USB Tethering Working On iPhone 3.0 Through Hack

eviltangerine writes "Twitter user stroughtonsmith was dickering around with the carrier bundle files for his developer version of the iPhone 3.0 OS and enabled the USB tethering options. Apparently he has even been able to use his laptop to access the internet over the USB tether. MacRumors comments that while Apple has announced the availability of tethering, it hasn't hashed out the details with the mobile carriers (probably so they can charge more in fees). No word on connection speed, but here are some pictures of his phone while tethering."

Comments

nice try opening the pod day doors

[Anonymous Coward]

But I'm afraid I can't let you do that -Apple

two days later: 3.1 update nulls this hack

Re:nice try opening the pod day doors

[ZeroExistenZ]

two days later: 3.1 update nulls this hack

More likely a statement "yes, it is supported and built in, but your carrier does not support it yet. Your phone, yes, but we sold it bundled, so our hands are tied. Talk to the provider.

Re:nice try opening the pod day doors

[mdwh2]

Indeed - so much for "Just Works", more like "Works, Just".

If I want to use my laptop to access the Internet using my four year old non-smartphone, I just plug it in via USB, and it Just Works.

Re:nice try opening the pod day doors

[XMode]

Given that I don't even have to plug in my 3 year old Nokia to do this (Bluetooth) I just assumed that the iPhone could already do this..

At least most phone providers in australia have worked out if you let people do whatever they want with their phones they will use them more. Charge them for calls and data (at not massively high rates) and you make some cash.

Grrrrrrr

[intheshelter]

No haters have piled on here yet so I'll fill in for them. . . .

Apple is the devil. I have this feature on my Nintendo 64. My blackberry has a direct T-1 to God. Etc. Etc.

Re:Grrrrrrr

[Em Emalb]

Just a t-1?

Noob.

I look down on you, I've got wireless FiOS straight to God's ear. He doesn't care for it much, apparently it clogs his ears.

Re:Grrrrrrr

[Shakrai]

I look down on you, I've got wireless FiOS straight to God's ear. She doesn't care for it much, apparently it clogs her ears.

Fixed that for you ;)

Re:Grrrrrrr

[Shakrai]

Apple is the devil

Apple has nothing on the wireless industry. This is the same industry that disables features that compete with their business model "for your protection", charges nearly as much to send a 160 character SMS as it would cost me to mail a letter across the country, sticks people with five digit bills when their device gets stolen, charges five times as much for minutes over your allowance as they do for your allowance minutes and locks you into long term contracts using the "subsidy" of the phone as an excuse even when you bring your own phone.

In short, if the revolution comes, the wireless carriers will be up against the wall right after we finish with the Wall Street Executives and RIAA lawyers.

Re:Grrrrrrr

[intheshelter]

Yeah, I guess I should have clarified.

"I'm a HateBoi and I'm so focused on feature lists that I can't understand why people love the iPhone!"

Re:Grrrrrrr

[somersault]

Suddenly, it all makes sense.. shelelujah!!

Re:Grrrrrrr

[rwhamann]

Why don't we use catapults to hurl the wireless execs at the bankers? (we'll use the RIAA execs' tendons as teh winding mechanism for the catapult)

Re:Grrrrrrr

[elrous0]

We never said Apple was the devil. We said that Steve Jobs is the Anti-Christ, here to lead his wild-eyed cult followers into a thousand-year reign of terror and suffering.

Don't put words in our mouths.

Re:Grrrrrrr

[wolrahnaes]

I'm with you right up to the part about being locked in when you bring your own phone. I've been on AT&T for four years now without ever being under contract, and no I am not on a "GoPhone" prepaid, it's a normal postpaid account even loaded up with features like laptop tethering.

It's easy, I've been through four phones in that time and never once bought one subsidized, so if another GSM provider ever sprung up (or T-Mobile got a network that was worth a shit outside of cities) I could jump in a heartbeat. Technically I could go to a CDMA provider, but they all have horrible phones, so no.

Re:Grrrrrrr

[Shakrai]

I've been on AT&T for four years now without ever being under contract, and no I am not on a "GoPhone" prepaid

Then you got in before they changed their policy. I tried to get AT&T service without a contract using my unlocked GSM phone and was told by four different people (salesperson, store manager, CSR on the 800 number and her manager) that it couldn't be done.

or T-Mobile got a network that was worth a shit outside of cities

T-Mobile actually has a way to do it now, but you've just answered why it's hard to do business with them. Of course, IMHO AT&T is the worst of the worst. Around these parts (and others) they are in the process of moving GSM service off the 850mhz band to make room for 3G services. As a result, you have good service when you go to bed and crappy service when you wake up in the morning (1900mhz doesn't reach as far or go into buildings as well).

Say what you will about Verizon but they've never made network changes that screwed over existing customers. I hate CDMA land but Verizon's network is really tough to beat. Particularly in the Northeast. AT&T still has some pretty sizable holes around here.

Re:Grrrrrrr

[tdp252]

I work in IT within the Wireless industry. On average it takes about 1 year and a half to break even on each mobile subscriber and get to the point of making any money. Most of this is because the wireless companies are heavily subsidizing the cost of the hardware to get you in as a paying customer. You can rant and rave all you like about the cost of wireless service, but it's the B2B sales that make the most money, not cheap joe the consumer.

Re:Grrrrrrr

[Shakrai]

Most of this is because the wireless companies are heavily subsidizing the cost of the hardware to get you in as a paying customer.

Are you sure you don't work in marketing if you are repeating this line? If the contracts are all about the equipment subsidy then why does your employer charge the same ETF for my cheap candy bar with the full retail price (without contract) under $100 as they do for the $600 smart phone? Why do they lock me into the same contract as someone who got a subsidy if I'm willing to pay full price for my phone or bring my own?

Re:Grrrrrrr

[Bandman]

God needs a bandwidth upgrade...

Re:Grrrrrrr

[Em Emalb]

LOL, looks like you've offended the "GOD IS A MALE, DAMNIT!" crowd.

Excellent.

Re:Grrrrrrr

[tdp252]

Having a plan in place that encourages a large number of signups and disconnects ("churn") as you suggest with "no contract" does nothing but make each subscriber more expensive to provision and creates a situation where system planners can never accurately perform capacity planning. Believe it or not the call detail records for both voice and data are quite expensive to maintain.

Also "bringing your own phone" can cause a customer service nightmare where people expect to use their POS phones they brought 10 years ago, for which Reps cannot all be fully trained to answer questions. This then leads to all sorts of industry analysts claiming customer satisfaction is garbage when it's really the customer's shooting themselves in the foot.

Re:Grrrrrrr

[Shakrai]

does nothing but make each subscriber more expensive to provision

Wouldn't my $35 "activation fee" cover this expense? The "activation fee" that is (amazingly enough) not typically waived even when you get locked into a two year contract? Do you expect us to believe that it costs more than $35 to provision a customer when said provisioning process never seems to take more than 3-5 minutes? I guess keying an ESN/SIM card into your system is a real PITA, huh?

Believe it or not the call detail records for both voice and data are quite expensive to maintain.

Do you expect us to believe that it's harder for you to keep call detail records than it is for the landline company, who manages to sell service without contracts? You might have a few more fields in your database than they do (call origination) but I don't think that's a particularly burdensome requirement.

Also "bringing your own phone" can cause a customer service nightmare where people expect to use their POS phones they brought 10 years ago, for which Reps cannot all be fully trained to answer questions.

In my experience your reps are useless with carrier branded phones as well. In any case this problem could be solved by directing people to the manufacturer for support if they have a non-branded phone. Ya know, the same business model that the landline company has been using for decades?

This then leads to all sorts of industry analysts claiming customer satisfaction is garbage when it's really the customer's shooting themselves in the foot.

Your customer satisfaction is garbage because you lock people into long term contracts and hold them hostage when they try to leave because of shitty service. Keep drinking the kool-aid though.

Re:Grrrrrrr

[mdwh2]

No haters, just hater-haters.

I have this feature on my Nintendo 64. My blackberry has a direct T-1 to God. Etc. Etc.

The point is, we don't have endless articles about "Nintendo 64 can do this", "Blackberry can access the Internet!" Consider - you're complaining because there's an occasional comment from someone who says a particular device can do such and such, but with the Iphone, we get an endless stream everytime it has some trivial non-new feature added, or even if there's just a rumour or wishlist, or even when people launch websites that can also be viewed on an Iphone.

Not to mention, that for any other device, if there was an article proposing how you could hack something, it would be interesting to hear of other devices that could achieve this in a less hacky way. Not so with Apple - it seems you'd rather bury your head in the sand instead of considering, or even merely hearing about, a non-Apple solution.

Re:Grrrrrrr

[mdwh2]

The apple fan boys haven't arrived yet, so I'll fill in for them We don't need obvious functionality that is available in the most low end phones, like MMS messaging and video recording. Oh no. All we need is a sexy interface with a glossy product and we're happy. In fact, we'll pretend our phone is the best phone in the world simply because it has the apple logo on it. Oh wait, hang on, Apple is introducing those features in it's new product? Well praise the lord, we've been waiting for those features for so long. Never mind the fact we said we didn't want them, now they're here our phone is AWESOME

The fact that your perfectly fair portrayal is modded flamebait - yet the post that started it isn't flamebait, shows that the hater-haters outnumber any alleged haters (as with a recent article on Japan - just because people don't use the Iphone doesn't mean we hate it, anymore than we hate any other phone we don't use). (Hint to mods, flamebait is the one that starts the flamewar.)

