And yet another game of cat and mouse begins.
Over the past 24 hours, Apple has released updates for both iTunes and the iPhone beta SDK. While both are seemingly minor on the feature front, each packs a bit of disappointment for those who had been using loopholes to their advantage.
First off the bat was a new beta release of the iPhone 3.1 SDK. Within minutes of the news breaking, developers were tearing it apart in search of new gems. Tucked inside was the ability to debug over WiFi and a new API for modifying video as it comes out of the camera. What’s more important than what’s new, however, is what is gone: Tethering. Up until now, AT&T customers have been able to use a carrier file hack to enable tethering on their handsets. With this latest build of 3.1, this hack has been disabled. If you’re relying on iPhone tethering for connectivity, we wouldn’t recommend jumping on 3.1 until there’s a workaround or AT&T finally gets on the ball with this whole tethering ordeal.
Next up was the iTunes 8.2.1 update, which mentions “addresses an issue with verification of Apple devices” as one of the two listed bug fixes (the other item being just, well, “bug fixes”). In real people speak, this means “blocks the Palm Pre from syncing with iTunes”. The Palm Pre had been falsely identifying itself as an iPod in order to allow iTunes users to sync with it. Just as we had predicted a month ago, Apple has swung back at Palm for trying to sneak their way into their closed garden.
Both of these moves are understandable, though they seem quite mean-spirited. AT&T is still remaining mostly mum on when they’ll have an iPhone tethering option available, only speaking up to debunk rumors of pricing or availability. With the Palm Pre, Apple really only needed to do what they already had: say they don’t support it. They could have just moved on from there, making no effort to ensure that the iTunes was Pre-friendly in the future. Everyone would be happy (except for the customer service reps who had to spout the occasional “Sorry, we don’t support that phone” shutdown), and iTunes would have more users as a result.
Well, I saw this coming, but it will only give people even more of an incentive to jailbreak their devices. The iPhone hacking community is always up for a good game of cat & mouse. Especially when it involves the atrocious excuse for a mobile service provider that is AT&T. Let the games begin!!
Haha…you’re saying this as if Apple is even participating in a game of cat & mouse…I love how “hackers” and internet Robin Hood wannabees think that they’re in some kind of noble war against the evil companies. =D =D =D
Who do you think released the updates? AT&T? I don’t think that “robin-hood” was suggesting to steal anything. Rather, suggesting that if you want to have features that we are suppose to be taking for granted, cracking the phone is an option (look up the definition of hacking vs. cracking).
You are just repeating what the cool kids told you. I bet you couldn’t begin to explain why you think AT&T is a poor carrier. Learn to think for yourself.
Matt,
You were looking for original thought in a forum like this? Hmm. You pose an interesting challenge though. Other than personal experiences with AT&T, would an individual’s research only be regurgitations of other people’s input on the subject? Thus, eliminating the option to “think for one’s self”? Should they have simply inserted reference to limitations built into the service contract as matters of fact? I like how you open with a flippant slam, add the gross judgmental assumption, and close with an impossible demand for Brian to grow as a human being.
Go trolling somewhere else.
Tethering broke?! Really? DO NOT WANT
I’m confused with, “Up until now, AT&T customers have been able to use a carrier file hack to enable tethering on their handsets. With this latest build of 3.1, this hack has been disabled.”
3.1 refers to the iPhone SDK, which is for developers — not regular AT&T customers. How does the release of a new SDK affect a regular person (who doesn’t know an SDK from a hole in the ground) from tethering their iPhone using the hack?
3.1 is the revision number for the iPhone software. Apple releases system updates to developers before the public at large. The SDK probably includes access to 3.1-enabled APIs.
The public will be getting v3.1 of the iPhone system software soon.
Ah – gotcha.
So the instant I upgrade my iPhone to 3.1 (when it becomes available), I will allegedly lose tethering (unless I jailbreak and use PdaNET from the Cydia store)
Well that sucks. :(
Not really. AT&T is supposed to enable tethering with the AT&T Carrier profile 5.0 on the iPhone in the next couple months. By the time 3.1 comes out, AT&T may have already enabled it.
The only people impacted by this are running beta software. It’s not a concern for “normal” users.
