[barrygou]

Sorry to be dumb but I'm still not clear on this. I've found the following description about pairing the upcoming Playbook with a BB smartphone.

For those BlackBerry PlayBook users who carry a BlackBerry smartphone*, it will also be possible to pair their tablet and smartphone using a secure Bluetooth� connection. This means they can opt to use the larger tablet display to seamlessly and securely view any of the email, BBMTM, calendar, tasks, documents and other content that resides on (or is accessible through) their smartphone. They can also use their tablet and smartphone interchangeably without worrying about syncing or duplicating data. This secure integration of BlackBerry tablets and smartphones is a particularly useful feature for those business users who want to leave their laptop behind.

Does this mean you will not have to have a separate phone carrier service like the IPad using AT&T for POP email? Can I assume this means once the two are paired your smartphone email Inbox will appear on the Playbook and be functional through the pairing set up?

[MobileMadness002]

Correct, the current pad will connect and control your current BB meaning only needing the one data plan.

[anon(728548)]

which pretty much rocks because at home i can have my Storm2 on my PowerMat charger and be sitting on the couch and have internet on my PlayBook with out killing my s2's battery.

[gregerator]

One could easily argue that this would be the best feature that the iPad does not offer.

[howarmat]

which pretty much rocks because at home i can have my Storm2 on my PowerMat charger and be sitting on the couch and have internet on my PlayBook with out killing my s2's battery.

except if i am home i wouldnt want to ever run it through my BB. I have wifi fully available and would want the full speed available instead of running it thru another device. But i dont think that will be possible. we have to wait and see

[anon(728548)]

except if i am home i wouldnt want to ever run it through my BB. I have wifi fully available and would want the full speed available instead of running it thru another device. But i dont think that will be possible. we have to wait and see

touche..... i change my post to when i'm at my relative's house that doesn't have wifi :P

[lanching123]

One could easily argue that this would be the best feature that the iPad does not offer.

i could not agree more. if this feature was not available i would most likely not even be considering getting a playbook. why would i want a tablet with a separate bill at the end of the month if i want to surf outside of a wifi hot spot? im already paying for an unlimited data plan, i want to use it. and i certainly dont want to pay for 2 unlimited data plans, that just doesn't make any sense! its also nice not to be tied to a carrier or contract

[howarmat]

some of you need to remember the UNLIMITED DATA doesnt always mean FREE TETHER. you might have to buy a separate tether addon to your current plan. Also with VZW going to tiered plans there are alot of unknowns about what charges VZX will have. Same with ATT

[anon(728548)]

some of you need to remember the UNLIMITED DATA doesnt always mean FREE TETHER. you might have to buy a separate tether addon to your current plan. Also with VZW going to tiered plans there are alot of unknowns about what charges VZX will have. Same with ATT

i'm praying Tether for BlackBerry is already trying to get something similar for the PlayBook just in case there is a required plan by a carrier

[lanching123]

but isnt it supposed to be paired via bluetooth? how can there be a charge to connect anything via bluetooth, be it a headset, tablet, etc.?

[howarmat]

but isnt it supposed to be paired via bluetooth? how can there be a charge to connect anything via bluetooth, be it a headset, tablet, etc.?

you still are using the network data connection, that is where the charge comes in

[jpg]

you still are using the network data connection, that is where the charge comes in

how would the network know you are using the network data connection for the playbook?

[taylortbb]

how would the network know you are using the network data connection for the playbook?

When you tether your data is routed differently from standard BlackBerry data. It's easy to separate from BIS traffic by APN. I'm not sure how they separate it from plain TCP traffic, but it can be done and many carriers do.

[jpg]

When you tether your data is routed differently from standard BlackBerry data. It's easy to separate from BIS traffic by APN. I'm not sure how they separate it from plain TCP traffic, but it can be done and many carriers do.

thank you, i've always wondered about this. i *love* all my nerdy friends here on crackberry

[lanching123]

When you tether your data is routed differently from standard BlackBerry data. It's easy to separate from BIS traffic by APN. I'm not sure how they separate it from plain TCP traffic, but it can be done and many carriers do.

but if your using the playbook which is blackberry, wouldnt that also go through BIS? i understand that if you tethered to a computer it would be like the equivalent of a network wireless card but in the case of the playbook, which is supposedly an enlargement of what is happening on your blackberry, would data use be distinguishable? sorry im not to knowledgeable about this stuff

[gregerator]

From what I understand, it will not be tethering as we think of it for notebooks. When you open DM and click connect to carrier and tether, yes, it opens a new connection like a modem. That tethering is charged for by most carriers as it runs through their servers. The tethering (let's call it pairing for clarification), the pairing will be just like surfing on your berry. You won't be tying into the carrier servers. It's your Berry- Amplified.