But now that Apple have finally entered the 21st Century, and joined the sub-£50 low end market with features such as video and MMS, I predict that no longer will we hear "Why would I need that?", instead, they'll be touted as great features.

Consider, if it was really true that the Iphone was better off by lacking these features (as some claimed), doesn't this mean the Iphone is now worse? They can't have it both ways. But they'll try to, anyway.

Re:Grrrrrrr

[erroneus]

We are quite close and yet quite far away from such a revolution. And they are quite ingenious when it comes to preventing one. As long as we see "angry senators" hammering at executives, there will be no revolution. It doesn't matter if the angry senators bit is just an act and that nothing ever comes from it. As long as we see "leadership reflecting our feelings" we feel better about it... the results are secondary or even irrelevant.

Re:Grrrrrrr

[wolrahnaes]

I'm not denying the legitimacy of complaints about swapping frequencies, but I personally don't care. I've been carrying a 3G phone since 2006 and welcome the greater range for the future at the cost of the past.

As for Verizon screwing over customers, one could argue their crippled phones screw customers daily, rather than just in network transitions as AT&T has done in the past and seems to be doing again. Verizon also did kinda screw over hundreds of thousands of OnStar customers when they turned off analog service.

I can't wait for LTE to start showing up. As long as Verizon doesn't fuck it up too badly, they'll finally be compatible with a real mobile phone system, and thus those of us who want phones that haven't been crippled can see some real competition. I hate AT&T, but I hate a company telling me my phone isn't allowed to do something it's fully capable of doing just because it allows me to not pay them for the privilege even more.

Re:Grrrrrrr

[Shakrai]

I'm not denying the legitimacy of complaints about swapping frequencies, but I personally don't care. I've been carrying a 3G phone since 2006 and welcome the greater range for the future at the cost of the past.

The sad thing is that they have enough spectrum with the 850mhz licenses to run both but decided not to.

Verizon also did kinda screw over hundreds of thousands of OnStar customers when they turned off analog service.

Well that's kind of ironic since you just said you don't care about the past but didn't AT&T and others also shut down their AMPS networks? If there's any blame to affix here it probably belongs to the FCC.

they'll finally be compatible with a real mobile phone system

IS-2000 isn't a "real" mobile phone system? It has it's drawbacks (international roaming) but the advantages of CDMA (capacity) are so compelling that the next generation GSM standard uses it as an air interface.

but I hate a company telling me my phone isn't allowed to do something it's fully capable of doing just because it allows me to not pay them for the privilege even more.

Umm, AT&T does the exact same thing. Off the top of my head, AT&T refuses to let your phone display the actual name of the network you are on (then boots you off when you use too many roaming minutes....), disables the "network select" functionality on all of their phones and has a track record of crippling other features that's almost as bad as Verizon. If you want a carrier that doesn't play these games T-Mobile is the only (nationwide) game in town, but they aren't really an option for those who aren't city dwellers.

Verizon is a royal PITA but if your underlying concern just having a phone with the best coverage they are hard to beat. Those of us who are technically inclined can hack around their limitations -- I've had my Motorola v9m running the stock Motorola firmware since day one -- the rest of us just don't care. They also have much more expansive 3G coverage if you care about data.

Re:Grrrrrrr

[intheshelter]

Actually Apple DOES focus on what something does. They focus on it so well that they don't release half baked functionality just to lengthen their feature list. When they do release a feature it works and it works well and it's usually well thought out and a pleasure to use. Thus you demonstrate my very point, you're so focused on a feature list (and the blatant BS of style over substance) that you don't see that HOW a feature works is necessary in order to make a feature useful.

Re:Grrrrrrr

[Scarletdown]

In short, if the revolution comes, the wireless carriers will be up against the wall right after we finish with the Wall Street Executives and RIAA lawyers.

and PETA

Why are you lumping People Eating Tasty Animals in with the Wall Street execs, RIAA lolyers, and wireless carriers?

Just because we enjoy assorted properly prepared meaty dishes doesn't make us evil.

Re:Grrrrrrr

[mdwh2]

Actually Apple DOES focus on what something does. They focus on it so well that they don't release half baked functionality just to lengthen their feature list. When they do release a feature it works and it works well and it's usually well thought out and a pleasure to use.

What - by requiring a "hack" to get it working?

My four year old non-smartphone can be "tethered" (I didn't even know it had a special buzzword, I just took it for granted), and it just works.

If you have evidence that a particular feature is better than every other phone on the market, then let's hear it. If not, let's drop the speculation that a feature will be better, when Apple finally get around to implementing it.

Re:Grrrrrrr

[garaged]

I knew there were a real good reason not to put "autosave" on iworks !!

Thanks !

Re:Grrrrrrr

[anarkhos]

All reasons why smart people pay as they go

Wtf is tethering?

[Anonymous Coward]

Wtf is tethering?

Re:Wtf is tethering?

[codegen]

Wtf is tethering?

Connecting your computer to the internet using your phone as a data modem.

Re:Wtf is tethering?

[Anonymous Coward]

It's when you attach the USB cord to the iPhone and spin it around in a circle like crazy. This generates a reality distortion field which allows your laptop to connect to the Internet.

Re:Wtf is tethering?

[rackserverdeals]

Wtf is tethering?

Connecting your computer to the internet using your phone as a data modem.

You sure? I thought it involved leather outfits and a ball gag.

Re:Wtf is tethering?

[danbert8]

More importantly, WTF is dickering? A combination of dicking around and tinkering? Wouldn't that just be what nerds do when they are bored?

Re:Wtf is tethering?

[Sebilrazen]

More importantly, WTF is dickering? A combination of dicking around and tinkering? Wouldn't that just be what nerds do when they are bored?

Basically yes, however the more colloquial term is masturbation.

Re:Wtf is tethering?

[Mark Trade]

So it's the same thing that e.g. Siemens mobile phones have had for ages (at least since the S25), but now it has a cool name?

Re:Wtf is tethering?

[pacinpm]

Hmm, I was sure every modern mobile handset has this feature anabled by default. And what network operator has to do with it anyway? It's not his business what I do with MY phone and connection I have already PAID.

At least it works like that in Europe.

Re:Wtf is tethering?

[JustOK]

dickering

To bargain; barter.

n. The act or process of bargaining.

Re:Wtf is tethering?

[necro81]

Let me google that for you

Re:Wtf is tethering?

[mikael]

From all of comments about the charges mobile phone operators charge, it would seem to make more sense to connect your phone to the internet using your computer as a data modem.

Re:Wtf is tethering?

[je ne sais quoi]

The idea here is that cell phone have a much wider access than wireless networks. At any given location, there's a much greater probability that you will have a cell signal than a wireless signal. Thus, by tethering you can have internet access for your computer wherever. Having the computer on the internet is important because it has a much wider feature set than your phone.

I never bought an iphone because of the monthly rates, but if you're already paying AT&T 70 bucks a month for data service, I don't see why you shouldn't be able to tether it. Heck, if I traveled a little more and tethering was easy I would actually consider getting one.

Re:Wtf is tethering?

[Sponge Bath]

I thought it involved leather outfits and a ball gag.

That *is* the ATT version of tethering, and they charge extra for it.

Re:Wtf is tethering?

[RazzleDazzle]

Could not agree more

Re:Wtf is tethering?

[marsu_k]

You are getting seriously ripped off. I pay 10e/month for unlimited use-as-you-see-fit data @384kbps. 1Mbps costs 20e/month and 2Mbps 30e/month, but so far I haven't had the need to have faster access when I can't find a hotspot.

Re:Wtf is tethering?

[mdwh2]

Thanks for the info, I was curious myself - to be honest I assumed it must be something more advanced that that. When I connect my cheap old phone to my computer via USB as a modem, as people have been doing for years, I don't even think of it as a feature. But then again, I didn't think of copy/paste being a feature, until Apple announced it in a future version...

Re:Wtf is tethering?

[profplump]

If it were just the $50 card very few people would care about tethering. You're forgetting the extra $50+/month that it costs to use the card, since it's a whole second line of service, and it incapable of making phone calls.

Re:Wtf is tethering?

[brackishboy]

Apple Dictionary reckons it means the following:

dicker verb [ intrans. ]

1 engage in petty argument or bargaining : she advised him not to dicker over the extra fee.

2 treat something casually or irresponsibly; toy with something : [as n. ] ( dickering) there was no dickering with the lyrics.

I imagine they mean the latter definition.

Re:Wtf is tethering?

[mdwh2]

Note that another option is just to use a $50 phone in the first place (I take your point about the advantages of having a separate card, but most people already have a phone so this saves spending out extra money - it's not just high end "smart" phones that do this, my four year old cheapo phone works fine).

Re:Wtf is tethering?

[tsm_sf]

At least it works like that in Europe.

We're about 5-10 years behind the rest of the planet when it comes to all things mobile here in the US. Our telecom industry colludes. Don't expect any conversation from us on the subject to really make any sense to you.

Re:Wtf is tethering?

[mgblst]

I don't think you are in the right place.

Do you even know what a computer is?

Re:Wtf is tethering?

