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Home : Community : Ask An Expert : Archive : January 2004   January 2004     What can I do with MMS? January Issue Roxanne "The Expert" Singleton Welcome to our new "Ask an Expert" column. "Expert" is perhaps far too generous a label to give me as I do consult with the real experts within Openwave and the industry to make sure you get the latest, accurate information. My name is Roxanne and I will be here to tell you what's really going on behind the scenes in the world of Mobile technology. I do know how things work around here and I know how to get the answers. But I don't want to stop there. I want to hear from you - get the word on the street - directly from the guys like you that make this stuff really work. Contact me and I will do my best to include your words in my column and take your suggestions back to the product teams. And if you have a better name for this column, let me know. I don't think this expert moniker is really going to work for me long-term. So I was blasting through the mall two days before Christmas trying to figure out if anything at Abercrombie and Fitch that would be appropriate for my father (the answer is no, he just doesn't look right in cargo pants) and I see this ad for Verizon's new camera phone. All I could think of was a twisted ad running in my head with that Verizon guy and me saying, “Hey, can you see me now?” as I send him a photo of myself offering him a friendly gesture. The good news for us is photo messaging, and other types of MMS applications, are here to stay. And they are starting to take off. And this ties right in to this month's question: “What can I do with MMS? Is the opportunity more than just picture messaging?” To help you get an idea of the scope of MMS, let's start out with a few facts: Most carriers, worldwide, have rolled out MMS 3.4 million MMS messages are sent annually (and it is expected to grow about 70% per year for the next few years) based on Ovum research There about 100 MMS capable handsets shipping today Openwave's technology now supports over 13 million camera phone subscribers and more than three million video-enabled phones While photo messaging has started to gain momentum, let's be clear, MMS is more than just peer-to-peer messaging. The standards bodies have defined two interfaces to deliver messages to users from a server: MM3 (which is just SMTP Email), and MM7 (which is SOAP over HTTP). MM7 is the preferred interface as it provides tight access control, and a rich set of APIs that developers can leverage to deliver content intelligently, query delivery status, and even manage the receipt of incoming messages. A veritable cornucopia of features that will create lots of happy users! All this means MMS is more than just picture messaging. It is a delivery mechanism for entertainment, news, wallpapers, ringers and more. And Openwave can help. Not only do we have an MMS client, but our MMSC. In addition, our MMS toolkit works with any standards compliant MMSC. Remember, if you are interested in testing your MMS applications through the Openwave MMSC, all you need to do is let us know. So is there an opportunity? The answer is absolutely. The trick is identifying new multi-media services that consumers are willing to pay for. And that's where you come in. Start the creative juices flowing and let me know what ideas you have for MMS. Send me a note and I'll write about your ideas in an upcoming column! So as I write this, I am off to CES (which will be just another piece of history when you read this!). I hope I survive the trip: Openwave booked me at Circus Circus (corporate thriftiness is killing me). Good news is I will be at the show or on the strip most of the time! And bytheway, I ended up giving my dad a subscription to the New Republic for Christmas. Hrrmph. Write me. Roxy