Slashdot Mirror
iPhone Tethering App Released, Killed In 2 Hours
tjhayes writes "The iPhone App Store released an application called NetShare that allowed the iPhone to tether a laptop to the internet. It was priced at a $10 one-time fee. After being available for approximately 2 hours, the application has disappeared from the apps store. What exactly are AT&T/Apple trying to accomplish here?" They are trying to prove what is wrong with DRM, and demonstrate why hackers want to jailbreak the iPhone.
The queue is really lagging. The app is back up and still for sale. Come on, Slashdot mods, stay current!
You don't like their terms, don't use their product.
Exactly. And in order to ensure that as many people as possible know about Apple's restrictions and the consequences of those restrictions before they get locked into a contract, we keep talking about it.
Incidentally, any of the S60 Nokias, many Palms and many Windows Mobile phones have no restrictions on tethering. They're also cheaper than the iPhone. And the Nokias use the same web browser as the iPhone.
Now, what exactly are you trying to say?
I was quite shocked, but knowing apple, I shouldn't have been.
I was shocked to learn this about the original iPhone, since it was only since I switched to OS X that I started regularly using a phone for Internet access via Bluetooth. Apple made it really easy to set it up (there's a little Bluetooth wizard that does everything for you), and by not supporting this on the iPhone they have made sure that pretty much any other make of phone integrates better with their OS than their own phone.
My old (cheap) Nokia phone can sync calendars with iCal, sync contacts with Address Book, and be used as a modem, all via Bluetooth. The iPhone needs a cable to do any of these (and can't do the third one even with a cable).
I am TheRaven on Soylent News
Tethering is not against AT&T rules in general. Tethering is supported on AT&T if you have a plan that allows it. In the past, all data plans allowed tethering, and that's the kind I have. Nowadays their data plans for PDA phones come in two levels, with and without tethering. The difference does not seem to be strictly enforced from what I have heard, but if you are caught tethering on a no-tether plan you may be subject to big extra charges.
I do not have an iPhone, and lack of tethering support is one of many reasons why. I occasionally tether with my Treo 750 and it works well.
Whatever the issue is with tethering on the iPhone, it would seem to be Apple and not AT&T. Many AT&T phones support tethering, but not the iPhone.
This is why AT&T offers a better phone, the Tilt, that allows tethering.
I will now run away and hide.
Si vis pacem, para bellum! For evil to succeed good men need only do nothing!
There are basically three buttons: YES, MENU, and BACK. It's much more modal than a touch-screen enabled device, but also much more usable for the simple tasks of phone, email, contacts, and scheduling. The whole device is very email orientated, and if that's what you do a lot of (and it is what I do), it's simply the best device on the market. The browser capabilities are roughly in line with IE for mobile, and the Google Maps application is a joy to use. Battery life is near infinite, even with a lot of constant email checking. There are also numerous shortcuts for power-users.
In comparison with the iPhone (I've used both), the iPhone is a lot slicker and has better font handling -- assuming you like your fonts smoothed. It's much better for showing pictures and video, and with GPS, the google maps function might actualy be more useful now. The iPhone has a better browser. But, battery life is far, far worse, and if you actually use your smartphone for work, that needs to be a real consideration. The soft keyboard, while "you can get used to it," and have it be "not too bad," is objectively inferior to a real keyboard for the portion of the population that has thumbs (eg most of humanity).
Bottom line, the iPhone is slicker and prettier, but the UI of the Blackberry enables users -- especially business users -- to do just as much, usually much faster, and for much longer, than the iPhone.
(And just for the record, I'm typing this on a MacBook -- I'm not a hater, the phone just isn't that great for me.)
Dude, I think I can see my house from here.
First of all... the iPhone IS special. What it is doing in this app and in the link I'll provide below for jailbroken phones is not something lots of phones can do, if any others.
Second of all, this app was NOT a tethering app. AS you say, tethering is done by either BlueTooth or USB cable. What this app did is create an access point by sharing the cellular network over wifi. You don't "tether" your laptop to a wireless router, do you? Now that we're clear on that, I guess we have to live with everyone calling it tethering.
iPhone 3G as a wifi access point
The Admin and the Engineer
Government force should be met with force if necessary. But contracts entered into voluntarily are the basis of civilization. You're advocating a return to the day when contracts couldn't be enforced, which would destroy the availability of the very services you hope to steal. Your position is not only irrational and immoral, but short-sighted.
actually if you provide the 'last mile' in the USA, YOU are responsible for CALEA. Look it up, it's a damn scary law. If the first hop to the Internet is through you, it falls on your shoulders. This includes neighborhood wifi projects, the local coffee shop that offers free wifi, etc. Forget if it's infeasible and expensive, forget that some wifi gear is impossible to do what they ask (Meraki, I'm looking at you), it's the law and you're responsibility. Not the ISP you're connecting to, but YOU. What's this mean?
Big Brother exists and is able to tap everyone's intenet at the snap of a finger.