Cell Adictus

Shh-Don’t Tell AT&T

Although AT&T does not officially support tethering your iPhone (running OS 3.0) to you computer does not mean you can’t, MacMegaSite has found around the carrier restriction.  This workaround is only compatible with a Mac, sorry PC users.

1. Download the carrier update file. Then extract it. (file hosted at Wired.com)

2. Launch the Terminal app and type the following command:

defaults write com.apple.iTunes carrier-testing -bool TRUE

3. Now launch iTunes. In the iPhone window,  hold the Option key while clicking Restore. Then select the ipcc file in the disk image you downloaded and click OK.

4. iTunes will update the carrier settings. Now under General settings, tap the Network tab and an internet tethering option should appear. From there on, you should be able to easily tether the iPhone via Bluetooth or USB.

live_strong

Virgin Mobile Brings Pre-pay to Air Cards

Virgin Mobile USA (NYSE: VM) today announced the launch of Broadband2Go, a 3G nationwide wireless Internet service without an annual contract, monthly subscription or activation fee.

Operating on the Sprint Nationwide Network and developed in conjunction with Novatel Wireless (NASDAQ: NVTL), the MC760 Broadband2Go device carries the distinction of being the world’s smallest EV-DO Rev. A modem.

“Forget the long-term contracts, monthly bills or desperately seeking a local coffee shop for Wi-Fi. Prepaid mobile broadband is ideal for students, families on the go, freelancers, anyone who needs wireless Internet access…and wants to pay only when they use it,” said Bob Stohrer, CMO, Virgin Mobile USA. “We’ve already demonstrated the benefit of no annual contracts and the ability to tailor spending to individual needs. Broadband2Go is another way to give consumers value, flexibility and convenience.”

Like Virgin Mobile USA’s mobile phone service, activation is simple and megabytes can be added as often as needed with credit/debit cards or Virgin Mobile Top-Up cards. Top-Up cards can be used to purchase data usage from 100MB to 1 gigabyte on the pay-as-you-go model. A new Broadband2Go-branded Top-Up card for $20, which customers may use to purchase 250MB good for 30 days, translating roughly into 12 hours of web browsing. Other data plans are available at $10, $40 and $60, and any VMU Top-Up card can be used.

Virgin Mobile USA’s Broadband2Go requires no activation fee and there are no roaming charges. Customers have a real-time usage meter to monitor and check “Remaining Megabytes of Use” at any time. From the Broadband2Go My Account page, customers are provided with approximate estimates for how many hours of web-browsing, video-viewing and number of emails each plan will generally handle.

The package will be available exclusively at Best Buy Mobile starting in late June for $149.99, and is the first prepaid broadband product Best Buy Mobile is offering.

AT&T Leads in Smartphone Users

Citing independent market research, AT&T announced its customer base now boasts twice as many smartphone users as any other U.S. mobile operator, reporting that close to 32% of its postpaid subscribers now use an integrated device. According to AT&T, more new and existing customers activated integrated devices in Q1 than the carrier added in new postpaid subscribers. AT&T credits the smartphone user growth to its 3G network and nearly 20,000 U.S. WiFi hotspots.

“AT&T made a big push to be the mobile broadband and smartphone leader many years ago and it’s clearly paying off in a big way for us and our customers,” said David Christopher, chief marketing officer, AT&T Mobility and Consumer Markets. “We’ve taken integrated devices mainstream and nearly a third of our postpaid customers use one. Our industry-leading 3G and Wi-Fi networks make mobile data accessible to everyone—from road warriors with advanced smartphones to texting teens with quick messaging phones. We offer something for everyone.”

This is an impressive statistic as smartphone users outspend non-smartphone users considerably and are generally more profitable as well.

Amazon Buys iPhone E-Book Reader Stanza

Amazon liked the iPhone E-Book Reader Stanza so much, they didn’t just buy the app, they bought the whole company! That’s what the New York Times makes it sound like, quoting Amazon spokesperson, Cinthia Portugal:

“It’s very early days for e-books, and we believe there is a lot of innovation ahead of us. [...] Lexcycle is a smart, innovative company. and we look forward to working with them to innovate on behalf of readers.”

Translation: Amazon, not content with Kindle, wants to own the E-Book space. All books space, actually. All space in general, pretty much.

Lexcycle, for their part, claim not to be making any changes to the Stanza iPhone users all know and love.

But how do we feel about putting all our E-Books in one megacorp’s basket?

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

Amazon Buys iPhone E-Book Reader Stanza

Turn-About is Fair Pay: Forrester Gives 4 Reasons Enterprise IT Should Support iPhone

Fortune has covered Forrester Research’s latest report “Making iPhone Work In The Enterprise: Early Lessons Learned”. Whiplash-much? After all, it does come on the heels of previous reports including “The iPhone Is Not Meant For Enterprises”, “The Top 10 Reasons Why We Recommend That IT Not Support It”, and “Harold and Kumar Don’t Want an iPhone at White Castle”. Okay, we made that last one up. Barely.

This time the people who were crafting link-bait before there were any links to bait have seemingly decided the best bang for their buck is to pull a 180 and, instead of trouncing the iPhone in enterprise, actually support it. Sure, Apple’s increasing development of the OS, including iPhone 2.x and the upcoming iPhone 3.0 could have something to do with it, but even in IT it’s generally more about the artist than the tools. So to speak.

What does Forrester claim makes the iPhone so suddenly worthy?

• Employees like them. “In this era of Technology Populism, where consumer IT is often better than enterprise IT, it sometimes just makes sense to give employees the freedom to choose the tools they want.”
• They make mobile collaboration easier. “As anybody with experience on both iPhones and BlackBerry will tell you, the Internet feels natural on an iPhone and a like a chore on a BlackBerry.”
• iPhone users need less hand-holding. “All three firms have set up wikis so that employees can support each other. ‘Our early adopters sometimes teach things we’d rather our iPhone users not know, but overall they provide better support than we can,’ said one person we interviewed.”
• They can be cheaper in the long run. “In at least one case, an iPhone adopter found that the data plans for previous mobile devices were more expensive than the consumer plans AT&T is offering for iPhones. This company was able to reset its baseline plan pricing 30% lower for all phones because it supported iPhone.”

For an actual iPhone endorsement, some remaining corporate gotchas, and 3.0 redemptioms, check out Fortune’s coverage or throw $749 at Forrester (if you didn’t just blow that cash on an unlocked iPhone…)

[Thanks to The Reptile for the tip!]

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

Turn-About is Fair Pay: Forrester Gives 4 Reasons Enterprise IT Should Support iPhone

Handset Sales Slowing

Global handset sales fell by 18%, or 50 million phones, in the first quarter of 2009, according to a Reuters poll. The economic recession that has impacted demand worldwide is expected to take a toll on handset vendors, including Nokia (NYSE:NOK), who is expected to report its worst quarter in seven years.

Handset vendors are expected to have a rough year in general, selling 11.4% fewer phones than they did in 2008.

Smartphones remain a bright spot in the market, as evidenced by Research In Motion’s (NASDAQ: RIMM) better-than-expected results last week, but overall, things look a little bleak.

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