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iPhone 3.1 Update Disables Tethering
jole writes "The newest iPhone 3.1 update intentionally removed tethering functionality from all phones operating in networks that are not Apple partners. This is not limited to hacked or jailbroken phones, but also includes expensive 'officially supported' factory-unlocked phones. To make the problem worse, Apple has made it impossible to downgrade back to a working 3.0 version for iPhone 3GS phones."
Palm Pre (and Pixi) has a Homebrew community with a FREE tether program.
WebOS phones are Open Source OS phones, so the Tether capability can't be disabled as it's based on Open functionality, not a closed API.
in the US, a Sprint Simply Everything plan (includes Unlimited data use) is around $1000.00 cheaper a year to have.
So, you can have an Open Source phone with a real Homebrew community, a cheaper unlimited plan and have your Tethering program UNBLOCKABLE. Sounds like the Pre is a better deal all around.
Unless you are an isnob, of course.
Official Heretic from the "Church of Global Warming". Proven right thanks to whistle blowers. AGW = Flat Earth Theory
That love apple no matter what will flock to them anyway, pay, and not care (as long as its not Microsoft I can pretend I'm cool and tech savvy at the same time).
Fuck AT&T. I don't tether currently. I didn't cringe when I got charged $26 per line for "activation". I didn't cringe at signing a 2-year contract to get a phone for $300. I didn't even cringe at an "unlimited" data plan that limits downloads to 10MB files (which, coincidentally, is smaller than most of the apps on the "approved" app store).
Why is Apple sticking with these people. The overall user experience of an "approved" iPhone is significantly worse because of AT&T's behavior as greedy little fucktards.
In 3.2, they're including a printable coupon for your very own Steve Jobs replica wang, coupled with a couple of apples as the veg.
For the authentic Apple experience.
Finally had enough. Come see us over at https://soylentnews.org/
So the FCC has started looking into unfair business practices of cell providers. This could be a smoking gun. A 100% legal unbundled phone that will only support tethering on a single providers network, that previously did support tethering.
...when I actually wanted an iPhone. Glad I never wasted the money. Why would anyone want to buy something thats capabilities change almost monthly at the whim of Apple and AT&T? It still can't do things an old Moto RAZR did five years ago. The iPhone was relegated to "gadget" status at my company earlier this year (meaning they won't support it as a communication tool for managers). Now it seems to be failing in the gadget category as-well. I really don't even know who to blame anymore- AT&T is an obvious target, but Apple is responsible for a lot of this too.
Except when they don't want it to.
Chas - The one, the only.
THANK GOD!!!
Apple customers are always good for a laugh. Week after week there are more restrictions and they still buy Apple. My theory is that Apple customer either love complaining or abuse. It's a good thing, though. We'd lose a lot of entertainment without them supporting Apple.
mac fanboys crying about their expensive telephone and masquerading it as a slashdot article. i especially love how the submitter stated "very expensive" when describing the unlocked phones. you didnt buy a macphone for the cost savings, so stop acting like its suddenly an issue.
the cognitive dissonance here is mac users are starting to realize no matter how great a guy steve jobs is for the I culture, Ma bell will always have the last word. no, they dont share the mac philosophy of innovation and ease of use because it goes against their closed system of regulated service. you knew this when you owned a regular cellphone before you bought the i-phone and continued to ignore it. you knew the telco was screwing you for the cost of the phone, the cost of the data service, and the support but you ignored it because of the cool factor.
heres your tipping point: dont like it? stop buying it. innovation or no, if its at the cost of your freedoms which you so easily discard time and time again, is it really worth it? This device isnt designed to further the culture of mac or innovation, its designed to make money. its designed to use the mac brand, the mac cult, and steve jobs to make money. had AT&T a say, they would just as soon abolish advanced features and run everything off AS400's for all eternity but the customer constantly demands more, and they see the tie-in with apple as a chance for branding.
Good people go to bed earlier.
So yeah - NONE of these phones are remotely free out of the box. All of them can be hacked to do what you want with them. Pick your poison.
I don't know what kind of crack I was on, but I suspect it was decaf.
Could it be the abusive wireless companies? No... they have shown time and time again that they do not improperly influence or direct Apple to do any of the things they have done lately such as removing the Google voice suite from the App store. Nope! Not a move pushed by AT&T and all the congressional investigations will show is that they didn't do it and/or don't "recall" doing it. That of course depends on the definition of what "it" means.
Cue the Apple apologists and the others who say "well? don't buy an iPhone!"
What about the poor souls who bought one with expected functionality and had it only to have it yanked out from under them.
What is really wrong here is the lines of ownership. Once someone owns something, is it proper for the previous owner to change and manage how you can use it? Sure, users don't "own" the software, but that is a matter of question there as it has been shown in other instances that copyright holders don't always have the right to control how a work is used. (yes, I know there are exceptions such as playing a DVD in a bar/club... but frankly, I don't think that limitation should be allowed either.) With every push like this, the rights of consumers are being trampled and removed. This is a big and growing problem. Consumers need to push back.
