Flutter, JuiceCaster help with iPhone 3G photos

JuiceCaster is doing what Apple didn't. It's giving iPhone 3G users some picture-messaging love.

JuiceCaster Monday is announcing the availability of Flutter, a free application that allows people to take a picture and send it to another cell phone. Previously, iPhone users could only e-mail photos because Apple somehow decided again not to include picture messaging when it upgraded the iPhone to 3G in July.

So JuiceCaster, which is known for its mobile social networking platform, stepped in with a solution. Flutter allows you to take a picture, address it to cell phone numbers in your contacts list and add a message. The cool thing is it also allows you to use the iPhone 3G's GPS chip to geo-tag your location.

Recipients will get a text message that includes a link taking them to JuiceCaster, which will be hosting the picture, unlike traditional picture messaging where your carrier does that. In the message, they'll also get the option to see the sender's location on a Google map if the sender has enabled that feature.

The service works fine, but because JuiceCaster is the one hosting it, the mobile number the picture is sent from is JuiceCaster's. And that means you can't just hit reply and send your friend something back. You'll need to go through your own process of picture or text messaging on your phone to reply.

The nice thing about Flutter is that because it's carried over the Internet, it doesn't cost you anything more than one text message. Other carriers charge you extra to do this kind of multimedia messaging. But be aware that if the recipient doesn't have a data plan on that phone, he or she will have to pay per kilobyte to receive the message through the mobile browser.

The plan is to eventually place ads on the Flutter application, though not embed them in the actual messages. Flutter is available through the Apple App Store.