It took a ridiculously long time for MMS to be enabled on the iPhone but it is finally here. Here’s how to enable it on your phone if you haven’t done it yet.

1. Download iTunes 9.0.1 (if you don’t already have it).

2. Connect your iPhone 3G or iPhone 3GS to your computer and open iTunes.

3. Once the iPhone MMS update is available, you will see the following message on iTunes: “An update to the carrier settings for your iPhone is available. Would you like to install it now?“. Click “Update Settings“.

4. After you click “Update Settings“, iTunes will show the following message: “Your iPhone carrier settings were updated successfully“. Click “Ok“.

5. Reboot your iPhone 3G or iPhone 3GS. Hold down your power button until the Slide to Power off button appears, slide to power off. When your iPhone is off, press the power button to turn it on again.

You should now have MMS on your iPhone 3G or iPhone 3GS!

Note: This won’t work on the iPhone 2G.

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Although I was less than pleased with the iPhone 3G S, the OS 3.0 has been a bundle of joy so far. The long awaited copy/paste as well as deleting/forwarding individual texts and e-mail multiple pictures at once.

I’ll just go through the top 5 that I thought they were most important and you can view the gallery of photos at the end of the post of some of the other features.

1. Copy and Paste

It is about time that OS update 3.0 finally gives you the ability to copy, cut and paste text. If you double tap on a white space, then Select and Select All appear but if you do it on given word, it is highlighted with the options of copy and cut are displayed. This copy paste works across every app on the phone I tried from Twitterific to Safari to Messages to Mail. It definitely makes things a lot easier when copying a link into Twitterific and then having it use its compress URL feature while using Twitter.

2. Deleting / Forwarding Individual Text Messages

This is probably one of the hit or miss things depending on how much you use the forwarding text message feature. I often get a lot of news or sports update that I want to send over to a friend out of state or even just update my brother, but that was a very tedious task before where you just had to type everything over again.

In my continuing assessment of Apple products and customer care and sometimes a lack of common sense, I think I have finally figured out why Apple products usually cost a million times more with them than anywhere else. Take a look at the tracking page from FedEx at the bottom of the post.

I believe this order was for a replacement headset that was covered under the AppleCare Protection Plan. No wonder this headset costs $29.00 if you buy it regularly since it is getting a 2-day shipping from Shenzhen, China to Hoboken, NJ.

A 0.2 lbs package being shipped half way around the world for something cost a maximum $2 to make. Also, I’m not sure what FedEx charges Apple but I’m guessing it is much less than the $30 quote that I got for a package of the same size shipping from and to the same location as the one above. (Converting the 216.14 Yuan is about $30 USD.) It’s probably safe to say that if Apple is charging $29 for a single headset, not being charged very much from FedEx and in the bulk amounts that they make these accessories, the profit they must be making

Disregard the monetary costs for a second and look at the carbon footprint being applied for a $2 headset. Apple means to tell us that there wasn’t a single headset in the entire United States that they could have shipped instead? Do all their orders for replacement accessories get shipped from China regardless of their destination?

I just upgraded to the new OS with it’s new search feature, forward/deleting individual text messages, landscape format in the mail and SMS apps is also a big boost. I will probably post later this week or early next week on my initial impressions but so far, it is good.

As for the new iPhone 3G S (who came up with that name anyways?!), there are many reasons as to why I will not be buying it. You can start listing off the reasons varying from it’s price to lack of new features to even the exclusive carrier that has it.

The price which is $199 16GB and $299 32GB ($399 and $499 for ineligible upgraders) seems relatively reasonably priced with where they were last year and even compare it to other smartphones that are out on the market, I won’t complain too much about the $200 price tag for a new customer. As for the previous customers, you (and me included), signed up for a 2-year contract and for no reason does AT&T (as much as I hate them) have to give you any sort of discount for something you already agreed you would pay for. It would a nice PR performance on their part but expecting this from a company, that will charge you every single penny for the upcoming tethering and continues to delay the MMS capability that even the very simplest of phones have, is too much to ask for.

For me, I just don’t see the need to dish out another $300+ for a phone that is quite similar to the one I already own. I will just wait until next summer as my contract is reaching 20-21 months, right in time for next year’s WWDC.

Usually I am all for buying things online and even talking to customer service over the phone or online instead of physically going to the store to deal with a matter. For some reason, when my headset for the iPhone stopped working I decided it would be a great idea to go to the store to get a replacement instead of trying to see whether they could mail it to me.

I walked into the Apple Store at Menlo Park Mall and was immediately greeted by a nice guy who asked me about my problem. I ended up going to the Genius Bar desk where I went on to describe that recently my right side of my headset stopped working. I probably could have lasted longer with my headset but that is also the side with the microphone that I use to talk on the phone so the problem escalated in priority for me. The first lady who looked at my headset went back to ask a “technician” whether this was covered in the AppleCare Protection Plan. On their own website, it clearly states that the plan “covers iPhone & iPhone Bluetooth hands-free headset and included accessories” which I think is fair to say covers my problem.