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iMobiMac tethering for Blackberry hits private beta
Lo, and the cries of the Mac Blackberry faithful went up, and indeed they were a fractious multitude: "Where is our dial-up networking?" they wailed. "We are paying for data service on these things, and it's EVDO, and everyone else is doing it!" And they saw that those with Intel Macs could tether their Blackberries within Parallels or VMware, and did get online after a fashion, but they said "This is a silly hack, not good." And they saw that Pulse would give them a proxy server and Bluetooth, but they cried "This is slow, and we crave USB!"And the developers of iMobimac did hear this loud kvetching, and did indeed release upon the multitudes a private beta of a new, USB-based DUN tool. No way to gauge final performance yet, and the beta release notes warn that Safari may not detect the proxy server running on your machine, but it's a start. You may sign up for the beta at the iMobimac site, and may the broadband be with you.
iPhone hacked for untethered EDGE data on laptop
While this would be all the more sweet on a 3G iPhone, a new series of hacks will now give you untethered EDGE networking from your laptop. Starting with jailbreak as any proper iPhone hack must, the latest hack installs a new SOCKS server on your iPhone. Join your iPhone and laptop to the same ad-hoc WiFi network and you're pretty much good to go. The procedure is a bit cumbersome if this is your first hack attempt so be sure to check the YouTube video-how-to before you get going. Check it after the break. [Via MacRumors]
Microsoft explains removal of Bluetooth DUN
Something that has probably caused quite a few Windows Mobile 5 customers to vent some rage lately was the removal of Bluetooth dial-up networking from AKU3. Why did Microsoft do it? According to a blog entry over at Microsoft's Developer Network, the dirty deed centered around Internet Connection Sharing, or ICS (think "wireless router" capability for your WM5 handset) which is technically superior for a handful of reasons. Translaton: Ole' Softie doesn't want all those spiffy WM handsets from becoming Bluetooth-centric access points to newer 2.5G and 3G wireless data networks. Fair enough; Bluetooth's peak data rates don't stand a chance against the best that HSDPA can throw at it, but still, old-fashioned dialup has its place. The good news here? Microsoft has heard the pleas of DUN-less users everywhere and plans to bring back the profile in a future Windows Mobile 6 AKU. Little consolation for the moment, but thanks to the vibrant hack community, we imagine most of us will have no trouble getting in on said AKU when the time comes.
TUAW Guide: Wireless Broadband on your Mac
Ah, the open road. What's more American than being mobile, drifting along the highways and byways, traveling hither and yon, free as a debt-laden bird? While I try to rein in that derailed train of road metaphor, let's consider the options for Mac users and wireless data. Many of you would love to take your Internet access with you as you travel on family vacation or spring break; for others, terrestrial broadband (cable modem or DSL) is unavailable or prohibitively expensive at your fixed location. Good news for all: the choices on the wireless access front are better than ever before. We'll cover the US domestic options today, and hopefully get to Europe/UK and other international options sometime soon. More on Mac wireless broadband after the break.
Palm's Treo 700wx heads over to Alltel
Okay, we'll spare you the pictures, videos, launch materials, and Sprint's bragging rights -- the Palm Treo 700wx is coming to Alltel. Aside from knocking the Sprint logo off the top right corner, and upping the Windows Mobile version from 5.0 to 5.2, everything else remains the same on this sucka. Per usual, this one plays nice with CDMA, touts 1xRTT / EV-DO connectivity, and rocks a 1.3-megapixel camera, Bluetooth 1.2, QWERTY keyboard, MMC / SD / SDIO expansion slot, 128MB of built-in memory, speakerphone, IR, and support for DUN. Alltel also throws in ActiveSync 4.2, Microsoft's Office suite, and Picsel's PDF viewer as well. Interestingly, Alltel's saving new customers an extra $150 right off the bat, as it only charges $349.99 (compared to Sprint's $499.99) with a two-year agreement, but those looking to pick this up at retail will be forced to throw down $669.99.[Thanks, Steve]
Pulse for BlackBerry cuts the tethering cable
Sure, tethering 8700s to Macs is a neat trick -- but how about cutting the cable entirely? "Pulse" by Brain Murmurs aims to do exactly that, trading that pesky USB cable for the more convenient Bluetooth connection (and yeah, it's Mac compatible, to boot). Pearl users might have no concept of what we're talking about (on account of RIM's latest goodness coming with DUN in the box) but Pulse should be big news for 7130, 7290, and 8700 owners looking for a moderately less conspicuous way to pipe hot data from their phones into their PCs. Be sure to give us the down-low in comments if you get the chance to give this a whirl, eh?
Switched On: For Bluetooth, icon or "I can't"
Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about technology, multimedia, and digital entertainment: In July, I discussed the confusion that results when carriers disable Bluetooth capabilities, specifically OBEX and DUN, which were not the names of two New York City detectives on the '70s comedy Barney Miller. The column proposed that the Bluetooth Special Internet Group (SIG) step up efforts to ensure that a Bluetooth device is capable of what a consumer would expect it to do, and thus apply marketing pressure to the carriers. That column led to a discussion with Mike Foley, executive director of the Bluetooth SIG, who noted the range of capabilities that Bluetooth has acquired. For example, relatively few consumers are aware that their Bluetooth devices can print using the wireless technology or can stream stereo music using the A2DP profile. As a result, in June the SIG developed a set of five "experience icons" that cover five Bluetooth-enabled tasks -- printing, input, headset, transfer and music. Among the most useful in terms of carrier tampering will be file transfer, which has been blocked in the past. There's no icon for dial-up networking yet, though. According to Foley, there is still more work to do on simplifying the use of a cell phone as an untethered modem.
Rejoice, for Motorola Q's AKU2 update is at hand
After a bit of a false-start with AKU2 a couple weeks ago, Motorola is busting it out for reals this time, and we're thinking most Q owners should be plenty pleased. Naturally, MSFP, with its Exchange-based push email, global address book lookup and added security features should be a big hit with the suits, but we've got our eyes set on the new Dial-Up Networking (DUN) capabilities that'll allow us to get our tether on via USB or Bluetooth. There are other little enhancements, but we're sure you'd rather find 'em out for yourself by peeping the read link and downloading the update. [Via Mobility Site]
Switched On: Biting back for Bluetooth
Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about the future of technology, multimedia, and digital entertainment:During the spring CTIA conference of 2005, a Switched On column expressed hope for Bluetooth. Bluetooth phones were becoming more broadly available in the US and headsets were becoming more affordable, trends that have continued. However, the potential of Bluetooth has been cut short by carriers that have disabled or "crippled" parts of it functionality. The two most common profiles that carriers have disabled are DUN (dial-up networking) which lets you use your Bluetooth handset as a wireless modem, and OBEX (object exchange), which lets you wirelessly trade files between your handset and PC.DUN is generally disabled to prevent users from taking advantage of data plans intended for the kind of relatively light data usage patterns of a smartphone, whereas some carriers, like Verizon, for instance, disable OBEX to prevent circumventing cellular-based transfer services. While carriers have eased up on some of the profile disabling, the Sidekick 3, for example, supports only headset and file sharing functions.Communicating Bluetooth compatibility has always offered a dilemma because the wireless technology encompasses several different benefits. Should the Bluetooth Special Interest Group go the route of the WiFi Alliance and offer one logo that might leave out details such as operating frequency, and speed or the PlaysForSure route and offer a confusing composite badge that details all the capabilities?
