Hear that? It's the sound of iPhones ringing around the country to the tone of "Hallelujah!"

AT&T announced today that the iPhone 3G and 3GS will finally be able to send multimedia messages (MMS) starting Sept. 25. The original, metal-back iPhone will not be supported, an Apple representative said in an e-mail.

Like text messaging, MMS allows users to send media-rich messages, with pictures, video and audio, directly to other wireless phones. Previously, Apple encouraged iPhone users to e-mail those files as attachments.

Staying true to its promise of delivering the functionality in "late summer," the feature will be included in a software update for iPhone 3G and 3GS, AT&T said in a press release.

The update is presumably iPhone OS version 3.1, which developers think will open the floodgates for augmented-reality applications.

"We’ve been working for the past several months to prepare our systems and network to ensure the best possible experience with MMS when it launches," the AT&T press release reads. "We know that iPhone users will embrace MMS. The unique capabilities and high usage of the iPhone’s multimedia capabilities required us to work on our network."

The update will bring the iPhone in line with just about every other phone on the market that has long been capable of sending and receiving MMS messages. But hey, who's complaining? We're all finally welcome to the party!

Oh, you still have an original iPhone? That's rough.

Updated, 12:20 p.m.: Added confirmation from Apple that the original iPhone will not be capable of transmitting MMS.

-- Mark Milian

Photo credit: Roland via Flickr