If, like me, you’ve decided to get a network free handset like the HTC S710 or the HTC P3450, you’ll soon notice that all the basic functionality works fine but advanced stuff like GPRS, WAP and MMS (picture messaging) settings have to be added manually because the phone hasn’t been modified by your network. This can be a fiddly affair and, on the Smartphone (Windows Mobile Standard) you may find that you can’t add all of the necessary settings.
This evening I was trying to add MMS to the HTC S710, however I couldn’t add an access point that connected to the “MMS network” because it didn’t exist and I couldn’t add it. In the end I went Googled around and found this CAB file which did everything for me. Result!
But it got me thinking – with the rapid rise of 18, 24 and even 36 month contracts (no, I’m not joking – a three year contract!) on the major networks, there’s more people buying their own handsets and either taking their SIM out of the contract phone or switching to Pay As You Go for the freedom. What are those people to do when they want to send and receive picture messages on their spanky new network-free phones?
The best solution would be a site offering up the relevant downloads for each network – Orange, T-Mobile, Cingular, Vodafone etc etc. Just one download and you’re done. But all I’ve found is the odd CAB download here and there. Can anyone help?
Update – HTC have some absolutely fantastic support pages here and here for the CAB files. Top work HTC!!!
MMS Settings for your network on SIM-free handsets?
June 19, 2007