Google Voice Now Supports MMS Messaging

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Google wants Google Voice to act as its unified messaging center. With its latest feature update, Google Voice now includes MMS support for Sprint subscribers.

Google Voice lets Google account users have a single point for receiving calls, handling SMS messages and voice mail. But network support is not always complete, as some protocols and media require specific technologies. Google says MMS is one of those features that users want, but the service does not offer. Until now, that is.

Senior software engineer Ilya Frank says Google has launched a new service that lets Google Voice receive picture messages and other MMS from Sprint subscribers. These will be displayed on both users’ forwarding mobile phone, as well as their Gmail inbox, if the text-to-email forwarding is enabled in Google Voice settings.

Frank says the Google Voice team is working to enable this feature across all mobile phones and with other mobile operators aside from Sprint.

MMS, or multimedia messaging service, is a protocol supported by smartphones and featurephones that have data connectivity. While not as feature-rich as email, MMS lets users send and receive messages longer than SMS (which is limited to 160 characters), as well as small-sized images. MMS can also deliver messages through the web if the receiving handset is not MMS-capable.

MMS is not as commercially successful as SMS, though, but is a popular service in some countries, such as China and Norway. In some markets, MMS has been surpassed by more flexible services, like mobile email, although the ability to receive MMS messages through services like Google Voice might help make it more popular.

UPDATE: Google Voice App Temporarily Pulled Out from Apple App Store.