[blackest_k]

Your talking like it actually works out that way, you tend to go through a gateway the gateway tends to have most ports blocked by default but assuming they are not then you tend to find it will drop the connection if you even think about loading more than one thing at once. And if the connections only 3g its painfully slow for anything more than light web browsing. Well it seems that way any way.

Re:Wtf is tethering?

[ChunderDownunder]

When you attach Fido's leash to a signpost so you can go inside a coffee shop and drink an espresso.

Computer terms:

In this case the leash is a USB cable, Fido is your notebook and the signpost your phone.

This lets you go to a cafe that doesn't have wifi and read Slashdot while drinking your macchiato.

(Hint: good cafes don't need gimmicks like free wifi to attract customers!)

Re:Wtf is tethering?

[mikael]

Several years ago, I bought a second hand GPRS PCMCIA modem card for about 10 pounds, along with a free PAYG SIM card. After topping up the SIM card, I was able to get around four 30-minute internet sessions from abroad. It wasn't cheap, but it was impressive to my family to surf the internet completely wirelessly - no power, telephone or ethernet cables. The only limitation was the speed - around 56K baud.

Fortunately, there are now USB 3G dongles that plug into a USB port and do the same thing, so you can avoid the expense of an iPhone.

Extra cost for tethering

[walts2004]

For the Windows Mobile data contracts, AT&T charges $5.00 more a month for tethering. Somehow they "Know" you're doing it, it won't work unless you pay!

Re:Extra cost for tethering

[darkvad0r]

I do it over wifi with my jailbroken iPhone and my carrier (Orange France) has not noticed (or maybe I don't do it often enough for them to care about it). Either way, I'm sure there are ways to work around the tethering fee.

Re:Extra cost for tethering

[Christophotron]

For the Windows Mobile data contracts, AT&T charges $5.00 more a month for tethering. Somehow they "Know" you're doing it, it won't work unless you pay!

That's not true. ANY Windows Mobile phone with a data connection can tether, right out of the box, ATT or not (at least all of them I have used). Remember, it's pretty much a small Windows PC. It has an Internet Connection Sharing (ICS) service built-in. ATT may not provide a shortcut to the executable in their customized firmware without a monthly fee, but the executable is still there. You can execute it and then tether over bluetooth or USB. I've heard stories that if you use _way too much_ then they will notice, but otherwise they don't really see the difference in usage.

Oh, and you are WAY WAY off on the monthly fee. It's something like another $40 per month for unlimited tethering. They might have a tier below that, I'm not sure. But it's definitely more than $5. So $40 for unlimited phone data + $40 unlimited tethering = rape without lube. Just say "NO" to paying extra for tethering. If your data connection is already "unlimited" then why should you have to pay for it twice?

Re:Extra cost for tethering

[theSpitzer]

I do it over wifi with my jailbroken iPhone and my carrier (Orange France) has not noticed (or maybe I don't do it often enough for them to care about it). Either way, I'm sure there are ways to work around the tethering fee.

Thats because you're doing it over WiFi...not on your providers data network (3g or EDGE). They have no way of telling if you're tethering over wifi.

Re:Extra cost for tethering

[darkvad0r]

No, you got it all wrong. The phone and the laptop are connected aver wifi (adhoc network). Then I create a sock proxy on my iphone and setup firefox to go through that proxy. The data is effectively transferred over 3G or EDGE.

Re:Extra cost for tethering

[jcrousedotcom]

If there was WiFi available, why would I even think of tethering? I am pretty sure I'd just use my wireless network card in my laptop (you know, that thing you're tethering) and connect directly to the WiFi hotspot. Of course, that's just me.

Re:Extra cost for tethering

[theSpitzer]

My mistake. I understand what you mean now. :)

Re:Extra cost for tethering

[sticky_charris]

You can actually download a WM6 app that turns your phone into a wireless router. It provides dhcp and wireless security (only WEP) and gives you a 3G data connection. I am with O2 Uk and they tell you not to tether in the contract, but as long as you keep usage sensible they will never know. My sim only contract with 600mins/1200text and unlimited we add-on is £19.75/month.

Re:Extra cost for tethering

[mobby_6kl]

Not to mention that WM can also function as a 3G->WiFi router with a little tweaking or a 3rd party app. Just today the DSL line in my office was down for a bit over an hour, so I whipped out my S730 and set up a hotspot for our little office so that people could get their mail or whatever it is that they do while pretending to work. It wasn't very fast since the area only has EDGE coverage, but everbody was nevertheless overjoyed.

Re:Extra cost for tethering

[theSpitzer]

Dont be a smartass, I thought it seemed like a really dumb idea too when I read what you first wrote. I thought you may be doing it as a proof of concept.

Re:Extra cost for tethering

[Kiaser Zohsay]

AT&T prices their unlimited data plans according to the internet capabilities of your phone. My HTC (WM6) is $30 a month, while my wife's Sony/Ericsson is only $20. My phone theoretically does tethering (Start | Settings | Connection | Wireless Modem) even though I do not have a tethering plan, but I have not had the opportunity to try it out yet.

Re:Extra cost for tethering

[Andy_R]

I want to tether when there's WiFi is available. My Mac Pro doesn't have a wifi card, so using my iPhone as a USB wifi adapter would save me buying one.

Re:Extra cost for tethering

[TheGatesofBill]

The default tethering application on AT&T Windows Mobile devices tattles to AT&T when you use it. If you swap it out for the standard one from Microsoft, it works just fine without a tethering plan.

Re:Extra cost for tethering

[profplump]

The ATT versions of WM 6 I've used (2 different phones) do not include the Internet Sharing executable. It's easy enough to install, but it's not there by default.

Re:Extra cost for tethering

[TomXP411]

I'm wondering how long it'll be before carriers figure out that trick.

Re:Extra cost for tethering

[JohnnyKrisma]

you say that until you see how much AT&T will charge you for it. Then buying a wireless card seems like a great idea.

It's wrong that..

[anilg]

..a closed platform opening up brings news.. whereas other open (and closed) platforms have had this for a long time. The Apple RDF is strong..

Re:It's wrong that..

[jabithew]

It's still news, it's just of an about-friggin-time nature.

Re:It's wrong that..

[DaFallus]

Its also sad that those open platforms have such shitty marketing, aside from the G1.

Re:Useful report .... not

[CXI]

The only thing useful is now people know it can be done.

Or at least we know he can mock up some convincing looking "screen captures". :)

Strange...I do that now on AT&T

[Phoenix]

I do that on AT&T with a Sony Ericsson W350i. Now I have the unlimited data option on my account and thus there is no charge for the tethering to my laptop with my USB cable.

It shows up in my statement every time I use the service and every bit that passes gets documented in my bill (it's darn thick).

Thus it beggars the question of why Apple hasn't activated the feature on their phone with the only carrier that is *allowed* (AT&T) to use the phone in the United States, when the carrier in question already allows this function on other phones.

Greed? Stupidity? Both?

Phoenix

Re:Strange...I do that now on AT&T

[ceoyoyo]

Simple. Apple bullied AT&T into offering an "unlimited" data plan so the iPhone could be used to it's fullest extent. Naturally AT&T doesn't want to make it actually unlimited so they limit it -- by not allowing you to use that data on anything but the little screen on your iPhone.

Now I, being in Canada and paying for my very much limited data plan, should be free to do whatever I want with it. But I'm not.

Re:Strange...I do that now on AT&T

[ceoyoyo]

The question is WHY tethering wasn't added until now. No, the network couldn't support a bunch of $20 unlimited data plans running wild. It can't now. It never will be able to. That's why it will ALWAYS cost extra for a less limited data plan.

Re:Strange...I do that now on AT&T

[db32]

Funny...when I talked to AT&T they said tethering was an extra $30/month. The tethering has nothing to do with Apple other than AT&T screaming at them "Don't you dare let iPhone users tether!"

Incidentally AT&T lies through their damned teeth about this. They explicitly say that any form of tethering is impossible with the iPhone. Yet there are multiple apps for jailbroken phones that allow wifi tethering. There was even one that made it into the official App store until Apple removed it.

Re:Strange...I do that now on AT&T

[wolrahnaes]

Partially wrong.

All smartphones have unlimited data (or "unlimited" as the case may be) anymore, no matter the provider (in the US at least, your providers in Canada seem to enjoy causing pain to their customers), since that's what users expect. It's not specific to the iPhone nor a result of any Apple bullying.

If you want official full tethering support, you need what AT&T calls "LaptopConnect" for which I pay $50 (note I do not have a smartphone, just a nice 3G phone with tethering support, so the smartphone LaptopConnect might be cheaper)

The assumption is that one can use more bandwidth on a laptop versus a smartphone, so typical usage patterns would see "unlimited" users moving a lot more data if they're allowed to tether.

The lack of tethering support on the iPhone has always been very confusing since they'll gladly sell me any other phone with a tethering plan.

FYI, the three tiers I've typically seen while phone shopping are as follows:

Dumbphone Data - Typically a "walled garden" with minimal full internet access, proxy usage often required, basically built for streaming applications on phones and minimal web access/email with a WAP browser

Smartphone Data - No more walled garden, but officially limited by policy.

Tethering Data - Same as above, but no policy limits on use. Often bandwidth capped around 5GB.

The latter two are provisioned identically on the network side, any differences are in billing. They may also monitor for usage that isn't likely to have come from a phone on the smartphone plan (bittorrent, downloading gigabytes upon gigabytes, etc.).

