iPhone 3.1 Update Disables Tethering 684
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."
Please boycott Apple! (Score:2, Interesting)
Purchased Feature (Score:5, Interesting)
This is why (Score:2, Interesting)
Baseband locking (Score:5, Interesting)
I was under the impression, perhaps wrongly, that apple was locking their phones basebands. That is the locking is occuring in the cell-phone part of the phone which has it's very own firmware and DSP not the main "operating system" CPU part of the phone. So this tethering denial may be just a side effect of the well known baseband locking that occurs when they lock the cell phone to a carrier class. The iphone Dev team has never cracked the Cell phone firmware.
I think it might be "pre"-mature to say the pre is completely open source. The CPU part of the phone might be, but does that assure that they won't permenantly lock the carrier class? I could imagine that some service providers might want Palm to do just that in return for subsidizing the phone.
We shall see. Right now there's not enough Pre phones out there for the main market let alone a gray market of re-banded phones to be siginficant. Apple did not start locking the phones this way till the 3G. the 2G phones supposedly, it is said, can't be locked that way. But I honestly don't know enough to argue the matter, I'm just repeating what i've gleaned on the iphone-dev team blogs.
Re:Buy a Pre (Score:3, Interesting)
Palms $70/month plan includes unlimited data/texting/mobile-mobile(Any network) calls and 450minutes for landlines/business lines.
To get an equivalent plan on the iphone would cost near $120/month, the difference being $50/month or $600/year.
The employee referral plan, which the VP of Sprint has suggested anyone interested use (he even gave his email publicly for the referral form) is $60/month and includes a few features the $70/mo plan doesn't, I believe. Somehow the taxes are a lot lower than on my previous plans, too. I pay $63/month after taxes and fees.
It's worse. (Score:4, Interesting)
Unfortunately, the 3.1 update also removes any ability of an unlock because they upgrade the baseband as well. I use the term upgrade loosely because they removed most of the minicom commands the baseband will accept to limit their exposure to exploits.
That being said I'm happy with my iPhone because I'm in the small minority of people who jailbreak their phones and don't hit update until a dev team member has a solution for me to upgrade without losing the functionality I've come to enjoy.
Uh. y'all sure its been disabled? (Score:5, Interesting)
Weird. Tethering is on my 3.1 phone. Not sure whats happening to you folks.
General menu -> Netowork ->Tethering -> On.
About says:
Network: YES OPTUS (australian carrier)
Line: Virgin Mobile
Version: 3.1 (7C144)
I'm on the developer program so maybe developers get extra goodies?
PLan comparison: tmobile may be even better (Score:3, Interesting)
I use my iphone with T-mobile. for 1000 minutes it's $39. that's not unlimited, but I don't use that many minutes so for me it is. My data plan is $6.25 a week. I say week and not month because T-mobile lets you switch the data plan on and off at will without any impact on your plan (no new 2-year agreement). SO I only switch it on when I travel a few times a year. The rest of the time I just use WiFi for the internet. In my home town I really don't need to have google so bad that I can't just walk to a coffee shop or something to use the iphone. But on travel (especially in the car or public transit, or airport, or whatever you do need the web on the go sometimes for maps, car rentals, hotel reservations, dinner plannning, staying connected with the office).
So you might say, well yeah but sprint is unlimited and has an always on data plan. And I reply yes but I have an iphone which, presently at least, is unarguably more supported in terms of usability (apps and connectivity to easy itunes management and perifrials), has a high resale value, and uses a carrier with better coverage (including sim card conveneince for international travel).
FOr my usage pattern, which may not be yours, t-moble is by far the better deal cost wise as well.
Re:Tethering on AT&T was a hack (Score:3, Interesting)
As the owner of a carrier-neutral iPhone (I actually paid the full amount in Belgium for a phone without strings attached), I use a "hacked" profile. It's actually perfectly legal for me to do so, as I pay my carrier for "full" data bundle, including tethering support. In this specific case, tethering is still enabled after the 3.1 update. So either Apple makes an exception for simlock-free phones, or my profile slipped through the checks. Any ideas?
Re:I think that (Score:1, Interesting)
Re:Buy a Pre (Score:5, Interesting)
The major difference is due to the fact that it's an M$ product it's APIs aren't open
Is that so? [microsoft.com]
they're buggy and overall the devices run slower and are less customizable.
Care to share an example? Sounds like you have plenty... or are you just recycling wrong, out-of-date groupthink?
Not the GP, but I have two (both on Sprint)
A) Moto Q9c. I thought this was the worst POS phone I ever put my hands on, with slow speeds, lockups, and misfeatures, so I stupidly reupped and got
B) Palm Pro (Treo 850e). I was wrong. This makes the Q9c look like a miracle of modern fucking engineering. All the problems of the Q9c, and more, including the fact that some genius decided a phone doesn't need a fucking power button, so you have to open the batter compartment and hard reset whenever WinMo decides to shit itself, which it does... often... at the worst possible times...
Re:Buy a Pre (Score:5, Interesting)
Seeking promotion so you can afford a 1200$ yearly phone bill is kind of crazy.
Also, i read your sig link "VICTIMS OF GOVERNMENT - Asthma Patients Left Gasping for Air - consumeraffairs.com/news04/2009/09/asthma_hfa05.html"
I think that article should be renamed to "VICTIMS OF CORPORATE GREED". From the article, the government ban on CFCs is driven by citizens to preseve the environment. The even bigger problem is her insurance company turning her down on something she worked so hard to prepare for. Now she can't do anything, jump ship to another insurance company? Hope they accept pre-existing conditions (not likely).
Re:Buy a Pre (Score:3, Interesting)
Rubbish. I don't know what you're doing wrong, but I use an AT&T-branded Blackberry 8310 with my T-mobile account. T-mobile doesn't have a 8310, so I can assure you that T-mobile not only allows "unsigned clients" (whatever the fuck that means; unlocked? different vendor-id?), but their telephone support helped me do it.
Re:Buy a Pre (Score:2, Interesting)
WebKit based browser? Capacitive touchscreen? Slick media player? Centralized app distribution(Google doesn't fucking count)?
No? No sale.
Comment removed (Score:3, Interesting)