To clarify, will this non-jailbreak tethering hack stop working? (to enable tethering, you must visit this link from your iphone, not from a regular browser)
http://help.benm.at/help.php
Yes, if you upgrade to 3.1 the hack above will no longer work.
What they are saying is that the latest beta build of iPhone firmware 3.1 removes the ability to update your carrier settings and enable tethering by simply using an .ipcc file. Tethering is now done on a software level within the iPhone OS instead of by a 3rd party settings file. So, it does effect everyone who will be updating to 3.1 since these changes are now included in the OS. However, it’s always possible that the tethering option can be enabled via a jailbroken device.
Not surprising really.
Things I will not be doing soon:
– Shooting myself in the face
– Updating to iPhone r3.1
Things I will be doing soon:
– Deciding whether to jailbreak/unlock my iPhone, or to tolerate my Android-powered Ion while I’m in Europe
You have to think about AT&T’s relationship with Blackberry on the tethering issue. People pay good money to tether their Blackberry with their computer. AT&T has to be getting pressure from Blackberry about undercutting their prices for Blackberry tethering by giving it to all iPhone customers at no extra cost. That is the idea here, right?
What? There’s no room for analysis of reasonable business practices on Techcrunch!
Away with thee, filthy capitalist!
Well, since AT&T allows its blackberry users to stream video over their 3G network whereas this is prohibited on the iPhone, let’s just call it even…
Ahhh, touche!
So, should people that jailbroke their iPhones with redsn0w should NOT update? Or what?
AT&T doesn’t allow iPhone users to tether at all, so why would Blackberry care? AT&T keeps denying its availability (until they can properly bill customers for it).
Well, tethering IS coming to AT&T customers, which is why Blackberry would care. I found more info on this here – http://www.mobilecrunch.com/2009/07/10/rumor-iphone-tether-plan-to-be-55-per-month-coming-in-september/
Looks like it will cost about the same on the iPhone as it does for Blackberry devices.
That story should say 3.1+ costs $55 per month. For $1,320 over 2 years I am happy to stay with version 3.0
This behavior will surely continue as long as tech blogs and reviewers ignore openness with any new product they cover
… mms, shrug in AT&T’s direction
Unrelated I know, but I’m sick of e-mail pictures to people’s phones… the free phones too, on AT&T
Is anyone really shocked about this?
Tethering via the hacked .IPCC is so much more efficient than doing it via a third party app like PDANet.
While tethering via PDANet, my MacBook Pro couldn’t charge my iPhone fast enough to keep up with the drain from tethering. – With integrated tethering, the iPhone actually charges while you’re tethered (If you’re tethering via USB).
Plus, you can actually make calls when tethering via 3G. Doesn’t work on a third party app very well…
So true. I spent about 15 hours tethering this week because I was w/o internet. i couldn’t believe how seamless it was with the integrated tethering in OS 3.0. Also, my battery was left fully charged after hours of surfing. (USB tether)
When using the NetShare app i find that it drains my battery like crazy and it takes me awhile to get it setup and working right. Plus, it completely takes over the phone (no calls, sms, etc while tethering).
Integrated tethering is nothing short of awesome.
Can integrated tethering be used on a jailbroken phone that has not been updated to 3.0 or later? I’ve avoided it and have been using PDAnet, but it sounds like the method above is better . . .
When will the smug, plush-bottomed Apple fans realize that spoon-feeding has a cost?
We’re waiting for everyone else to realize that this is the Epitome of ‘integration’ and what modern computers and electronics are supposed to be about.
Do you remember the venerable 1984-ish Super Bowl ad, favoring Apple and targeting Microsoft/IBM? There was an overlord on the screen dictating a mind-numbing mantra to the masses. 2009-reconsidered, you can now eke-out the likeness of Steve Jobs!
@Apple users: You’ve met the enemy, and it’s …!
“We’re waiting for everyone else to realize that this is the Epitome of ‘integration’ and what modern computers and electronics are supposed to be about.”
And we CONTINUE to wait for the Apple fanboys to “get it” and realize that Apple are eleven times as evil and monopolistic as Microsoft could ever hope to be.
Computers are supposed to be about massively overpriced low-option features as long as they look flashy?
