Posted on 11/17/2009 7:58:27 PM PST by Swordmaker
Apple Inc., the most profitable handset vendor, and the wireless unit of AT&T Inc. were sued by a customer and accused of misleading buyers of iPhones.
Apple, based in Cupertino, California, and AT&T, the second-largest U.S. mobile-telephone company, misled consumers when they said the iPhone would have multimedia messaging service capability, the customer said today in a proposed class-action complaint in U.S. District Court in New York. The feature allows users to send pictures to each others phones.
MMS functionality was one of the reasons people chose to buy or upgrade to an iPhone, and it has become clear that AT&Ts network does not support MMS, according to the complaint.
When and if AT&T upgrades its network, the millions of iPhone purchasers will get what they bargained for in terms of MMS, according to the complaint. In the meantime, all the millions of purchasers of the 3G and 3GS iPhones have been deceived and cheated out of what they thought they were purchasing a cell phone with MMS functionality.
Mark Siegel, an AT&T spokesman, said the company does offer the messaging feature.
The plain fact is were offering MMS for the iPhone 3G, he said in an interview.
Advertisement Apple doesnt comment on pending litigation, said Susan Lundgren, a spokeswoman.
The plaintiff, Francis Monticelli of New York, seeks to sue on behalf of himself and other buyers of the iPhone. He asked for unspecified money damages. Similar lawsuits against the companies have been filed elsewhere.
Apples third-quarter operating profit from iPhone sales was $1.6 billion, Neil Mawston and Alex Spektor, analysts for Boston-based Strategy Analytics, wrote in a report last week. The iPhone is sold in about 80 countries. It went on sale last month in China.
The case is Monticelli v. Apple, 09-cv-9505, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York (Manhattan).
Complaint here via Justia
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Apple sues Verizon regardless of the facts.
OOOPs... that AT&T. Intra-crainal flatulence.
Don’t know about Apple, but AT&T has misleading, cheating and abuse built into their business plan.
ths consumer is happy with her iphone, for whatever it is worth...
FYI, you actually CAN send MMS pictures from the iPhone, but not in a direct way, you must send them to another’s cell phone number by using a code involving the recipients cell number, and the carriers email servers.
Alltel = xxxxxxxxxx@message.alltel.com
AT&T = xxxxxxxxxx@mms.att.net
Boost Mobile = xxxxxxxxxx@myboostmobile.com
Cingular (AT&T) = xxxxxxxxxx@mms.mycingular.com
Einstein PCS = xxxxxxxxxx@einsteinmms.com
Sprint = xxxxxxxxxx@messaging.sprintpcs.com
T-Mobile = xxxxxxxxxx@tmomail.net
US Cellular = xxxxxxxxxx@mms.uscc.net
Verizon Wireless = xxxxxxxxxx@vzwpix.com
Virgin Mobile = xxxxxxxxxx@vmobl.com
It works, but you have to know in advance whose service your recipients cell phone has, otherwise, it’s a no go...
(the xxxxxxxxxx is the cellphone number of the person you are trying to send the MMS pic to)
http://iphone.macworld.com/2007/08/sending_and_receiving_mms_on_y_1.php
Apple sues Verizon? AT&T? Don't think so...
AT&T is suing Verizon for misrepresentations about their data network.
That article is over two years old and completely out of date. You can send an MMS directly from the Messages app by pressing the little camera icon to the left of the text entry field, or you can select a photo (or a video, if you have the 3GS) from the photo library.
I believe the complaint is that AT&T claimed MMS functionality before it was actually available in June, 2009.
Major, your information is way outdated. Your link is from August of 2007, just 2 months after the iPhone first became available. That's a description of how to email mutlimedia from the iPhone to another phone... something that has always been possible to phones that could accept email.
It works, but you have to know in advance whose service your recipients cell phone has, otherwise, its a no go...
No, you are wrong.
iPhones can send MMS pictures and videos in a perfectly normal way... no need for tricks or complicated steps. I merely pick someone's phone number in my address book and send what I want to send. No complications at all.
AT&T is suing Verizon for alleged misrepresentations about their data network.
Neither AT&T nor Apple claimed it before it was available. Apple announced that iPhone 3.0 would be capable of it IF the carrier offered it. Apple also announced that AT&T did not at that time offer it but their other partners in other nations did. Apple did announce in June that AT&T had said they would be offering MMS in late Summer 2009.
AT&T missed "late Summer" by 3 days, when they turned on MMS messaging on September 25, 2009, since Summer ended on September 22nd. Perhaps the plaintiff is complaining about those three days?
Read the complaint. The plaintiff is alleging that AT&T did claim it was a feature of the iPhone, before their network supported it.
I didn't read all the details, but it appears to be a complaint about false and/or misleading advertising.
Buy a droid on the best network, Verizon. I have one, and it’s the cat’s meow.
So, exactly what model iPhone do you have and what are the shortcomings you are finding?
Sheesh. Why didn't you just buy a Blackberry?
MMS only became enabled on Iphones a few months ago. For about 2+ years of the iPhones existence, it wasn’t, and was one of the biggest gripes by users of the phone. It was a discrace it took them that long to finally turn it on.
I DID read the complaint and "the details." The plaintiff is claiming that MMS is STILL not available...
"31. Thus, it became clear that AT&Ts network does not support MMS.Totally false... as are the claims that AT&T advertised MMS availability on the iPhone before it was available unless there were ads in New York that were different than the ones I saw in California or on the Internet.32. When calling Apple Customer Support, it was revealed that AT&T has never upgraded its network so as to support the functionality necessary for MMS.
33. Accordingly, the iPhone cannot offer MMS as claimed and represented by the defendants.
. . .
36. Upon information and belief, to date, AT&T has failed to upgrade its network to support MMS.
37. When and if AT&T upgrades its network, the millions of iPhone purchasers will get what they bargained for in terms of MMS. In the meantime, all the millions of purchasers of the 3G and 3G-S iPhone have been deceived and cheated out of what they thought they were purchasing - a cell phone with MMS functionality. 38. Apple and AT&T representatives continue to misrepresent and/or conceal, suppress, or omit material facts to customers in their stores about the MMS functionality of the 3G and 3G-S iPhones."
Complaint filed November 16, 2009
There are other errors of fact presented in the complaint, as well.
Apple's world wide advertising for the iPhone DID truthfully claim MMS capability, but always asterisked it with the statement that in the United States AT&T did not yet support MMS.
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