Hasta La Gadget!

Motorola Droid users better not get too excited by Android 2.2, also known as “Froyo.” While Verizon Wireless is set to push out the latest version of the Android operating system to Droid users starting this week, two key features will be missing: tethering and Wi-Fi hot spot capability.

Verizon says the Droid won’t get these two features, which are built into the Android 2.2 OS, because the device’s hardware isn’t capable of supporting it.

“The Droid by Motorola doesn’t have [the] hardware to support a mobile hot spot,” a Verizon spokesperson told MobileCrunch. “With tethering there is no connection on the PC side that will allow you to tether the device, so the answer is: That option isn’t part of this update.”

But some Android developers are not convinced.

“It’s just a business decision,” says Steven Bird, who creates custom ROMs for the Droid. “People who have a Droid see this news. And Verizon can make them think that hot spot or wired tethering is a reason to now upgrade to a new phone.” When the companies finally do offer that upgrade, they are likely to charge for it, says Bird.

Bird isn’t a conspiracy theorist. Homebrew hot spot programs are available for Droids that have been rooted–the Android equivalent of jailbreaking the phone to get complete control. Custom flavors of the Android OS such as CyanogenMod also offer Wi-Fi and USB tethering, says a user.

If the hardware is capable of tethering and acting as a hot spot when running rooted firmware, why can’t it do that with the stock firmware?

A Motorola spokesperson says, “The original Droid by Motorola was not offered with a mobile hot spot feature and will not be upgradable for that feature in the future,” she says. “Our newer devices, such as the Droid X, are enabled for mobile hot spot.”

What also makes Verizon’s claims about the Droid’s hardware capability difficult to believe is that the carrier has a history of disabling features on a phone, only to turn around and charge for it later. For instance, in 2005, a class action lawsuit filed in California claimed Verizon removed some Bluetooth features in Motorola’s v710 phone so it could charge consumers for it separately. More recently, some users have complained about Verizon nickel-and-dimeing users by charging for the visual voicemail service ($3 a month on Verizon compared to AT&T, which offers it for free on the iPhone) and offering no rollover minutes.

If it is truly a hardware issue with the Droid, Verizon needs to step up and explain the details of what the device’s chipset is capable of what and what it can’t do. Consumers are intelligent and they deserve transparency.

Verizon’s moves with the Android also go against what makes the Google-designed operating system so attractive to consumers. By putting the kind of restrictions and controls it is on Android, Verizon is turning the OS into a pale shadow of its original self. If Android was created to help give consumers choice, more features and a better OS, it isn’t working now.

See Also:

• Motorola Droid Rules Android
• Motorola Droid Set for Android Upgrade
• Independent App Stores Take On Google’s Android Market
• Bloatware Creeps Into Android Phones

Photo: Motorola Droid (Jon Snyder/Wired.com)

The pool of choices for WiMAX hotspots continues to expand, and thanks to the FCC, we now know of another up-and-comer. The Rover Puck — trademarked by Clearwire and previously unheard of — joins the ranks Sprint’s Overdrive and its various rebrandings by providing pocketable 4G WiFi service. Unlike its predecessors, however, we finally have a new, more aerodynamic form factor. There isn’t much to the glean from the user manual at this point, and the oft-referenced Rover website still isn’t live — a WHOIS lookup reveals it was last updated via GoDaddy on July 2008 with no other details disclosed. So, until we get some word from the official news pipelines, a plethora of external / internal photos and user manual screenshots are only a mouseclick away.

Rover Puck WiMAX hotspot gets FCC’d, traction on ice subject of fierce debate originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 30 Jul 2010 21:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Well, this is genuinely awesome: it seems AT&T is pulling back from its ban on third-party sideloaded apps on its Android devices, because HTC has just released an Aria update that enables them (either that or HTC just went rogue here, but we highly doubt it). While that doesn’t have much practical implication for your typical smartphone user, it’s a strong sign that AT&T might be ready to take a more reasonable stance on the openness of its branded devices that would put it inline with the attitudes Sprint, Verizon, and T-Mobile have all taken with their Android phones so far. Additionally, the update includes “the Mobile Network sharing function,” which we take to mean a mobile hotspot app in the same vein as the one that’s shipping with Froyo — if we had to guess, it probably requires AT&T’s 2GB DataPro plan plus the tethering add-on, which would put it in line with what they’re charging on the iPhone. Onward and upward, AT&T.

Update: We got downright excited for a second there, but an HTC spokesman just called to inform us there’s been a mistake — this download is only for the desktop HTC Sync client and doesn’t actually enable anything on the phone. We’re working to get more information right now, but it sounds like the sideloading ball is still squarely in AT&T’s court.

Update 2: HTC apologizes for the confusion, saying the update description was in error — it was merely supposed to read that the Aria now works with the company’s desktop sync client. On Monday, the text will be updated to remove every last ounce of false hope.

Update 3: Sideloading works after all! Read all about it.

[Thanks, Dylan T.]

HTC Aria update for AT&T enables mobile hotspot, sideloaded app support (update: partially working!) originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 10 Jul 2010 16:08:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Mmm… nothing like the smell of a warm caramel macchiato in the morning being masked by the smell of fresh greenbacks being burned, right? All jesting aside, we’re pretty stoked about the world’s most recognized coffee joint turning off the paywall surrounding its in-house WiFi hotspots, and in case you missed the original announcement, we’re here to remind you that the free-for-all begins today. As of this very moment, the next US / Canadian corporately-ran Starbucks that you enter should be offering free one two-click WiFi, meaning that no password is required and no time limits will be set. Of course, this also means that you’ll never see an open chair in any Starbucks ever again, but hey — that’s why sidewalks were created, right?

Update: Ha, as our good friend Dave Zatz points out, it’s actually two-clicks, not one: 1) agree to terms and services, 2) connect. But let’s not let the facts ruin a snappy press release.

Continue reading Starbucks begins offering free two-click WiFi access in US and Canada

Starbucks begins offering free two-click WiFi access in US and Canada originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 01 Jul 2010 07:10:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Continue reading 2011 Audi A8 gets factory-installed wireless hotspot option

2011 Audi A8 gets factory-installed wireless hotspot option originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 25 May 2010 02:42:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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