Apple’s iPhone Transforms into a Modem

[sandbox]

http://blogs.wsj.com/biztech/2008/11/06/ap...s-into-a-modem/

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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[krissel]

Didn't Apple get rid of an application from its store that did just that?  Guess ATT wasn't ready.  


Yep, here ya go.

http://www.dbtechno.com/phones/2008/08/04/...from-app-store/

[Gregg]

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...

[tacit]

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...

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.

[Mayo]

So will there be an additional $30 charge along with the current $30/month data fee?

[Gregg]

Thanks for the explanation, Tacit.
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.