Re:Strange...I do that now on AT&T

[yumyum]

Not to be an AT&T apologist, but there is a BIG difference between outright lying and simply being uninformed or just a call-center flunky reciting a script.

Re:Strange...I do that now on AT&T

[ceoyoyo]

"All smartphones have unlimited data (or "unlimited" as the case may be) anymore"

I assume you mean all smartphones have unlimited data NOW. How do you suppose that came about? It wasn't the case when the iPhone was released. So no, I'm not partially wrong. Here are some articles written around the time of the iPhone release. Unlimited data plans (particularly unlimited plans at reasonable prices) were not at all universal:

http://www.mobileindustryreview.com/2007/11/o2s_iphone_unlimited_data_unlimited_woo.html

http://www.iphonefaq.org/archives/9794

http://www.oreillynet.com/mac/blog/2007/06/iphone_unlimited_data.html

When the iPhone was released it almost required (maybe it did require in the US?) subscription to an unlimited plan. Read the last link. Either Apple told AT&T it was no deal without reasonably priced unlimited data plans for the iPhone or AT&T decided on their own (it's hard to say which). But if they're going to offer unlimited data at a low price, AT&T has to put some restrictions on it -- no tethering. Yes, it was probably short sighted not to offer ANY tethering option. Yes, it took a long time to fix that.

It's quite reasonable that AT&T won't let you tether your $30 unlimited iPhone data plan. You say yourself that you have to pay almost twice as much for a tethering plan!

Re:Strange...I do that now on AT&T

[tlhIngan]

Dumbphone Data - Typically a "walled garden" with minimal full internet access, proxy usage often required, basically built for streaming applications on phones and minimal web access/email with a WAP browser

Smartphone Data - No more walled garden, but officially limited by policy.

Tethering Data - Same as above, but no policy limits on use. Often bandwidth capped around 5GB.

The latter two are provisioned identically on the network side, any differences are in billing. They may also monitor for usage that isn't likely to have come from a phone on the smartphone plan (bittorrent, downloading gigabytes upon gigabytes, etc.).

ACtually, depending on your plan, the results can be quite different. On the phone side, it doesn't care which plan you're on - it just accesses data. However, on the network side, they can tell the difference between the three plans quite easily. Also the smartphone and full access plans can often be implemented differently.

First, the dumbphone plan, or a Blackberry plan use special proxy servers that those plans provision for. This much we agree on.

A smartphone plan can be "unlimited" or high limits, with often a little note saying it won't work on a laptop. It's true that the network can't tell the difference between the phone accessing the network and the laptop, but it may go through things like transparent proxies, NATs, and other network fun. If they're really nasty, they'll actually limit data rates and streaming quality (e.g., why allow YouTube high-def? No smartphone has high-def screen, and people don't usually want to wait for the easily 100-200+MB of data to buffer sufficiently). Also connections may be limited to well known ports with other ports monitored.

A full tethered plan can effectively give you open access to the internet - many will give you a full routable IP as well, no firewalls or anything (so you can VPN over them quite easily). You can also bittorrent, but you'll probably bump your limit really quickly.

And carriers know which plan you go for, and if you access the wrong APN, boom, 5 cents per kilobyte (real kilobyte, not a kibibyte) or more.

I have an iPhone, and an unlimited tethering plan I got years ago before the splits. Technically, the smartphones they have won't work with my tethering plan - I would be dinged horribly. Jailbroke my iPhone, and modified by carrier bundles so I can reset my APN to the one I'm supposed ot use (they lock it down... nasty). And boom, my "incompatible plan" is compatible again! Heck, my plan only calls for GPRS data, but works fine with EDGE and 3G. (The carrier can technically limit my 3G to GPRS or EDGE speeds...).

Re:Strange...I do that now on AT&T

[anethema]

There is at least 1 major falsehood in your post, probably two.

1. AT&T having unlimited data. The data is not unlimited it is capped at 5GB, but they of course don't really advertise this.

2. Your Canadian data plan being restricted in any way other than a very boldly stated cap.

I pay $30 for 6GB (better than the 'unlimited' in the USA you'll notice). They don't offer this anymore, but at the time it was available for any smartphone, including iPhone and Blackberry. Tethering and using every bit right up to your 6GB cap in any way you would like is totally allowed.

While we on Rogers with iPhones no longer have the option of the 6GB/$30, the way it is gone about by Rogers is much better than AT&T I find. The cap is stated right there in the name of the plan rather that hidden in some ToS, just like everyone says ISPs should do it. And the plan is unrestricted as to use types, which is ideal.

Go to http://rogers.howardforums.com/ for much more info regarding Rogers in Canada, their plans, and just about anything else you can think of.

Re:Strange...I do that now on AT&T

[anethema]

Here in Canada on Rogers, our 6GB plan fully allows tethering but it is still a NAT'd IP. It is another $10/mo for a routable IP. They call this the "VPN" option.

Re:Strange...I do that now on AT&T

[anethema]

Agreed.

Hanlon's razor is usually in effect.

"Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity."

Re:Strange...I do that now on AT&T

[spiderbitendeath]

Smartphone and Tethering are not provisioned the same. Tethering has it's own access point. If it's not provisioned on the plan, then you wouldn't be able to connect properly. The tethering plans are now $59.99 for 5GB. There are two other low usage plans, but aren't worth mentioning. At least that's how it is at AT&T, where I work.

Re:Strange...I do that now on AT&T

[ceoyoyo]

1. Uh, that's why I put "unlimited" in quotes. The plan is advertised as unlimited, but clearly it isn't. I wasn't aware there was an explicit cap, but I certainly expected they'd smack your hands for using too much data. Still, they're obviously hoping nobody actually uses that much with an untethered phone.

2. My Canadian data plan IS being restricted, because I can't tether my iPhone. I didn't say Rogers/Fido was doing the restricting. I SHOULD be able to use that 6 GB (I have the same plan) however I want, including tethering. BUT, I can't, probably because Apple doesn't think it's worth offering tethering (a la third party apps if nothing else) in such a small market as Canada.

Have you looked at what Rogers charges for data plans now? Yeah, the 6 GB concession (it WAS a concession, they only announced it after some pretty strong backlash) was decent. Last I looked it was about $30 for 200 MB or somthing. If you wanted 2 GB you were up to $60. I DO appreciate their honesty though (I never thought I'd say that about Rogers). That's the way all those things should be sold - here's what you pay, here's what you get, no games. Videotron does that with my cable Internet as well.

On the other hand, Rogers really likes to play OTHER games. They wanted to charge me $450 for my iPhone because I was an existing customer. Never mind I didn't have a contract and had never received a subsidized phone from them. They tried to hook me into paying the higher fee by taking away my phone number if I canceled and then re-subscribed. Then there's the time they couldn't manage to deliver a bill to me, called at seven in the morning on Saturday just to be dicks, and then charged me $10 apiece for all the reprints of the bills they didn't deliver in the first place and I had never requested.

Re:Strange...I do that now on AT&T

[anethema]

Yeah Rogers is no saint, but I am not sure if they are better or worse than AT&T.

Their plans right now aren't SO bad but yeah, no 6GB anymore unfortunately.

Monthly Fee $25 $30 $60 $80
Data Included 500MB 1GB 3GB 5GB

You can also pay $30 and get voicemail and text messages etc plus 500mb of data. All of these plans are tetherable.

As for not being able to tether on the iPhone, I have been doing it for a long while now. I use PDAnet on my phone to do it, which is totally painless (create a network, connect to it with iPhone, launch PDAnet, and you're done). There was also a non JB app in the Appstore for a while called NetShare, but it has since been pulled. Since there is not a single disadvantage to Jailbreaking though, I would just do it and tether to your heart's desire.

Re:Strange...I do that now on AT&T

[ceoyoyo]

Ah yes, I was looking at their flex plan, where they charge you the next higher tier if you go over the limit instead of charging you the extortionate per megabyte fee (which is better than the old per kilobyte fee, admittedly).

I can tether my phone too... I didn't want to jailbreak (again) so I wrote myself a tethering app. Still, I shouldn't have had to.

There ARE some disadvantages to jailbreaking. You have to redo it periodically when updates come out, you may not be able to install a big update for a while until a patch is available, there's always a risk of something going wrong. I understand why MOST people don't want to go that route.

Re:Strange...I do that now on AT&T

[anethema]

Nothing can go wrong, DFU mode on the phone is always accessable even after a bad flash. The phone is almost unbrickable (correct usage of brick).

The patch has traditionally been available within hours or a day of the release of an update.

These disadvantages do NOT come close to outweighing the advantages..everything available in this new release is already available by jailbreaking.

Re:Useful report .... not

[Ihmhi]

Full points as well as getting sued so fast by Apple that they'll make his head spin.

Uh, amazing?

[zalle]

From the comments on the photos: "That's amazing! How did you do it?" - in what sense can his achievement be called amazing? My Nokia N91 is now 3 years old, pretty much fit for the junk yard, and has done this with no hacks required or extra charges from the operator from day 1. And my father's Nokia phones have done this almost a decade ago. Seems to me the real source for amazement are the "features" Apple has implemented. But I guess having an "amazing" interface is worth the price?

Re:Uh, amazing?

[Nursie]

9 years.

That's how long I've been able to do this on other phones. 9 years. And only because I never had a mobile before that.

NOT news.

