Nullriver giveth tethering; Apple taketh away [UPDATED]
Last night for all of about 18 minutes, iPhone users were able to buy Nullriver’s NetShare, a $9.99 app that allowed users to share their iPhone’s internet connection with their computer. Apple removed the download link from the Apple store by the time most of us (myself included) heard about it last night, although they left NetShare’s description page up as if to taunt us.
Ooohhh that would have been sweet.
AT&T, the US iPhone carrier, currently does not allow for tethering of the iPhone on its unlimited data plan, but many other smart phones CAN use tethering, usually for an additional fee. While 3G (and certainly EDGE) speeds are not nearly as fast as Wi-Fi speeds, in a pinch on the road or on vacation, tethering allows you to grab an internet connection anywhere you have cell phone reception. NetShare promised to bring free tethering to the iPhone (well, free – $10) and that apparently didn’t sit well with the powers that be. Some lucky few who were able to download the app before it was removed left comments warning that AT&T could very well subject you to additional data fees if they were somehow able to identify that you were using the iPhone as a make-shift modem.
NetShare’s removal from the iTunes store brings up a slew of questions…. Who pulled NetShare? Did AT&T contact Apple? How did it make through the rather lengthy application approval process in the first place, when just the type of application it was should have sent up red flags? And most importantly, how do I get a copy?!!?
🙂
[UPDATE] It appears NullRiver as as baffled as the rest of the world as to why NetShare was yanked from the App store. Their official release reads:
NETSHARE, WHERE DID IT GO?
We’re not quite sure why Apple took down the NetShare application yet, we’ve received no communication from Apple thus far. NetShare did not violate any of the Developer or AppStore agreements. We’re hoping we’ll get some feedback from Apple today. Sorry to all the folks that couldn’t get it in time. We’ll do our best to try to get the application back onto the AppStore if at all possible. At the very least, we hope Apple will allow it to be used in countries where the provider does permit tethering.
Tethering is another feature missing from the iPhone that is important to a lot of people. I would consider upgrading from my original iPhone to the 3G if I could do tethering when I need to (i.e., traveling and there is no WiFi and I have to use my laptop). It probably wouldn’t be very often at all, but having it when I need it is worth something to me. Is AT&T afraid that iPhone users will drop their DSL and cable modem plans and use their iPhone as their primary modem? That’s not going to happen.
Is this really an at&t issue? I have quite a lot of users with at&t (cingular, whatever) blackberries and they all tether, that’s the point.
just bought it from the store trying to install now.
You pay for it as a data service with the blackberry phones in addition to the standard blackberry data package.