One big lacking on the iPhone is the unavailability of multimedia message service, i.e., sending pictures, audio and videos just like you send text messages. AT&T just annoucned that it will activate iPhone multimedia messaging in about 3 weeks, on Sept. 25.

Apple had the feature ready for while now, they announced it in June at the WWDC. But AT&T for some reason decided not to launch it until much later. It is most likely due to AT&T’s poor 3G coverage and very slow data connection. Their network infrastructure is crumbling under the pressure of large number of iPhones with heavy data usages.

The MMS will be available on iPhone 3GS and iPhone 3G but not on the old iPhone 2G.

Here is from the AT&T press release:

“We know that iPhone users will embrace MMS. The unique capabilities and high usage of the iPhone’s multimedia capabilities required us to work on our network MMS architecture to carry the expected record volumes of MMS traffic and ensure an excellent experience from Day One. We appreciate your patience as we work toward that end.”

Given AT&T’s poor 3G coverage and data rate, this is likely an over-promise, which will come back to bite them. They need to learn to under promise and over deliver, or at least to deliver what they promise.