Is iPhone MMS imminent?

Though AT&T customers are still waiting for multimedia messaging to arrive on the iPhone, I got a surprise last week that made me think that the feature is on its way. After upgrading to OS 3.0.1, I noticed that my MMS commands had reappeared. I originally had them when testing the beta version of OS 3.0, but they vanished after upgrading to the full release.

I still can't actually send a multimedia message, but the fact that the commands are there is noteworthy enough. At first I thought it was a direct result of 3.0.1 (I haven't jailbroken CNET's iPhone 3G), but when I asked around the office none of my colleagues were showing the commands. I did some further sleuthing and found that I had AT&T version 5.0 while my colleagues had 4.0.

So, dear readers, I need your help. Are you showing MMS commands on your iPhone? The below pictures will show you what to look for. If so, what is your AT&T version? You can find it under Settings > General > About. Just look for the "Carrier" field.

If this is a sign that MMS is imminent, it wouldn't be surprising. Two months ago at WWDC, Apple promised that the long-awaited and sorely needed feature would arrive later in summer. Now that the end of summer is in sight, time is ticking. And at the risk of sounding like a broken record, it's still infuriating that AT&T wasn't ready to support MMS when iPhone carriers in other countries were ready from day one.