Virgin Mobile here in .au are both official Apple partners and allow tethering, so it would have been pretty unusual if it had been disabled.
As a fan of the Green Bay Packers, after watching what happened with Brett Favre, I can tell you with almost complete certainty that Apple customers do not love abuse or complaining. In their blind adoration of Favre, err, Apple, they believe that Apple can do no wrong and any notion to the contrary is heretical. Their basic argument often follows this line of thought: "If it wasn't for everyone else trying to undermine what Apple is trying to do, they wouldn't need to take all of these measures. Apple only does this because they want to create the best experience for their customers."
But then I realized the cable was blue, so I only gave it one star. I hate blue.
Apple opted to use DRM not because the music companies forced them to, but because it was beneficial to Apple. The only "evidence" behind what you're saying is what Steve Jobs himself claims. "Oh, help us, help us, we're a poor multi-billion dollar company, the music companies are having their way with us and there's nothing we can do about it!" It's a huge load of bullshit. Any company opposed to DRM would refuse to do business with any labels that forced it upon them. Apple only pretended to be opposed to DRM so they could play the victim to their fans while simultaneously making millions off them through vendor lock-in. Once they had the lock-in they needed, with millions of people having already bought ipods, made itunes accounts, and gotten used to the music pipeline between the two, Apple started offering limited DRM-less tracks in a format obscure to most mp3 players that weren't made by themselves, and later on released all their music in the same, rarely-seen-on-mp3-players format. Hooray, the assholes who were punching us in the face to begin with, are now only punching us in the stomach! What heroes! Industry pioneers!
Slow Down, Cowboy! It's been 60 minutes since you last successfully posted a comment.
Actually, if i read this and several other IT sites and their reader's reactions, it's the non-Apple-users who like to see iPhone-customers like that.
I know quite a few people with iPhones (and other Apple gear), and are quite happy with it, but not in your "look at how cool i am" way. It's the rest of the world that likes to apply that stereotype to them.
I often hesitate before busting out my iPhone to record video or check email because I feel like "the rest of the world" instantly applies that "Apple snob" stereotype to anyone who uses it... and I don't want to be "that guy." Am I alone in occasionally feeling this way?
You may have forgotten, in your rush to insult, that by and large people don't care about things that have no effect on them. The majority of Apple customers aren't hurt by this and therefore have no reason to care. Your argument works for that small percentage of people who scream about software freedom, and of course that opinion gets modded up here so you feel like it's common - but in the real world, it doesn't make that much of a difference.
If you try hard enough you can convince yourself that anything is a good thing and should be protected, look at Scientology for example. It's pathetic and funny, but there's always some gullible people ready to exclaim it. There's one thing to be a fan, to accept it's pro's and con's and love it anyway, to want to see it get better. It takes an extra step to be blind to the short comings and defend stuff that's NOT in their interests using mental gymnastics. What makes it even funnier is Apple's "luxury" price tags, these people are not only defending stuff that's not in their interests, but they're paying a fortune for the privilege. As they say, "a fool and his money are easily parted".
Actually, I try not to show the iphone in public places, preferring to keep it in an inside pocket and use a bluetooth. No reason to tempt the snatch and run hoodies around here.
But the parent post is far too dismissive of the rampant fanboy-ism among apple users. Inspite of a dated interface, lock-down restrictions, and abusive corporate policy, they continue in their cliquish behavior in social settings, pretty much dissing any other phone that is not from Apple, while gushing over the latest fart app.
Its embarrassing. So much so, that rather than join this cabal, I keep the iphone in a pocket and try to change the subject. I'm happy with the phone, but embarrassed by the behavior of most iPhone users I meet in social settings.
Sig Battery depleted. Reverting to safe mode.
Until it either explodes or melts.
ACtually I only use my iphone because it is the best smart phone on the market. I tried all the others, Windows GUI isn't designed for small screens, so there goes every windows mobile device. and competitors like android and the pre only came out after Apple showed the world that to sell a smart phone to a non business person they needed to make it easier to use. I do have a small number of issues, but tethering isn't one of them. AT&T after all wants to charge you another $30 a month to allow it anyways. Look at AT&T's turn by turn navigation software. $10 a month extra, and less functionality than is already included. My issues include the inability to easily turn on and off bluetooth after receiving a call among little annoyances. however there is a reason why the iphone web browser visits more web pages than any other mobile browser. It is the only one that is usable on such a small screen.
Are apple products perfect nope, not at all, however at the end of the day they work better than just about everyone else's, for the same price. MSFT forced hardware to be standariesed. Apple is the only example left of the old school groups of doing hardware and software on one machine. SGI, is gone, Sun is fading, IBM is moving to more software. Apple is the last of the combination hardware software vendors.
i thought once I was found, but it was only a dream.