MMS "Boom" On Horizon -- Well, Maybe
Like with video calls, it seems like every few months along comes another story saying that now, finally, carriers have figured out what they need to do to make MMS or picture messaging a success. The one strategy that's worked to a certain extent is focusing on using MMS as a platform, rather than as a person-to-person messaging format, but some companies just can't let go of the idea of MMS displacing SMS -- something which history would argue won't happen. So what's going to fuel this latest surge in MMS use that "could be on the horizon"? Well, it uses MMS as a platform -- to try to supplant SMS. Motorola has a new service it's marketing to carriers that takes text messages and has a cartoon character on a user's phone screen read it out loud. Just like selling phones that look like cheese isn't going to save Vodafone Japan, charging people however much extra to have a cartoon character read out the SMS they receive isn't going to instantly turn MMS into a winner, either.
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