Could it be we won’t see iPhone tethering on AT&T’s network until 2010? 9to5mac recently posted a saying to expect tethering on the network before the end of the year. An AT&T spokesman responded with the following statement:

Just reading again – where did anyone promise tethering by EOY? Where did you see that? We promised MMS by end of summer and ended up being a few days late for that…

More bad news for all of us waiting patiently for the official service, but it’s hard to be optimistic after comments like that, isn’t it? Of course, international iPhone users such as Rene have had this feature for quite some time now making a lot of us AT&T users a bit jealous.

Feel free to vent your frustration in the comments below!

[Via 9to5mac]

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

Don’t Expect AT&T iPhone Tethering Until 2010

AT&T, following the the reversal of their no-VoIP-over-3G policy, still has nothing new to offer with regards to iPhone tethering. Quotes the Wall Street Journal:

An spokesman for the wireless carrier, however, said that tethering remains unavailable and stuck with the company’s prior statement: “Whenever we offer new features, we want to offer the best possible customer experience. For tethering, we need to do some additional fine tuning to our systems and networks so that we do deliver a great experience.”

While international iPhone users have been able to connect their computers to the internet using the iPhone’s 3G network, via Bluetooth or USB tethering since the launch of iPhone 3.0 in June, for US iPhone users, no news remains bad news.

Then again, if you’re already complaining about poor AT&T signal, probably the last thing you want is every iPhone user on your tower trying to suck down 5GB of torrents… right?

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

AT&T: Still No iPhone Tethering for You!

Following up on today’s announcement that AT&T would be making MMS available to US iPhone users on September 25, TiPb asked the logical followup — tethering?

We expect to offer tethering in the future. By its nature, this function could exponentially increase traffic on the network, and we need to ensure that some of our current upgrades are in place before we can deliver the expanded functionality with the excellent performance that customers expect.

They’re likely referring, at least in part, to their ongoing rollout of 850 MHz 3G — most recently in New York and New Jersey — which should put more width in their bandwidth.

So are we happy enough with MMS to cut AT&T some slack on tethering, or do we want it all and now?

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

AT&T Updates on Status of iPhone Tethering

Has AT&T been delaying the US launch of iPhone 3.0’s MMS and tethering services due to concerns about their network being able to handle it? Um, yeah, that would have been our guess… The New York Times, however, states it as fact:

[AT&T] has also delayed bandwidth-heavy features like multimedia messaging, or text messages containing pictures, audio or video. It is also postponing �tethering,� which allows the iPhone to share its Internet connection with a computer, a standard feature on many rival smartphones. AT&T says it has no intention of capping how much data iPhone owners use.

How big is the concern? AT&T claims they’ve diverted $18 billion to upgrade and expand their 3G network to handle the load, but that getting local approval to build towers takes time, as does upgrading existing infrastructure.

Analysts quoted seem to agree with TiPb readers that AT&T may just have been hit first and hardest by the iPhone, but other networks will face the same problem if/when they start to see iPhone class devices hitting their towers in the same numbers.

So, is AT&T doing the right thing delaying MMS and tethering until, you know, they’ll actually work, or do you just want your features and want them now? Or do you just not buy this whole “data usage conspiracy” at all?

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

AT&T iPhone MMS and Tethering Delayed Due to Bandwidth Concerns?

The minute our iPhone calendars turned from August 31 to September 1, TiPb’s email box started getting many colorful variations of “Summer is over, where’s our [redacted redacted redacted... redacted!] MMS and tethering!

While Apple showed off the front-end for MMS and tethering back in March, released it along with iPhone 3.0 in June, and most of the rest of the world has been enjoying it ever since, AT&T is a notable, and increasingly infuriating exception. Late summer (and when is that exactly?), and that it will be no extra charge, is all they’ve said. And whether you personally would use MMS or not, right now you don’t even have that choice.

