MMS Multimedia Messaging Service, MMS objects

MMS (Multimedia

Messaging

Service)

One of the key features in the T300/T302 is the Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS), expected to become the preferred messaging method of mobile terminal users, since there are virtually no limits to the content of an MMS transmission. An MMS message from the T300/T302 can contain text, graphics, animations, images, audio clips and ring melodies. For more detailed information, see “Multimedia Messaging Service” on page 51. For third-part developers’ information, please visit www.SonyEricsson.com/mobilityworld/ and look for the MMS Developers’ guidelines.

Defined and specified by 3GPP as a standard for third generation implementation, MMS completes the potential of messaging. Sending digital postcards and PowerPoint-style presentations is expected to be among the most popular user applications of MMS. Eagerly awaited by young users in particular, MMS is projected to fuel the growth of related market segments by as much as forty percent.

Using the Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) as bearer technology and powered by the high- speed transmission technologies EDGE, GPRS and UMTS (W-CDMA), Multimedia Messaging allows users to send and receive messages that look like PowerPoint-style presentations. The messages may include any combination of text, graphics, photographic images, speech and music clips . MMS will serve as the default mode of messaging on all terminals, making total content exchange second nature. From utility to sheer fun, it offers benefits at every level and to every kind of user.

T300/T302

White Paper, August 2002

Figure 1. An MMS message can contain images, music, audio and graphics.

MMS objects

Although MMS is a direct descendant of SMS, the difference in content is dramatic. The size of an average SMS message is about 140 bytes, while the maximum size of an MMS message is limited only by the memory. That is why the key word to describe MMS content is rich. Complete with words, sounds and images, MMS content is endowed with the user’s ideas, feelings and personality. There is however a storage limit of 20 MMS messages, which is independant of available memory. And whether the messages are full or only notifications is insignificant.

An MMS message can contain one or more of the following:

Text

As with SMS and EMS, an MMS message can consist of normal text. The length of the text is unlimited, and it is possible to format the text.

The main difference between an EMS and MMS message is that in an MMS message, text can be accompanied not only by simple pixel images or melodies but by photographic images, graphics, audio clips and in the future, video sequences.

Templates

The T300/T302 comes with a number of MMS pre-defined templates, for example templates for birthday cards, meeting requests etc.