Messaging the presence
Mobile communication is shifting from "listen to what I say" to "see what I mean". Short Messaging Service (SMS) has evolved through the years from simple text to messages to more advanced picture messages. The next phase of mobile communications - mobile imaging - will have a magnitude of appeal as great as that of mobile voice. Imaging will be the major catalyst for Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS). Multimedia messaging builds on the well-established SMS model by adding a new dimension of expression image, video, sound and text in a single message to a user- friendly system.
"what is MMS"
MMS is a messaging service for the mobile environment, standardized by the WAP Forum and the 3rd Generation Partnership Program (3GPP). For the phone user, MMS is very similar to short message (SMS), in that it provides automatic, immediate delivery of user-created content from phone to phone. For SMS, the method for message addressing is primarily phone numbers. The new MMS technology provides support for email addressing, so that message can also be sent from phone to email and vice versa.
"is MMS a nokia proprietary service or a standardized service?"
The WAP Forum and 3GPP standardized MMS in order to make it an open standard. The 3GPP specification defines the network architecture and general functions. The WAP Forum specification defines message encapsulation and application protocols. Existing transport protocols are used for delivery of messages.
"what content type does MMS support?"
The MMS standards do not mandate any specific content format. Instead, an MMS is encapsulated in a standard way, so that the receiving party can identify those content formats it does not support, and handle them in a controlled way. This is also the solution used for content interoperability on the Internet. However, the standard does recommend the following supported media types: JPEG, GIF, text, AMR voice, video H263, and some other formats. To achieve interoperability, Nokia and some other manufacturers have agreed upon an MMS Conformance Document that lists the minimum set of content types to be supported by an MMS phone.
"how big can MMS be?"
The standard does not specify a maximum size for a MMS. This is done to ensure future interoperability and to avoid the SMS dilemma, where the 160-character limit has been problematic. The message size is therefore an implementation issue. It's also dependent on operator preferences, for instance if they would like to have a standardized message size for billing purposes. Nokia predicts that MMS, in the first phase, will be between 30kb and 100kb in size.
"how fast is a MMS transmission?"
The MMS transmission is dependent on the message size and on the bearer used. However, since the receiver will not be aware of the ongoing transmission before the whole message has been delivered, he or she will perceive no delay at all.
"can you send a MMS to phones that do not have the MMS feature?"
The Nokia non-multimedia terminal support provides support for phones without the capability to receive a MMS. The receiving terminal is identified as a non-MMS phone, and the message is stored on a web page instead of being sent to the phone. A SMS is then sent to the non-MMS phone with the address to the web page where the message can be retrieved.