[mr_biscuit]

Driving around town the other day, I asked my wife to fire up Bing on her PB so that we could use the GPS to find a coffee shop in the area. She told me it wouldn't work because Bing needed a data connection to work correctly, and it doesn't see the Bridge as a data connection.

I thought that was absurd, but, sure enough, it wouldn't work.

Part of the attraction to the PB was using the Bridge as a data connection without tethering charges (or so I thought). If all Bridge is good for is browsing the internet, that's pretty disappointing.

Am I missing a setting or something?

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[Zach7]

I see the Bing app not going thru the Bridge, but you could save Bing on your browser and go via the tethering.

http://crackberry.com/internet-tethe...blet-bluetooth

I don't know if they are planning an official tethering app as stated in that thread response, but maybe that would allow apps to connect to the Bridge data.

[howarmat]

the bridge data only applies to the bridge apps and nothing else. You have to tether or use wifi for the rest

[mr_biscuit]

I understand, but I hope that changes in the future.

It makes me think that only the 4G version of the Playbook will be useful as a truly "mobile" device.

I can't think of a useful application of the GPS in the unit without tethering the PB to a true data connection.

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[FF22]

If you INITIALLY have wifi, you can get directions from current location to somewhere else. But once you lose wifi, you'd have to rely on the written directions but no update based on current position. What is needed is an app that has maps on board that can use the gps. My TomTom standalone has the US, Canada and European mapping in its 4gigs. So it would be possible.

[Zach7]

Or it would be nice to load a couple of locations and directions and be able to pull them up offline! May be to much to ask of a free app! I would agree they should be able to at least tap into the gps of the phone with their app!

[sportline]

How much can you actually tap from your phone, with bluetooth speed, sharing data between bridge and 3rd party apps?
If bluetooth with 700kbps or so is good enough then its good. If not then until rim release wifi hotspot bb phone, the bridge experience will still remains same as of now, limited browsing.

[zoso28]

How much can you actually tap from your phone, with bluetooth speed, sharing data between bridge and 3rd party apps?
If bluetooth with 700kbps or so is good enough then its good. If not then until rim release wifi hotspot bb phone, the bridge experience will still remains same as of now, limited browsing.

I noticed that you have quite a few posts putting down bluetooth on blackberries & raving about wifi.. but keep in mind they're two different protocols for two different (albeit similar) purposes.

Bluetooth was designed specifically to reduce power consumption on mobile phones/cameras/headsets, etc.. Wifi was predominantly for routers and laptops, but has been adopted by mobile phone manufacturers to give better speeds at home and in the office, as well as coffee shops etc. But it comes at a price..

Try running your hotspot all day long & youre almost guaranteed to run out of power after a few hours without a power source. Obv there are car chargers and battery packs & such, but bluetooth will run all day long without needing another power source.

Granted there are limitations (speed, distance) but it works fine for 3G tethering and bridge in most situations. In my experience, wifi tethering doesnt offer much of an improvement over bluetooth tethering on 3G. Maybe when 4G totally rolls out it'll be a different story, but by then we'll have the BB7 devices with hotspot ability.

In any case, all of these options are good for different people in different situations. While bridge is quite useful, it's highly dependent on the phone's processor, and therefore much slower than tethering, so it prob wont ever be used with navigation apps. Once there is an app with on-board maps, we'll see the true potential of the PB's GPS capabilities.

[sportline]

I understand the battery life issue, i run android cdma as hotspot...6 hours at most!
My point is whether bluetooth for bridge is a long term bridge connection or is it just piecemeal solution while waiting on future bb phones with wifi hotspot?
Havent try tethering thru bb, have to change my bis and tethering subscription to carrier, but is it really that good, the speed?
In the meantime i got another phone, the android, which already got data plan so can use it. Before deciding to go tether thru bb or not.

[jasperlin]

QUESTION:

if you have a don't have data but have BBM services (through BIS), can you still use the internet through the bridge browser for free?

[sportline]

typical bis internet pckge is for
push email
internet browsing but no tethering and no streaming

[Venichie]

This bridge would be perfect, if RIM had a way to implant 3.0bluetooth tech in their phones (up to 24mhps I believe)! I really did wish they had it in the Playbook, just like Samsung's upcoming tablets.
It would perfect this bridge app, if they had it with these new 4G phones coming out. I can see it on a "new" phone now, "BB Eclipse"...

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[Motorcycle Mama]

QUESTION:

if you have a don't have data but have BBM services (through BIS), can you still use the internet through the bridge browser for free?

No. You cannot. You need to pay.

[ssbtech]

I'm still confused about "tethering".

There's no "Tether" app in the PlayBook App World. And in the PB settings, Internet Tethering is set up with my phone.

Why can't I use my phone's data connection over BT for non-Bridge apps?

[DenverRalphy]

I'm still confused about "tethering".

There's no "Tether" app in the PlayBook App World. And in the PB settings, Internet Tethering is set up with my phone.

Why can't I use my phone's data connection over BT for non-Bridge apps?

When you tether, you wouldn't use a tether app on your PB as it doesn't use one. You use the Tether app on your phone. From the PB, you would connect to your phone just like you would any WiFi connection.

[ssbtech]

When you tether, you wouldn't use a tether app on your PB as it doesn't use one. You use the Tether app on your phone. From the PB, you would connect to your phone just like you would any WiFi connection.

Ok, thanks.

I see Tether is a $49 app. No way am I paying that for something that really should be basic functionality.

[Blacklac]

Pretty sure the Tether App has to be on both devices, and Its not available on the PB yet. Maybe I'm wrong on that. I know when I used it to a laptop, I had to download a Windows App on the laptop. Of course I was using the USB connection. Maybe the BT connection does not require Apps on both ends.

I guess I should try since I paid for Tether a long time ago in a 50% off sale...

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[flyersfan76]

If you INITIALLY have wifi, you can get directions from current location to somewhere else. But once you lose wifi, you'd have to rely on the written directions but no update based on current position. What is needed is an app that has maps on board that can use the gps. My TomTom standalone has the US, Canada and European mapping in its 4gigs. So it would be possible.

Pester Delorme to make a product. When I used my tablet in the car I loaded up Street Atlas and put all the map and other data on the Hard Drive. Worked great but it only looks like Delorme supports computers now and I do not even think they export to mobile devices in their newer products.

[robsteve]

Two thing to keep in mind.

With Bridge, you are not sharing your data plan with your Playbook, the Bridge Apps are running on the Phone and using the Playbook as a display. An older and slower phone can explain why some people find Bridge slow or buggy.

Internet tethering is using your phone as a modem to connect to the internet. You do not need any special application on the phone or the Blackberry, just a wireless account/carrier that allows tethering and that you have asked them to enable tethering on your data plan. On the Playbook you just need to go into the bluetooth options and add your phone as a device if it is not already there and then go into the internet tethering section, choose your phone, then your carrier and connect.

Robert

[ssbtech]

Perfect, much better.

Got it working, thanks! Now my non bridged apps will connect to the internet via Bluetooth tethering. (Except for App World).

[Motorcycle Mama]

I'm still confused about "tethering".

There's no "Tether" app in the PlayBook App World. And in the PB settings, Internet Tethering is set up with my phone.

Why can't I use my phone's data connection over BT for non-Bridge apps?

What carrier are you on? Many carriers will require you to subscribe to a tethering plan before you can use the "Internet Tethering" function on the PlayBook.