Anyone heard about MMS? I’d like to be able to send pics to my kids on the phone rather than email
This is what I found when reading up on MMS.
http://www.krillr.com/blog/QLB36JMS/alright-folks-new-mms-hack
It’s a bit of a ’sketchy’ endeavor for me – just to enable MMS. Especially because I don’t think any of the friends that I would be MMSing would go all the way through it for their iPhones.
That’s totally wrong. Apple is screwing with the wrong crowd. Developers are what made iPhone’s App store so popular. And now they’re taking away one of the most important capability of a smartphone – tethering!
Meanwhile, Palm Pre is moving in the other extreme direction. Developers and users are now able to allow their Palm Pre’s to work as a DHCP WiFi router. You can permit multiple Wifi devices to share one single internet resource using the Palm Pre.
Bad move Apple.
Ok, but is that Palm Pre wifi router a hack? So who’s to say Palm won’t react the same way and kill it? In fact, that’s the most likely reaction they’ll have since they have already stated they have no current plans to support tethering PERIOD.
Oh and the Pre also forcibly updates your OS over-the-air, so you can’t even choose not to update.
Seems like they’re moving in the exact same direction to me!
You change your system software.
You install a new system.
Do you expect those changes to stay in place?
DUH.
Uh oh… I’m not upgrading to 3.1!
I certainly rely on tethering—using it right now!!!
Tethering blocked? Frack that, Rage Against the Machines! Say no to 3.1 butt hurt! LOL!
The Palm Pre block is (sort of) understandable, even if it is just pure greed when you get right down to it.
Like Google using a so called free OS in an anti-competitive move to generate ad revenue for it’s unrelated search business, Apple uses iTunes to dominate the phone and mp3 markets. Can you imagine the uproar if Microsoft did this?
Apple monopolizes markets and uses illegal, anti-competitive tactics to maintain dominance. FTC – are you listening? Unless you have an iPod or an iPhone, guess not. Since I don’t want Apple suing me too…
iPod is a registered trademark of Apple, Inc
iPhone is a registered trademark of Apple Inc.
Pretty much.
Microsoft includes a browser with their operating system, and are sued for being anti-competitive for merely bundling their own software with “gasp” their own software. Its no the user’s fault that they don’t want to use a different browser. Do they seriously expect an OS in this day and age with no web browser and for the average joe to know how to download one through command line?
Apple includes one and nobody bats an eye.
Windows Mobile comes with pocket IE but has dozens of 3rd party browsers you can install.
iPhone makes it AGAINST THE TOS to program or install another browser and the sheeple actually SUPPORT Apple on this.
Apple blocks out other programs from assing new iPods, everybody cheers.
If MS dared to block anybody from accessing their Zune, people would be appealed.
Apple’s fanboys have basically given them a get out of jail free card for everything as long as their products look flashy despite being more closed and having less feature than their competition, yet their competition are called the monopolists…
How many times does it need to be pointed out that Apple doesn’t even come close to “dominating” the mobile phone market? They have 8% of the market! They still aren’t even outselling Windows Mobile, much less BlackBerry or Nokia. They are tied with generic Linux phones right now in world mobile phone market “dominance.”
This game of taking sales figures from the one week a year where Apple releases a new phone, then extrapolating those for the rest of the year as though they are selling a million phones every two days, is just ridiculous.
iTunes is the worst piece of software Apple has invented in over a decade. This just reinforces that.
I have an idea how about if AT&T quick worrying about the stuff that only a few people are using and fix the other stuff that 99.9% of all other phones in the US and worldwide have like picture messaging.
AT&T sucks! Give us tethering and MMS you losers. Then people wouldn’t doing this s**t
Why is it AT&T this… AT&T that.
Seriously the rest of the world is here too…
It’s not just AT&T, its almost all the carriers who support iPhone. Either they charge for tethering, or don’t offer it at all. Both of these valid reasons for us using the loopholes.
It’s not that anybody objects to the charges (as long as they are reasonable) its that it is not available at ANY price when it manifestly actually already works.
It is a capability many people need who are now having to find a WiFi hotspot in places where it’s not really safe to be hanging around in a WiFi hotspot…
I taught there was only one mean Microsoft. Now we have an Apple and an AT&T. The more money they make the meaner they turn
another AT&T comment *sigh*
like narla say there is rest of the world you know