iPhone tethering, Touch Bluetooth slip in Q&A
updated 04:30 pm EDT, Tue March 17, 2009
iPhone 3.0 Q&A session
In a question-and-answer session following the main iPhone 3.0 announcement, Apple has revealed several facts relating to the new firmware. It will for instance become available in the summer for both iPhones and iPod touches, though as in the past, Touch owners will have to pay $10 to upgrade. Apple has typically blamed accounting rules for the cost of significant Touch software changes.
The second-generation Touch may also gain Bluetooth compatibility, says Apple's Greg Joswiak. The player is believed to already have support for the wireless protocol, even though it is not enabled; Joswiak comments that Bluetooth functionality should be unlockable, though he has declined to go into specifics. It remains known however that neither the iPhone nor the Touch will be able to do peer-to-peer iPod library streaming, at least not without a third-party app.
Greatly important to some iPhone owners could be tethering support, allowing the use of an iPhone as a cellular modem. Apple has previously cracked down on tethering applications, generally at the behest of carriers like AT&T, which may be concerned about bandwidth. The technology is now integrated into iPhone 3.0, though Joswiak comments that Apple is negotiating with carriers individually to determine availability.
Junior Member
Joined: Jan 2007
iPod touch fee...
Not much for all the new features, although iPhone owners benefit more from the new features than Touch owners. Seems unfair and Apple lies about accounting gobbledy- g*** and alienates more good customers. At least we non-iPhone users aren't being raped monthly by AT&T. I will never buy an iPhone until there is some competition between carriers, and lower prices. I've also left Verizon for a PAYGO phone. Shoulda done that years ago.