Hasta La Gadget!

Let’s say you received an iPhone 5 this holiday season and have eventually realized tethering your phone to your other devices to use your cellphone’s data plan isn’t exactly what you thought it would be. Each carrier the iPhone 5 is available on offer its customers the ability to tether, but for a “low” monthly fee, of course. But a new app has been made available onto the App Store that can get you tethering in no time, as long as you know how to activate it.

The application is called FlashArmyKnife and, on its surface, is supposed to offer a number of features that any user would want in an application like a flashlight, calculator and a currency converter to name a few. But there’s one feature the developer hid from Apple that will certainly be well worth the $2 price for the application.

The process to unlock the tethering mode in FlashArmyKnife is highlighted in the video above. If you’re looking for a way to tether your iPhone 5 without jailbreaking it, this might be the way to go, that is, until Apple finds out about it and pulls FlashArmyKnife from the App Store.

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: iPhone 5S Concept Incorporates Four Pico Projectors, Taiwan’s Unimicron could produce future Apple chipsets [Rumor],

If you want an iPhone tethering app, go download DiscoRecorder, a $2 ‘voice recorder’ app that 9to5Mac says comes with a hidden tethering feature. Yep, that means you can get your computer onto the Internet with your iPhone’s data connection. Sweet. More »

This week Verizon has found itself under the legal gun for blocking tethering apps on Android and iOS devices, with the FCC fining them on top of it all for $1.25 million USD. This case appears to be forcing Verizon to adhere to Net Neutrality rules on its 700 MHz spectrum, thusly resulting in the company having to rescind its standing policy of blocking wireless tethering without an additional fee to its smart devices. The spectrum under investigation in this case is used to operate Verizon’s 4G LTE network.

This investigation states that it was unlawful for Verizon to request Google to remove applications in the Google Play store (up until recently the Android Market) that would otherwise allow users to access free tethering. Verizon has a $20 “tethering fee” per month for otherwise free internet access (with normal data fees applying) for non-Verizon devices. This means that you’d still be paying for the data you’re using, but Verizon wouldn’t get its extra $20 USD a month for your right to do so.

The FCC spoke on how rules for this spectrum, C Block of 700 MHz spectrum, say that offering service includes that Verizon “shall note deny, limit, or restrict the ability of their customers to use devices and applications of their choice on the licensee’s C Block network.” The first questioning Verizon had on this situation took place back when Verizon still offered unlimited data plans.

While the settlement Verizon faces today does not rule on 3G data, 4G LTE users will be able to use tethering apps without question forevermore. Unlimited data plan customers have not been included in the ruling at the moment it seems. The ruling does, however, say that Verizon must make a $1.25 million dollar payment to the Treasury and that they must notify (and they already have, apparently) Google that they no longer object to the tethering apps offered throughout the Google Play app store.

[via FCC]

Verizon no longer allowed to block tethering apps is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

In May of last year, our free ride came to an end. US carriers started blocking third party tethering apps in the Android Market. Not long after, the built in feature was turned off on most phones. Our fortune may be reversing, however. The FCC has ruled that Verizon violated the rules governing the C Block of LTE spectrum by preventing consumers from using any application of their choice. The end result: Big Red will have to open up its airwaves and allow customers to circumvent its $20 a month tethering plan using apps from the Play store — so long as you’re on a “usage-based pricing plan.” Though it’s not explicitly stated, we assume that means those of you lucky enough to be grandfathered in to the unlimited data plans are left out. In addition to unblocking apps such as PdaNet and Barnacle, Verizon must pay a $1.25 million settlement to put an end to the investigation. For a few more details of the plan put in place to ensure compliance with the ruling, check out the PR after the break.

Continue reading Verizon to stop blocking tethering apps, settles with FCC for $1.25 million

Filed under: Wireless, Software

Verizon to stop blocking tethering apps, settles with FCC for $1.25 million originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 31 Jul 2012 15:28:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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