Re:Uh, amazing?

[jcrousedotcom]

Yeah - that sounds about right - I think it was 8 or 9 years ago that I had an old Motorola Nextel phone that would tether on the iDen network. It was like a bad dialup connection but it was super cool to be able to be on the Internet on my laptop going down the road (I wasn't driving!). Granted, this is old hat now, but 9 or 10 years ago it was still a little bit special.

Fees

[nullhero]

(probably so they can charge more in fees)

I have an iPhone and I have to pay the manditory fee for an all I can eat data plan. Why should I have to pay more? I know...I know...they want more money. But here in the States AT&T could really gain more customers, more $$$, if they included text messaging with the data plan, and just let us connect our computers to the Internet via the phone.

But they are a short-sighted company, rather than gaining customers as fans they nickel and dime us to death!

Re:Fees

[ceoyoyo]

You've paid the fee for an unlimited-on-a-little-phone-screen plan. You didn't think it was actually unlimited, as in no limits whatsoever, did you?

Re:Fees

[nullhero]

No, not really but I do think it would make good business sense. The more you make your customers happy; the more loyal customers you have. Retention should always be more important to a company from a customer service perspective.

And considering AT&T is the only carrier of the iPhone they kind of have me by the balls. Forced retention.

But, trust me, if the iPhone is ever offered by other carriers then I'm switching in a heart beat. And I'll pay any early termination fees to get away from AT&T.

Re:Fees

[ceoyoyo]

Yes, yes really. When you signed up it would have been specified that your "unlimited" plan included only data accessed on your phone.

It's great to say that making the customer happy should be the most important thing to a company, but you have to keep it reasonable. Do you think AT&T would have happier customers if they restrict tethering on the iPhone, by blocking it or charging extra for it, or if their data network is dead slow or constantly unavailable because of congestion?

AT&T bet that you'd rather have data access just on your phone as opposed to effectively no access at all. They went with the no-tethering-at-all option. Now they're changing their minds and going with the tethering-for-a-fee option. Expect to see some limitations, either caps or restrictions on the type of traffic on those tethering plans as well.

AT&T may be greedy bastards (I fully expect they are), but paying a bit extra for a tethering data plan is perfectly reasonable. You really can't expect to get unlimited wireless Internet for approximately the same price as a wired connection.

Re:Fees

[nullhero]

You really can't expect to get unlimited wireless Internet for approximately the same price as a wired connection.

Why not? If my wired connection costs the same amount as my wireless connection and I can connect multiple computers without an additional fee then why charge me more for my wireless plan to tether my computer to my phone for mostly Internet access?

Of course I agree with you that they probably will put caps on it. But my point is if they lose the exclusivity on the iPhone there are other carriers that would be more than happy to offer better deals for iPhone users. This wildly in the future. (And a simple hallucination on my part.)

Re:Fees

[ceoyoyo]

"Why not?"

Are you serious? Your wired connection costs your ISP $A/byte to provide. Your wireless connection costs $B/byte to provide, where $B >> $A. See why you can't expect them to be the same price AND allow the same amount of usage? The reason you're not allowed to tether your phone is that almost everybody would use WAY more data if they did. I certainly would. If you gave me an unlimited wireless 3G data plan with tethering I'd probably just run it flat out for a good part of the day and all night.

I think it's stupid for companies to advertise "unlimited" anything. It obviously can't be unlimited. But that's what they do, so that's the framework you have to work within. AT&T chose to limit their "unlimited" plan by only letting you use it on the phone. Personally I would have just told you you've got X GB of transfer and you can do whatever you want with it. But then I'm not a marketing genius. Now they've been pressured to offer more options, so they are.

Take a look around. Do you see anyone offering an unlimited tethering plan for $30 (the price of the iPhone data plan)? AT&T seems to charge about $65 for that on any other phone (phones which they ARE in competition with other providers for). T-mobile seems to be around $50.

If AT&T comes out with an iPhone tethering data plan that's more than $50 - $65 (a tethering fee of $20-$35), then you've got a beef and can go ahead and blame the exclusivity agreement. Expecting it for free is simply unreasonable.

Re:Fees

[cayenne8]

"It's great to say that making the customer happy should be the most important thing to a company, but you have to keep it reasonable. Do you think AT&T would have happier customers if they restrict tethering on the iPhone, by blocking it or charging extra for it, or if their data network is dead slow or constantly unavailable because of congestion?

AT&T bet that you'd rather have data access just on your phone as opposed to effectively no access at all. They went with the no-tethering-at-all option. Now they're changing their minds and going with the tethering-for-a-fee option. Expect to see some limitations, either caps or restrictions on the type of traffic on those tethering plans as well."

These arguments would be valid only AT&T didn't already allow and have tethering plans for most all of their other phones that are capable of such functionality.

It isn't like the concept of tethering to an AT&T phone is new to them.....just for some reason, 'new' to them to allow it on an iPhone.

Re:Fees

[ceoyoyo]

Sure, you can tether other phones. At twice the price of the data plan on the iPhone. You seem to expect that you should get it for no addition fee. That's just irrational.

Re:Fees

[GameMaster]

"you gave me an unlimited wireless 3G data plan with tethering I'd probably just run it flat out for a good part of the day and all night."

And why is there anything wrong with that? The point here is that anyone actually doing that (even without tethering) would get disconnected for "unreasonable usage" as has been seen with most ISPs regardless of whether they are wireless or wired. The problem here is dirty marketing practices on the part of ISPs. They oversell their lines. That would normally be ok, except that they have a massive oversell ratio. Then, they advertise their service as "Unlimited" and hide limitations in the small print. It is unreasonable to expect people to have to read the small print on every single contract they encounter now that we have allowed companies to attach EULAs to everything.

Think of it this way, we have created a sub-field of lawyers who, after earning a bachelors degree, have to go through three years of post-graduate school in a competitive program that only a certain percentage of applicants are allowed to enter. All of this they have to do before having to pass one of the more difficult professional certification tests (the BAR exam) in order to be licensed. After all that, they still have to develop a number of years of experience in the field before they are allowed to write off on something like a EULA. To top it off, the legal field has dialect of English all it's own where words have very specific meaning that is often, significantly, different from their more common usage. In what world is it reasonable to expect the average customer, much less the below average customer, to be able to fully comprehend a EULA like that much less read and comprehend every one they come into contact with in a reasonable amount of time to be able to get on with the rest of their lives. Society isn't just for the people with genius levels of intelligence, normal people have to be able to live here too without being easy fodder for companies to lock into binding contracts with unreasonable requirements. The golden age of "lessee fair" capitalism in the U.S. has numerous examples of these kinds of evil practices in the form of the "company stores" that used legaleeze, among other slimy tricks, to make people into, de-facto, slaves due to their dept to their employers.

Data service is a commodity and should be sold as such. When I buy internet access it should be none of their business what kind of hardware I connect to it as long as it is compatible with their system (which should be required to conform to open standards). It should be illegal for them to advertise any service as "Unlimited" unless they are prepared to deal with people that are on 24/7 downloading at full bandwidth. There are plenty of other words in the English language that can be used to describe the situation otherwise such as "always on". Any limits on total bandwidth usage per month should be explicitly posted in all advertisements and should be clearly defined. This is why we have the FCC. ISPs have to rely on public resources that are limited (EM spectrum in the case of wireless and public easements in the case of wired ISPs/telcos). As such, any companies that are allowed to use a portion of those public resources are a special case of business similar to a state supported monopoly and should be regulated as such.

Re:Fees

[couchslug]

"But they are a short-sighted company, rather than gaining customers as fans they nickel and dime us to death!"

You and thousands of others are still paying, and THEY are short-sighted?

Re:Fees

[nullhero]

I wanted the phone more than the service but yeah I agree.

While the iPhone has a great UI...

[Max Romantschuk]

It seems sill when my 240â Nokia "Average Joe" 3G phone can do most of what it can and more... Using it as a Bluetooth modem is no issue.

The iPhone is a great phone, but lets face it: It's not that feature-packed or open. It's just a well designed product.

Re:Lock Down

[Shakrai]

I have the T-Mobile total internet plan add on for $19.99 which includes true unlimited internet with tethering. Works great on my PowerBook G4 and my Nokia N800 both via bluetooth.

I love T-Mobile but the sad reality is they are only as nice as they are because their network sucks and good customer service is one way to retain customers. If they ever manage to build out a network that equals Verizon or AT&T it will only be a matter of time before some PHB jackass gets the bright idea to start screwing customers to increase the bottom line.

I had to leave them seven months ago when I moved in with the GF because they had no coverage at her house. Now I'm stuck with Big Red and low and behold -- T-Mobile just activated a tower that covers my new location. *sigh*

Re:Lock Down

[tkrotchko]

Carriers only do these kinds of things because we let them. If people simply wouldn't pay the fees, then they'd stop in about 3 months. But too many people gotta have it now, so the carriers are actually *correct* in charging these fees. People will not only take it on the chin, but they'll pay for the privilege of doing so.

Your story, however, reminds me of the Motorola V710 I bought from Verizon about 4-5 years ago. It had bluetooth, but they locked it down so tight it was only useful for Bluetooth hands free. I'm sure you read about all the lawsuits (which came to nothing... Verizon offered to give you a few dollars off a new phone provided you signed up for 2 more years of service. Some deal), but hackers managed to come up with firmware that that enabled many of the profiles.