We’ve heard all the excuses, from AT&T’s network can barely handle the iPhone as-is, and MMS and especially tethering would bring it, crashing and burning, to its knees, to a rumor that AT&T had to manually turn on MMS for every single iPhone account on their system. We’ve also heard it may be announced as part of Apple’s September 9th event. That would be very late summer indeed.

But that’s all we’ve heard. There’s been no status update from AT&T that we can find, no attempt to keep their users in the loop, no expression of sympathy for the frustration their users are voicing (or emailing us!). AT&T is being almost Apple-esque in their lack of communications and for a company that’s in the communications business — and is charging high monthly rates to its consumers — that’s just not good enough.

Is it?

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

Dear AT&T: Summer’s Over, Where’s our MMS and Tethering?

Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard does indeed have some “refinements and enhancements” for the iPhone, namely a brand spanking new iPhone logo in System Preferences > Network when you’re tethered via the iPhone.

Yeah, okay, we know — AT&T users need do nothing but raise their fists and yell out a “KAAAAAAHHHHHHNNNN!” like scream at the gaping lack of functionality they’re still enduring. But at least you can take the smallest, most infinitesimal comforts in knowing that — if you’re a Mac — you’ll get a spiffy new icon to go with your no doubt exorbitantly overcharged tethering option.

If it ever becomes available.

[Via jpcaine]

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

Snow Leopard Shows iPhone Love… For Tethering!

WhenWillApple has found another new goodie in the just released iPhone 3.1 Beta 3: Settings > General > Usage now shows Tethering Data alongside the previous Cellular Network Data counter.

Since countries outside the US, and carriers other than AT&T have offered tethering pretty much since the launch of iPhone 3.0, does this new addition, alongside the return of MMS settings in iPhone 3.1 Beta 1 released a month ago, hint that AT&T might finally be getting their iPhone offerings in order?

Insert your AT&T tethering rumor here!

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

iPhone 3.1 Beta 3: Data Tethering Counter [-- Add AT&T Rumor Here!]

Following up on last night‘ release of iPhone 3.1 Beta 2 firmware and SDK, developers are finding more changes and new features.

• TUAW reports that the AT&T IPCC hack, where the carrier file was modified to allow iPhone tethering sans official AT&T sanction no longer works. Bummer, given AT&T still hasn’t announced anything about legitimate tethering support or pricing.

• Engadget Mobile’s been informed that new APIs have been introduced allowing for the manipulation of live video to produce “augmented reality” apps (where information is layered on top of the video).

• Ars Technica reports iPhone 3.1 Beta 2 allows developers to connect to test devices via Wi-Fi, rather than having to tether via USB as in previous releases, and still access instruments and other features.

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

iPhone 3.1 Beta 2 Breaks AT&T Tethering Hack, Allows Wi-Fi Testing, Intros Augmented Reality APIs?

We’ll just pass then the mic and let you tell us what you think in the comments!

Regarding MMS:

We absolutely will offer MMS on iPhone 3G S in late summer once we complete some system upgrades that will ensure our customers have the best experience with MMS.  These upgrades are unrelated to our 3G network.  When MMS is ready, we will let customers know.

Regarding offering a tethering plan:

We plan to offer one but we don’t have an announcement to make at this time.

Joe Chandler
Executive Director
AT&T Corporate Communications

[Thanks to Phil for bringing this one home!]

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

AT&T Responds: iPhone 3.0 MMS and Tethering

Although humorous for the crowd attending the WWDC Keynote today, when Apple VP of iPhone Software, Scott Forestall, announced MMS and Tethering, AT&T being deferred until later this summer on the first count, and totally glossed over on the second count, likely won’t be as amusing for US iPhone 3G and iPhone 3G S owners who will miss out on fairly standard functionality other carriers and regions may get on 3.0 launch come June 17.

To learn more about iPhone tethering, visit Apple’s iPhone feature page. To learn more about AT&T’s support for these features–

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

AT&T — MMS Later. Tethering… Um… Er… Bai!