[sam_b77]

but if your using the playbook which is blackberry, wouldnt that also go through BIS? i understand that if you tethered to a computer it would be like the equivalent of a network wireless card but in the case of the playbook, which is supposedly an enlargement of what is happening on your blackberry, would data use be distinguishable? sorry im not to knowledgeable about this stuff

I think I heard somewhere on the launch video or something that the playbook would log into the BIS through the BB phone.
If that's the case the playbook would use data plans like the BB phone, and it should not affect the data plan.

[taylortbb]

The raw network access will be standard tethering just like through a laptop. I've explored the SDK and found the PPP chat scripts for Rogers and Fido, exactly like tethering from a laptop.

However, it's likely (though not certain) that BBM and e-mail don't communicate directly with the server. Rather they communicate with the app on the phone, which communicates on their behalf. Because the app on your phone is doing all the work I think it will be transparent to carriers unless RIM specifically provides a way for them to distinguish it (a real possibility).

So you might be able to BBM and e-mail without a tethering fee. But web browsing is done with the PlayBook browser, not the phone browser. Same goes for any other app developers write.

Remember of course though, most carriers with tiered data plans don't charge tethering fees. Tethering is a great way to drive up your data use, which means they get to charge you more. Very different from the world of unlimited plans.

[grahamf]

some of you need to remember the UNLIMITED DATA doesnt always mean FREE TETHER.

It does in Canada and (iirc) Sprint and T-Mobile



And to be honest I don't think anybody outside of Waterloo and without a NDA knows for sure.


I'd expect that RIM will try to make data indistinguishable from BlackBerry data though, to have a pricing advantage for users on AT&T and Verizon.

[fass]

I was looking over the AT&T Data plans for Blackberry and it looks like it's going to cost me 20 dollars more each month to tether to the Playbook. Unless I'm reading it incorrectly.

[howarmat]

we dont for sure about the tethering cost. with tiered plans on VZW/ATT there might not be a tether charge at all and you will be free to just get the unlimited plan and that will cover it. We will see how this works

[csiguy1]

I got a mobile Hot Device and i run my iPad, Laptop, Torch, and iPhone off of it using wifi, works great. I plan to use the mifi on the Playbook as soon as i can get my hands on one.

[cmsdock]

It does in Canada and (iirc) Sprint and T-Mobile



And to be honest I don't think anybody outside of Waterloo and without a NDA knows for sure.


I'd expect that RIM will try to make data indistinguishable from BlackBerry data though, to have a pricing advantage for users on AT&T and Verizon.

I agree with you on this one. I don't think they can't berry tether except for the amount of sata that's used.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[drjay868]

The raw network access will be standard tethering just like through a laptop. I've explored the SDK and found the PPP chat scripts for Rogers and Fido, exactly like tethering from a laptop.

However, it's likely (though not certain) that BBM and e-mail don't communicate directly with the server. Rather they communicate with the app on the phone, which communicates on their behalf. Because the app on your phone is doing all the work I think it will be transparent to carriers unless RIM specifically provides a way for them to distinguish it (a real possibility).

So you might be able to BBM and e-mail without a tethering fee. But web browsing is done with the PlayBook browser, not the phone browser. Same goes for any other app developers write.

Remember of course though, most carriers with tiered data plans don't charge tethering fees. Tethering is a great way to drive up your data use, which means they get to charge you more. Very different from the world of unlimited plans.

Didn't I see a video showing net browsing on the PB throught the BT connection of a BB where it the phone actually displayed everything you saw on the PB? That suggests to me that it is actually using the phone browser and sending that information in a larger scale to the PB.

[taylortbb]

Didn't I see a video showing net browsing on the PB throught the BT connection of a BB where it the phone actually displayed everything you saw on the PB? That suggests to me that it is actually using the phone browser and sending that information in a larger scale to the PB.

That was a demo video. You can't make a video of bluetooth, it's invisible, so I'm pretty sure they used that to represent it. In either case that didn't show the browser, that was only BBM/e-mail/calendar, the things that we already know will interact with your BB's applications.