Thus, the phone became far more useful, although it "cheated" (haha) Verizon of 25 cents every time you snapped a photo, or loaded na mp3 for a ringtone, or use it in a way that they felt you shouldn't. Anyway, long story short, when I'd go into Verizon stores from one end of the country to the other with the phone, the Verizon reps would look at it and say "oh. you have one of *those* phones". And the employees were genuinely bitter and angry that people like myself had loaded the hacked firmware to make the phone useful.

Verizon has gone to much greater lengths in newer phones to prevent people from using their own property.

I'm no longer with Verizon, BTW.

Patience and AT&T...

[nweaver]

I'd imagine the iPhone carriers are paranoid about tethering. When its a few alpha-geeks and their crackberries, no problem.

But when its every tom-dick-and harriet with an iPhone, and a simple one-click "turn on" setup, the bandwidth usage you are talking about is extreme. iPhone users are already so much worse than crackberry users, giving them a link to their computer and you are talking about traffic-in-the-extreme.

Thus, easily expcet it to be a ~$30-40/month option.

Re:Patience and AT&T...

[wolrahnaes]

How's it any easier than other phones? On a WinMo phone you run the internet sharing app. On my SE K850i it's a simple matter of pairing over Bluetooth and saying "connect to network" or plugging in the USB cable and choosing "phone mode" on the phone. In either case, a virtual ethernet port appears on my computer and gets an IP address via DHCP.

WiFi tethering for Android

[powelly]

If you have an Android DevPhone or a "rooted" T-Mobile G1 you can use the free application aNetShare to tether via WiFi.

(Other wifi tethering applications are available, I have nothing to do with the software, just a happy user)

pathetic troll, anil.

[Artifex]

..a closed platform opening up brings news.. whereas other open (and closed) platforms have had this for a long time. The Apple RDF is strong..

This is a significant development for many in the the large and growing iPhone userbase. Your claim that because others did it first that it's not newsworthy is just antifanboyism dressed up as open-source cheerleading. Do we not report on China's space program, because the US did it first?

Re:pathetic troll, anil.

[anilg]

Not so much antifanboism as much as a comment on the sad state of the industry. Too bad you didnt see my comment the way I meant it..

Re:pathetic troll, anil.

[Nick Ives]

No, it's just sad that every time Apple adds new features to the iPhone it's news, especially when these are standard features for all other phones. Note: phones, not smart-phones.

I remember first using my phones GPRS connection to go online using a laptop six or seven years ago. I'd just moved and didn't have time to get BT to reactivate the line so I used GPRS for a couple of weeks, racking up £80 in data charges! I actually can't remember the phone; it was the first MMS phone that Vodaphone brought out in the UK - another feature the iPhone has only just acquired.

Congrats on the title though, it adequately describes your post.

Re:pathetic troll, anil.

[mdwh2]

I couldn't agree more. Of course, I suspect to hear all the "But it does it better, it Just Works" apologists crawl out of the woodwork - even though it requires a hack to get it working.

The usual tactic with missing features was to claim that no one would need one. But now that Apple have finally entered the 21st Century, and joined the low end market with features such as video, MMS, copy/paste and "tethering", I predict that no longer will we hear "Why would I need that?", instead, they'll be touted as great features that are now allegedly done better than anyone else.

Consider, if it was really true that the Iphone was better off by lacking these features (as some claimed), doesn't this mean the Iphone is now worse? They can't have it both ways. But they'll try to, anyway.

"smart" phones

[BlackCreek]

I have a G1. What I really don't get is why on Earth the two 'new' hot phone platforms (iphone & android) screw their costumers like this in order to server better the telcos.

Ok. I do get how they do that. I just wish *someone* would release a phone with out-of-the-box support for tethering and VoIP.

It is amazing how many huge companies seem to be fighting for this market place, and how none seems interested in actually delivering what people want.

Re:"smart" phones

[W2k]

Ok. I do get how they do that. I just wish *someone* would release a phone with out-of-the-box support for tethering and VoIP.

Windows Mobile smartphones and PDAs support tethering out of the box; all the ones I've owned anyway. As for VoIP, depends on what client you wanna use, but Skype has a free WM client and since WM phones usually aren't locked down very hard (being targeted at business users rather than Joe Sixpack) you can just install whatever you need.

Re:"smart" phones

[BlackCreek]

Windows Mobile smartphones and PDAs support tethering out of the box; all the ones I've owned anyway. As for VoIP, depends on what client you wanna use, but Skype has a free WM client and since WM phones usually aren't locked down very hard (being targeted at business users rather than Joe Sixpack) you can just install whatever you need.

I have heard about this, and also that Nokias will offer Skype support.

I have to admit that I always looked down at the iphone as a "fashion phone that represented a regression in terms of user lock-in", but now I own a G1 and have found that Google decided to lock its users more or less just as much as Apple.

I just don't know which phone architecture provides a decent platform. Android and iphone provide good SDKs for development, while AFAIK Symbian's sucks. I can hack tethering support on my G1 through USB, or install this app for (insecure) wifi tethering (check the XDA Dream forum for its betas). But not how to get proper VoIP running on it.

In any case, it seems to me that the more smart phones get popular, the more they are locked down. At least the two new platforms decided to fight for market space by being more obedient to the telcos (in detriment to users), than the previous existing platforms. This is just sad.
 

Cellular Addiction. Yeah, I'm talking to you.

[geekmux]

Apple is the devil

Apple has nothing on the wireless industry. This is the same industry that disables features that compete with their business model "for your protection", charges nearly as much to send a 160 character SMS as it would cost me to mail a letter across the country, sticks people with five digit bills when their device gets stolen, charges five times as much for minutes over your allowance as they do for your allowance minutes and locks you into long term contracts using the "subsidy" of the phone as an excuse even when you bring your own phone.

In short, if the revolution comes, the wireless carriers will be up against the wall right after we finish with the Wall Street Executives and RIAA lawyers.

I'm sorry I couldn't hear you over the obscene laughter coming from all the wireless execs.

The only thing that will force a revolution in this industry is when you convince the entire teen population that cell phones are no longer hip, cool, or useful. Don't even get me started on teens and text messaging and their "need" to have 15000 texts a month freedoms.

Until then, wireless companies will continue to enjoy the fruits of your addiction. Oh, and if you really feel you're being "robbed" these days, feel free to dig up a phone plan circa 1996 to compare current usage against.

Comment removed

[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

Enjoy surfing on a 3" screen?

[geekmux]

Who...seriously GIVES A FUCK?

Apparently, not you. But perhaps there are just a couple of people out there who actually do NOT enjoy trying to surf the 'Net on a 3" screen, no matter how fancy the damn interface is.

I could be wrong here, but the three 19" monitors on my desk and the 42" HD monitor at home says otherwise.

Re:Enjoy surfing on a 3" screen?

[mdwh2]

Actually there are lots of us, and we've been using our phones as modems for years.

For the three people who might be interested in this article, I do wonder why they spent so much money on the one phone that lacks this standard feature?

Re:Cellular Addiction. Yeah, I'm talking to you.

[Shakrai]

The only thing that will force a revolution in this industry is when you convince the parents of the entire teen population not to pay for shit their kids don't need.

Fixed that for you ;)

Re:Useful report .... not

[ruiner13]

Hackers - please don't spread the "how" until the 3.0 firmware is released. Don't give Apple time to fix the "bug" or "hole". I'd like to use this feature. Does it work on the 1st gen iPhones (EDGE) as well, or only the 3G models?

you misread that...

[NotQuiteReal]

He wasn't dicking around, the summary said he was dickering around. Obviously his phone became sentient and he negotiated the information out of it.

Re:you misread that...

[Chrisq]

Thanks for the addition to my vocabloury


dicker (dkr)
intr.v. dickÂered, dickÂerÂing, dickÂers
To bargain; barter.
n.
The act or process of bargaining.

Any hope for the reverse of this on the Touch?

[BDaniels]

What I'd like to be able to do is connect to the net from my Touch 2.0, using Bluetooth to access my cellphone. That way I can get online even when there is no Wi-Fi available.

Re:Any hope for the reverse of this on the Touch?

[Library Spoff]

I want the same - touch v2 connected to my Nokia e71.

I'd even jailbreak if that was the only way to do it.

Re:Any hope for the reverse of this on the Touch?

[GameMaster]

Add me to the list on this one. With a basic dial-up service I should be able to create a network connection in the 14.4kbps - 28.8kbps range. Not fast, but fast enough for basic stuff.

Re:Cellular Addiction. Yeah, I'm talking to you.

[Anonymous Coward]

It's planned competition. If you think the execs of these companies don't hash this out over golf, you're not paranoid enough. Telecom is a license to print money. They only give you better plans as they public gets irritated enough to start pestering their elected representatives. Then as the behemoth starts to move the telecom execs make things a little better and say, "No look see, we respond to the demands of the consumer." The execs long ago learned that to maximize your profits, move _just fast enough_ to keep the customers disatisfied, without being disgruntled. That's the real benefit of doing business in a monopoly or cartel.

And?

[MortenMW]

So one can connect to the Internet via the iPhone?
That would be amazing if it was not for the fact that it is and has been possible on phones for a long time.

Comment removed

[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

Re:Cellular Addiction. Yeah, I'm talking to you.

