Now, the rates are 25 cents per text and I think 50 cents per MMS.

They just want you to shell out for a text plan, that's all. $10/month for 200 texts, or send 40 texts for that same price. Win-win for the telcos.

Does anyone remember the time before the original AT&T Cellular was bought out by Cingular? Even though they charged for sending SMS, everyone received unlimited "incoming SMS" messages, which was cool with me since I had set up my Yahoo messenger to send my offline messages to my Cell Phone.

assuming they dont go out of business any time soon.. doesnt Helio offer unlimited txting in all their plans?

I hate AT&T, but I do like my iPhoneToy..

From ATT's web page titled...

[ CTIA Consumer Code for Wireless Service ]

7. Provide customers the right to terminate service for changes to contract terms.
Carriers will not modify the material terms of their subscribers' contracts in a manner that is materially adverse to subscribers without providing a reasonable advance notice of a proposed modification and allowing subscribers a time period of not less than 14 days to cancel their contracts with no early termination fee.

This means if they honor their commitment, any change to the current SMS charge would allow you to get out of your contract, fee free!

-b2-

I won't leave sprint I pay $85 unlimited data, texting, picture mail, 2000 min, ulimited nights and wknds, and nights & wknds start at 7 for four phones.

alright, i'm gonna try this again.. last 2 messages didn't submit.. anyway, afaik, this text rate hike only applies to those who don't already have a text plan.. therefore iphone users and other ATT users with text plans are safe (still $0.05 for additional msg's)... this is straight from the mouth of the ATT rep i spoke with a few weeks ago when i got the rate hike notification on my bill...

If you can email, you can send MMS messages. This is not news.

To send an MMS (to an AT&T customer) from your iPhone, the trick is to use your email to send it, and send it to the following address (phone number)@mms.att.net.

Works like a charm and your recipient (phone number) will get a normal MMS message with your picture in it.

Other carriers have similar email addresses for MMS delivery (phone number)@...:
Verizon: vzwpix.com
Sprint/Nextel: messaging.sprintpcs.com
T-Mobile: tmomail.net
Virgin: vmobl.net
Boost Mobile: myboostmobile.com
Alltel: message.alltel.com
Amp'd: Mobile vzwpix.com

@thechansen: 5. If you're deaf, they allow you to communicate, period.

@frigg: It costs that much because that's what people are willing to pay.

If one wants the cost to go down, STOP USING IT!

If a fair amount of people stop using a product/service, the price will always go down (or out of existence). That's just business. Remember MIDI before they found a use for it (ringtones)? They used to cost absolutely nothing back in the day because nobody really listened to them.

WRONG WRONG WRONG. It is the Pay-Per Use Rate. IF YOU DO NOT have a Texting plan, you will be charged 0.20 for text and 0.30 for MMS. If you have a PRE-EXISITING PLAN - Read this good: THIS WILL NOT AFFECT YOU.
So you're overage rate with the iPhone plan...is still FIVE CENTS. If you go over on the $5 Messaging 200 plan, you will be charged TEN CENTS. Please Gizmodo, please try to research this before publishing false stories.

Hate to be the rain on the parade, Broadband Reports got this wrong and Giz needs to check the facts. AT&T is changing the rate of their Pay Per Use messaging rates from $.20 to $30. This only applies to people who do not pay for a monthly messaging package. People who do pay for a monthly messaging package will continue to pay their guaranteed overage rate (usually $.05 or $.10 per message depending on their package). Unlike Verizon and Sprint, AT&T chose not to raise the rates of customers paying for monthly messaging packages to prevent the get out of contract free loophole that VZW and Sprint customers took advantage of. Since pay per use users are not guaranteed the rate, it is not part of their contract, hence no free exit.

I'm on the unlimited plan + 200 tsx/mm messages. I have my sony ericsson set to check my e-mail every 5 minutes. Not as fast of a delivery as the blackberry plan but it is cheaper and pretty much serves the same function for $20.

The only drawback, if even a drawback at all, is that everytime it checks my e-mail it's recorded. My Phone bill arrives arrives as thick as a catalog and almost gives me a heart attack when I see the envelope only to find out that 75% of the bill is my phone checking my e-mail.

Plus I have a 3rd party AIM program that uses the unlimited internet feature so I'm pretty much covered as far as alternate ways of contacting me besides you know, using the phone to actually make a phone call.

normal price? Australians pay $.25 and $.50 for MMS. And yet I still dont see my usage go over my plan....

@simmo: Maybe you don't, but do you have two teenage daughters? That's how they communicate. The wife and I got a higher minutes plan because we thought they would be talking all the time. After almost a year we had like a bazillion rollover minutes, but an extra $20-30 a month for texting.

If this is enough to get you out of a contract, my question is this:
Can you get out of a contract but continue to use them as a provider? For instance, my fiance's family's plan just ran out at the begining of this month, but they continue to use ATT w/o a contract until they figure out what the next step for them is. I ask this because I just got an AT&T phone and while nothing is wrong, I'd like to have the option to walk away at any time within the next two years if I have to.

@SBM_from_LA: those were the days. People could text me all they wanted and I didn't have to text back. And of course now that texting has blown up I have texting blocked on my plan so I don't incur 20cent per text fees from those idiots who think everyone has unlimited texting plans.

not sure if many iPhone users know this, but we can send/receive pics using email. Just have someone send an MMS to xxxxxxxxxx@att.net (x is your phone number) and you can receive pics from other cell phones. You can send the same way. Every carrier has it's own mms server name so just google it. Best part is that it is free on our end because you're just using email. I've been doing this for months! Let's just keep it quiet tho so at&t or apple doesn't revoke it.

@karmaghost: What makes you think you can get out of contract early? If you do, you will be canceled and will owe a $175 ETF. This price change, as it is only a change for a non-subscription charge, does not allow you to get out of the contract without a penalty. Rule of thumb with cell phone providers: You sign a contract, you must fulfill that contract unless you want to be charged for breaking it.

I don't understand why phone companies charge for text messages at all. Text messaging takes up so much less bandwidth than an actual call. Every phone company should be allowing free unlimited text messaging to reduce strain on their networks. Paying for text messaging is a rip off. That would be like your ISP charging you for every email that you send.

@James: I make it a point to transfer as much data as technologically possible from M-F. I'm usually at my girlfriend's