Update 1: Confirmation of iOS 4.3 build 85F148b has been confirmed via another screenshot sent to RedmondPie:
The latest Verizon iPhone 4 announcement shook all iPhone users with the sneak peak of the new Personal Hotspot feature, which will allow sharing of the iPhone’s data connection.
BGR has received confirmation from a source that iOS 4.3 will be coming in March. Carrier support will be required for this feature. Personal Hotspot will allow up to five devices to connect for data sharing. The extra information BGR’s source includes is that iOS 4.3 will be version 85F148b, and will include baseband 04.08.00, and technical assistance planned for March. Other sites such as iPhoneClub and iPhoneHellas received info that iOS 4.3 will bring Personal Hotspot as well.
Apple’s iOS version history has never included a x.3. It looks like 4.3 will change this.
Here in Canada we are happy that Rogers, Telus and Bell currently support iPhone data tethering at no extra cost. Users in the US aren’t so lucky as AT&T charges an extra $20/month. Will the ‘Big 3’ support Personal Hotspot when it is released with iOS 4.3? I guess the bigger question is–how much will they try to charge us for it? 😉
[BGR]
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Dear Rogers, don’t charge us for a feature on our phone!
well, this just made the ipad an interesting product, the inability to tether was always a deal breaker… nice
Gotta have a 1GB data plan if you want the ability to tether at this point with Rogers. =|
considering they arent charging for it though i think this is a fair trade off
do you know how fast youll burn through a 500mb data plan with a tethered device…?
They don’t charge for it now, but you better believe they are about to start.
Once the “hotspot” feature becomes available with IOS 4.3 we may need to petition the Canadian carriers to make it available to iPhone users free of charge. If we pay for, say, 6 gigs of data per month, it should not matter to the carrier whether we use those gigs on one or more wireless devices. We paid for the service and should be permitted to use the service without additional charge. All we need is one carrier to cave-in and the others will follow. Canadian carriers have already set the precedent of allowing us to tethering our laptops, why not other wireless devices as well (e.g., the WiFi only iPad) once IOS 4.3 makes it feasible with little or no effort on their part? Sharpen your pencils and get the petitions ready. I expect iPhone in Canada to lead the way.
The only jailbreaking need I have is for hotspot functionality. This would eliminate that. Let’s hope Rogers isn’t seeing dollar signs here.
a personal hotspot will save a few seconds over tethering. my current bluetooth setup requires me to manually start the connection when i open my laptop, and if i close it and move to another location i have to connect again, etc. Having the wifi option will allow the laptop to auto connect to whatever wifi is available, much nicer of a solution.
We’re getting our walking shoes ready
Ah… now you see why I bought a WiFi only iPad.
For those interested MyWi already does this for jailbroken phones for a one time cost of $19.99 with a free trial so you can see how it works.
http://www.intelliborn.com/mywi.html
This is not charged for Android customers right? They better not charge it for iPhone customers!
And plus we can always connect it to our computers anyways…. Only exceptions are mobile devices (iPad, Touch, etc….)
I can see the same 1gb and over limitation for Rogers/Fido customers continue for this though.
We all know this would not happen this soon or if at all if not for RIM Playbook. I love competition.
I used MyWi, and it’s not always reliable, most of the time it is. At least during the trial. I would imagine Apple can come up with a better software product.
That depends entirely on what you are doing. I tether for about 60 hours a month at work and barely break 1GB of my 6GB plan by just browsing, msn and the occasional youtube video. I would assume most people don’t have much of a need to tether more than ~10 hours a month. I would be hesitant to tether with 500mb though. I hope they don’t charge for this, it’s always nice to have internet everywhere. When I’m on campus and the wifi is down I’m usually the only one online, if I could share that with my friends it’d be a nice plus.
cant argue with that
There’s no way to pay for the service twice. if you agree to pay for 1g data, there’s no difference how you would use.
I don’t give this “new” feature a damn since android has it right built in on 2.2. And there’s an app called MyWi.
Anyone with the beta confirm if the hotspot feature works right now? Or will it only work later if Rogers flips some bit. (Presumably the feature is in the beta so it can be tested).
Doesn’t appear to be working on 3GS.