[geekmux]

The only thing that will force a revolution in this industry is when you convince the parents of the entire teen population not to pay for shit their kids don't need.

Fixed that for you ;)

Wow. Do I ever stand corrected. Your statement is so true it's painful.

Re:Cellular Addiction. Yeah, I'm talking to you.

[WCguru42]

Oh, and if you really feel you're being "robbed" these days, feel free to dig up a phone plan circa 1996 to compare current usage against.

I don't really care about what I got charged over a decade ago, I care about the fact that a text message costs so much more per kb of data sent than a phone conversation. I care that certain companies turn off their bluetooth to pc connectivity to keep you from uploading your own songs as ringtones, I care that there's any amount of text messaging done in a month that could rack up a bill over $1000 (not to mention that girl that got the $4000 bill). 1996 is way back in the day, when cell phone use wasn't the norm, when internet sucked and so did the presidents aide.

Re:Useful report .... not

[idontgno]

That was what I was thinking. "Cue cease and desist letter in 3... 2..."

If he keeps that kinda stuff up, he should expect excommunication for sure.

Re:Cellular Addiction. Yeah, I'm talking to you.

[cayenne8]

"The only thing that will force a revolution in this industry is when you convince the parents of the entire teen population not to pay for shit their kids don't need.

Fixed that for you ;)

Wow. Do I ever stand corrected. Your statement is so true it's painful."

I hear ya. It seems that today's parents have forgotten one of the most important words in their vocabulary...NO

It seems parental units, somewhere along the years, have forgotten that THEY and ONLY THEY are in charge in a household. Things like toys, cell phones, video games, etc...are luxuries that are doled out as their option, they are not 'rights' that children have.

I think that's why I seem to observer so many kids today with the sense of entitlement to all these things, rather than being grateful that they have a few luxuries. The kids seem to run the adults lives...rather than the other way around.

Don't get me wrong, if a person chooses to have children, they do need to prepare themselves for the personal and financial sacrifice that goes with it. But, that doesn't mean that you no longer rule the roost so to speak.

Tethering on PocketPC/Windows Mobile

[meehawl]

Open "Internet Sharing".
Select USB | Bluetooth.
Click "Connect".

That's about it.

Why do so many things that should be simple to do become so bizarrely difficult and tortuous on Apple devices? So much so, in fact, that when people figure out ways around Apple's boneheadedness it becomes "news"*?

* See also: Spontaneous cheers for introducing cut and paste on a handheld computer in 2009.

Re:Tethering on PocketPC/Windows Mobile

[Colonel Korn]

Spontaneous cheers for introducing cut and paste on a handheld computer in 2009.

Those weren't cheers about the feature as much as they were cheers that those people would no longer have to spend an hour a day posting online about how copy and paste are useless on a cell phone. That'll free up a lot of time for 320x480 browsing.

Re:Tethering on PocketPC/Windows Mobile

[Hognoxious]

I have a Nokia E71 - it has copy and paste and it's nearly useless.

Not because there's no need for it, on the contrary, but because you can only access it via a menu and it's usually several layers down.

Re:Tethering on PocketPC/Windows Mobile

[XMode]

Wait? I have one of those phones and I didn't know that.. OMG, your right!

Nokia phones are even easier to 'tether'. Run nokia software (its not actually that bad and it gives you a backup feature for your contacts), click connect in that, let it do its thing. (assuming you have already previously paired the device)

Re:Tethering on PocketPC/Windows Mobile

[Hognoxious]

Actually, I'm wrong. I was fiddling about and discovered Ctrl-C and -V work, but since thee's no dedicated control key (you have to shift or Fn one of the others) it's almost as much of a faff.

I'm not sure this is even mentioned in the manual, which to be honest is bloody awful.

Dickering?

[shark72]

The writer thinks that it means something which it does not:

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/dicker

The dictionary does, however, define "dick around" as "to spend time idly; fool around."

Re:Cellular Addiction. Yeah, I'm talking to you.

[kkwst2]

While I certainly agree with this in principle, having texting available for your teen can be extremely useful for the parent as well. I often need to reach them and they don't answer their phone. Sometimes they're out of range, sometimes they just don't want to answer.

If I text them, I know they got it and they generally respond right away. I can also text them from my computer without a cell phone and the responses come back to my email.

Then when they have it, they get inundated with texts from other kids. My son gets an order of magnitude more texts than he sends. This is difficult to control, and so I get him the unlimited plan.

You have to pick your battles with teenagers. You're not going to win every one, at least not and keep your sanity. This is not one that's worth fighting in my book. I certainly don't think I've spoiled my teenagers, but they still have entitlement issues. They usually grow out of it once they get out on their own and realize what it costs to live.

None of this excuses the price fixing the wireless providers engage in. The fact that you get charged so much for both sending and receiving a text is outrageous.

yeah

[speedtux]

Amazing, tethering AND cut-and-paste. At this rate, the iPhone may actually support most industry standard features is, oh, less than a decade.

Re:Lock Down

[Snocone]

Your story, however, reminds me of the Motorola V710 I bought from Verizon about 4-5 years ago. It had bluetooth, but they locked it down so tight

Yeah, not only did I get sucked in by the specs like I imagine you did, I got it from Telus up in Canada and never found hacked firmware that would work here.

I was so damn bitter about that I vowed to never buy a smartphone again ... ... ooh! Apple! Shiny!

Re:Cellular Addiction. Yeah, I'm talking to you.

[NotInfinitumLabs]

the only thing that will force a revolution is the uprising of the proletariat to overthrow their bourgeois oppressors, you first world fuck.

Re:Useful report .... not

[Quantos]

If he keeps that kinda stuff up, he should expect excommunication for sure.

Is the pun intentional?

Re:Cellular Addiction. Yeah, I'm talking to you.

[Anonymous Coward]

Yeah.... honestly, the cellular companies really started "soaking" people with the transition from analog to digital.

I always found that ironic, since the primary motivation for killing off the analog phones in the first place was to cut costs for them. (Many more users able to be handled with the same amount of bandwidth.)

They put the "spin" on it that it would give you "crystal clear digital" sound quality, so it was a "benefit" - and migrated people off their old analog plans, onto digital plans at nearly double the monthly cost!

(Remember those old Sprint PCS commercials where they promised you could "hear a pin drop" on the new network? Hah! The early adopters of THAT network wound up with calls where the volume of the call went up and down like a roller coaster for the duration of each call and other such issues.)

I remember having an old Ameritech cellular plan for my analog Motorola flip-phone that cost me about $18 a month, with unlimited evenings and weekends. (Granted, it was a "corporate discount" - but they gave it to me and a couple co-workers just for visiting an Ameritech booth at some convention and telling them we were interested in a business discount.)

When Verizon took them over in this area, I got herded over to a digital plan that cost me more like $40 a month - while giving me essentially the same thing I had before. (I couldn't use my cellphone during the work-day anyway, so just about ALL my calls were "evening and weekend" minutes. So the number of "peak" minutes in a given plan was not much of a concern. I think my old analog plan came with 250 or something....)

I don't get it with tethering

[zogger]

I really don't. All these wireless telco providers have transfer caps, so what difference does it make if you are looking at the screen on the phone or the laptop or desktop screen? They sell access, plus a certain amount of bytes per your plan per the dollars you give them, so it's the same money! Why are they so worried about tethering then? It seems like the opposite would be true if they are in competition with each other, make your cellphone and plan attractive and easy for tethering and advertise it as such, get more customers, sell more of your easier to use and more featureful phones and more (giga or mega whatever) bytes of transfer.

Re:I don't get it with tethering

[GameMaster]

Like many things in the cellphone industry, it's a scam to bilk you for more money. Another prime example is Verizon's policy on wallpaper and ringtones. Most of the phones Verizon sells are designed to support downloading wallpaper and ringtones over a datacable or bluetooth. Verizon, intentionally, cripples this feature so that they force you to buy wallpapers and ringtones from them. It should be illegal, but they haven't been smacked down for it yet.

Re:I don't get it with tethering

[Hognoxious]

They'd rather you don't use anywhere near the cap.

Chances are you'll download less without tethering, since a lot of high bandwidth atuff isn't worth bothering with on a phone.

Resolution: Bigger is Better?

[meehawl]

That'll free up a lot of time for 320x480 browsing.

Those browsing on 640x480 or 800x400 phones pity those fools.

Touch Share Over Bluetooth?

[meehawl]

Last year I used WMWiFiRouter to share out my 3G Sprint connection through my HTC Titan. It became an access point and several 2G Iphones were able to connect to it over WiFi and use it to browse and download at around 750 Kbps. The newer WMWiFiRouter also enables Bluetooth redistribution so, as long as the Iphone can use BT for a network connection, I don't see why this isn't possible.

Re:pathetic troll

[mdwh2]

It would be like covering everything that China did, and not mentioning other countries at all.

I mean, can you point me to the stories for every single other make of phone out there, where it was announced that they can do this?

how to get kid to answer phone

[SethJohnson]

I often need to reach them and they don't answer their phone. Sometimes they're out of range, sometimes they just don't want to answer.

If your child isn't answering the phone when you call, you need to return the phone to the store you bought it from. Tell your child the device isn't succeeding at fulfilling the purpose for which you purchased it. If your teenager has a job and bought the phone himself / herself, then it is the child's choice of when to answer the phone.

