Post by: sandbox on November 09, 2008, 10:24:27 PM
The iPhone is about to get even more useful.
The iPhone: Like Optimus Prime for your computer
AT&T’s head of the wireless and consumer markets division Ralph de la Vega said Thursday that the company was working on a new service that would let Apple iPhone owners use their devices as a modem for their laptop computers. He was responding to a question from the press at the Web 2.0 Summit in San Francisco.
A spokesman for AT&T declined to provide more details, but confirmed that “we’re working on that application with Apple and hope to make it available soon.”
AT&T currently offers a similar feature for users of Research in Motion’s Blackberry device for an extra $30 a month.
Though the two companies have been rumored to be working on this feature, de la Vega’s statement is the first official confirmation that it’s doing so. A spokesman for Apple didn’t immediately return a call for comment.
-Yukari Iwatani Kane
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Post by: krissel on November 10, 2008, 04:14:10 AM
Yep, here ya go.
http://www.dbtechno.com/phones/2008/08/04/...from-app-store/
Post by: Gregg on November 10, 2008, 06:40:04 AM
If the modem component is small enough to fit in an iPhone, why not put it back in the laptop as in the old days? Then wouldn't you just need a cord to connect it to a cell phone or land line? Or could it be wireless?
Maybe that spoils the elegant downsizing of the laptop or something?
I lied. There's more than one question...
Post by: tacit on November 10, 2008, 09:15:25 AM
QUOTE(Gregg @ Nov 10 2008, 12:40 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
Ok, here's a naive techie question:
If the modem component is small enough to fit in an iPhone, why not put it back in the laptop as in the old days? Then wouldn't you just need a cord to connect it to a cell phone or land line? Or could it be wireless?
Maybe that spoils the elegant downsizing of the laptop or something?
I lied. There's more than one question...
If the modem component is small enough to fit in an iPhone, why not put it back in the laptop as in the old days? Then wouldn't you just need a cord to connect it to a cell phone or land line? Or could it be wireless?
Maybe that spoils the elegant downsizing of the laptop or something?
I lied. There's more than one question...
This is not a "modem" in the sense of a thing you connect to a telephone cord; it's basically a wireless cell phone. Adding it to the computer would basically be the same thing as putting a cell phone inside the computer. It would be expensive, and it would not do anything unless you bought a cell phone plan for your computer.
Post by: Mayo on November 10, 2008, 10:25:42 AM
Post by: Gregg on November 10, 2008, 12:29:58 PM
I figured I was off base there somehow.
QUOTE(Mayo @ Nov 10 2008, 10:25 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
So will there be an additional $30 charge along with the current $30/month data fee?
That's sure how it read to me. I wouldn't pay for it. Then again, I pay only $10 a month more for a third cell phone on a Family Plan. The other two are our sons' sole telephones.