Seth

Re:how to get kid to answer phone

[Mr Z]

Right, because your child is never in a situation where it's unacceptable and/or extremely rude to talk on a cell phone, such as while driving, watching a movie in a theater, attending class or on another phone call. Texts at least have the benefit of being asynchronous. I know that the text arrived, and I can get back to the person discreetly at the first available opportunity.

Re:how to get kid to answer phone

[Hognoxious]

your child is never in a situation where it's unacceptable and/or extremely rude to talk on a cell phone, such as while driving

They're old enough to be trusted to operate a ton of metal that can go at 100+ mph, but yet they still need to be called/texted every ten minutes to check where they are?

Re:how to get kid to answer phone

[Mr Z]

Exactly. If the response to "They didn't drop everything answer my call" is "ZOMG, take the phone away then," there's deeper problems here.

Re:how to get kid to answer phone

[garaged]

yeah, like if the kids fscking care if the situation is good to answer !!!

Please

The End of the World

[HTH NE1]

Apparently he has even been able to use his laptop to access the internet over the USB tether.

"Think that's amazing, you want to see the bill?"

Re:Cellular Addiction. Yeah, I'm talking to you.

[talldean]

Cricket Wireless, which is a super-regional provider, is $50/month for unlimited local, long distance, web access, text messages, and calls to Canada and Mexico, last I saw. The best phone they have is a RAZR, with no smartphones, but their USB/wireless card, at $40/month, is a steal for unlimited data if you live/work somewhere where they have coverage.

Re:Useful report .... not

[Ash Vince]

I am posting this from my laptop tethered to a HTC Tytn ii. It is getting a bit old now since I bought when it first came out. I am on an unlimited data contract with a fair usage policy but I have never hit my cap yet.

I have been getting a new phone for a month or so and have strongly considered an iphone now it has 3G support. The only issue is I do not use mobile broadband often enough to get a separate dongle for my laptop. About once a month I go away and have to rely on it though so it is very important to me.

If I could hook and iphone up to my PC via a USB cable and use it as a modem like I am currently doing with my HTC the debate would end, I would buy one instead of the HTC Touch HD I am considering.

Hopefully Apple will realise people like me exist and recognise this as a draw to the iphone. They entered the mobile market with the promise of not being in the Telco's pocket so they should be enabling this functionality without someone trying to hack it. Even if they just let me enable it and did not brick my phone for doing so I would be content.

I am currently posting this under Linux so that when I get where I am going I plug my laptop into the network, enable IP routing and route all the traffic through my windows mobile device. Since I only do this for one weekend in four I get away with it from a fair usage point of view. I could not get this working when I boot my laptop into Windows XP but that only happens once in a blue moon anyway.

I also bought my current phone for cash as I did not want to be tied to a particular network. If Apple let me use an iphone how I want I will probably buy one of those for cash too and list my HTC on ebay. If they force me to get an additional dongle and mobile broadband account to get this working I will probably stick with Windows Mobile or go for Android in a few months.

Re:Lock Down

[Achromatic1978]

Ask T-mobile nicely. I've been in a similar situation, and they brought me back for pretty much no fees at all. "Glad to have you back with us!"

Android already does this

[sfcat]

I've been doing with with my GPhone for a while now. It can even support multiple computers at once.

Re:Cellular Addiction. Yeah, I'm talking to you.

[vlad30]

The only thing that will force a revolution in this industry is when you convince the parents of the entire teen population not to pay for shit their kids don't need.

Fixed that for you ;)

No just make them pay themselves and no BAIL-OUTS when they can't pay the bill they quickly get the message. Its amazing to compare what teens will wear/purchase/do when they equate hours worked to their purchases. Additionally you should not sign for a child's phone if the contract requires it. i.e. if the child is too young to sign for a contract themselves then the only option is no-contract/prepaid etc they must be taught responsibility before they become an exec on wall street

Mental Crap

[SuperKendall]

Because of AT&T the Iphone is and always will be a crippled platform.

Except for a little thing called Jailbreaking, which solves all the problems you list and pretty much makes what you said there totally false.

You've never wanted an iPhone. You just hate Apple and see this as another opportunity to complain about them.

Re:Useful report .... not

[Christophotron]

I could not get this working when I boot my laptop into Windows XP but that only happens once in a blue moon anyway.

If you could not figure this out in Windows then how in the hell did you figure out how to do it on linux? It actually requires some knowledge to do it in linux but it is intuitively obvious in Windows... 1). install activesync on PC. 2). run ICS app on the phone. 3). plug in usb cable and press "connect". 4). browse pr0n on the intarwebs... with a couple extra steps you can even do this over bluetooth instead of USB, and on vista you don't even need to do step 1...

I also bought my current phone [TYTN II] for cash [when it first came out]

Seriously, you paid $1000 for your phone? Let me ask you this, did you actually change your provider one or more times within 2 years to make this worthwhile? Did you do this knowing that if you bought a subsidized ATT Tilt for anywhere from $400 to FreeAfterRebate, you could SIM-unlock & CID-unlock the phone for free using publicly available software and then simply pay the ETF if you really wanted to switch providers? I dunno, maybe you just liked the front-facing VGA camera *that much*...? Just curious...

Even if they just let me enable it and did not brick my phone for doing so I would be content.

I still don't understand this mentality.. Apple doesn't brick your modded iphone, YOU brick your modded iphone. Simply DONT INSTALL OFFICIAL UPDATES and you will be fine. Wait for the modded updates to come out if you must have them.

Re:Useful report .... not

[Ash Vince]

My problem was not getting my laptop to connect to the net while in windows, it was how get the laptop to behave as a router between small lan and the internet. I am currently posting this from a desktop machine on that LAN while I wait for my Xbox360 to update in the other room. All my internet traffic is being routed through that phone. This is what I could only get working under Linux on the laptop. I also trust IPTables more in its abilities to bahave as a gateway than I do windows firewall.

As soon as I bought the phone I switched onto a much cheaper data and phone package as it was a sim only deal. This halfed my mothly bill and came with free unlimited data. This lets me net and think nothing of downloading a few hundred megabytes over the weekend. Some weekends I probably come closer to a gigabyte.

Provider is O2, not AT&T

[vaporland]

From the screen snapshots ITFA, it appears that the wireless provider is not AT&T. So, this is either a non-US iPhone user or a jailbroken iPhone running the 3.0 dev release.

Re:Cellular Addiction. Yeah, I'm talking to you.

[Shakrai]

sometimes they just don't want to answer

If they aren't answering then why do they have a cell phone? If you are paying the bill tell them that answering the phone when Mom or Dad calls is not optional.

You have to pick your battles with teenagers. You're not going to win every one, at least not and keep your sanity. This is not one that's worth fighting in my book

Don't think of it as a battle. Think of it as a teaching moment. The typical unlimited text plan ranges from $14.99 (T-Mobile) to $20 (AT&T/Verizon). Show your kids how that's $240/yr that could be spent on better things. If they still insist on having it make them pay for it. Might as well educate them on how you budget in the real world.

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[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

Apple - Works, Just

[mdwh2]

Except for a little thing called Jailbreaking

So much for "But it Just Works!"

Re:Apple - Works, Just

[SuperKendall]

So much for "But it Just Works!"

It does just work. That's the default configuration.

If you want to do more than the default, that's your choice - but then it's more crashy.

At least with Apple you have a choice about the crashy aspect.

Same ol same ol

[iScharfschtze]

Well it seems apple its starting to sound a whole lot similar to their M$ buddies. Same idiotic idea of claimin their products huv new stuff when those features huv been around for ages. Take win vistas look n Linux's 1st Beryl... pathetic. Apple seems to be focusin too hard on looks, but no soul (funny how that applies on so many lvls, over chargin just to huv ure computer or phone huv a dumb apple so u ll look "cooler" to others in ure head)...

Re:Cellular Addiction. Yeah, I'm talking to you.

[kkwst2]

Sorry in advance for the rant, but do you actually have teenagers?

Raising a teenager is a delicate balance of promoting independence and keeping them in line and safe. Taking a cell phone away for occasionally not answering the phone is aa bit draconian in my book. The solution to not being able to get them sometimes is to make it so I can't contact them at all while they're away?

As another poster mentioned, there are many reaons why they don't answer, including sports practice, work, etc. I can't distinguish between them. But I know if I send a text they will get it.

The problem with the billing for texts is that they're not in complete control. Most of the costs are in receiving texts. So I choose to pay for unlimited texting because i didn't want to block it completely. They had jobs and payed for their own gas and certain expenses.

I've got pretty good kids and they're pretty well mannered and grounded. Not the most ambitious by my standards, but mine are pretty high. Perhaps giving kids the benefit of the doubt sometimes is warranted. For me, the unlimited plan is $10. Add than to the $10 for add-a-phone and it's $20 a month for being able to contact them at any time. I say it's worth it.

Don't think of it as a battle. Think of it as a teaching moment.

Ha! Did you learn to parent by watching the Brady Bunch and Leave It To Beaver?

A question...

[Anne Nielsen]

This ''Anonymous Coward'' from up there was me, sorry, it was an honest mistake :)

Re:Cellular Addiction. Yeah, I'm talking to you.

[garaged]

averybody thought that 60s was the hippie era !!

Today, with the guilty on both parents working, the montesori stuff, psicology, .... we are way more hippies than our parents.

I work for my kids and wife, but my girls better appreciate what they have, because we might not have it forever.