[dave_2611]

Sure, but I fail to see what advantage there is over just using your cell as a hotspot, or connect the two through WiFi or Bluetooth (or even DLNA). Something that pretty much all devices can already.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

which devices are you talking about that can create their own wifi hotspots?
Not all devices can create their own wifi hot spots. Their are still alot of phones out the are running before os 6.0. Most people i know have all older bbs, they do not have hotspot. Only newer phones have hotspots, so i wouldn't say the vast bb community could just use a hotspot method instead of the whole bridge idea when only a few blackberrys have the option to do so. This way it allows RIM to keep their previous customers to use their current phones instead having to dish out more money to buy a new phone, just to use that feature. Do you think the playbook would have gotten far if you had to buy a new os 7 phone just to be able to use bridge. Just my thoughts.

Bridge is great for me. The best idea rim has come up with, i think. When at home i use my wifi, but when im out im connected to bridge. If i didn't have bridge i wouldnt have internet cause i do not have devices that create a hotspot, and i don't want to pay an extra tethering fee. With bridge it solves this problem for me.

[lawguyman]

Are you saying you've never gone over the speed limit while driving? Not even 1 mile per hour over? I call shenanigans.

I speed like crazy. I can't help it. But, I stopped downloading software and misic and stuff like that years ago.

[Foreverup]

I speed like crazy. I can't help it. But, I stopped downloading software and misic and stuff like that years ago.

So it is alright to put other people at risk with your reckless behavior.

[lawguyman]

So it is alright to put other people at risk with your reckless behavior.

There is a difference between fast and reckless.

[SharpieFiend]

There is a difference between fast and reckless.

Unfortunately, you like fast because it is reckless. It's an adrenaline thing.

[CrackedBarry]

I am not breaking any contractual rules, I already bought the 2 gigs of data per month, I am using bluetooth and superior tech to use it.

Following that logic, there's nothing wrong with recording a movie off HBO, burn it on DVDs, and either give it away to people, or sell it.

After all, you've allready payed for watching the movie once, no? You're just using a superioir technology to make sure you can wacth it again and again...

You're clearly breaking the intent of the contract, and probably also one of the clauses, no matter if Bluethooth is specifically mentioned or not.

What you're doing: Knowingly breaking a contractual agreement, is borderline illegal, and immoral.

If you don't like the conditions of the contract like tethering, fine. Go ahead and find another provider and take your business elsewhere. But don't sign it with a smirk and then knowingly break it, while calling it something cute like "a workaround" to make it sound any less immoral or illegal.

Well where do you live? In America the carriers charge you an extra $20-25 per month just to use those features that are built into the phones! Its the equivalent of charging once for a texting plan and then charging you again to unlock the phone's ability to text. Its soooo wrong.

I live in Scandinavia, and have never heard of tethering charges. Au contraire, they actually try to encourage people to use tablets and data right now.

One of the big providers here is actually doing a campaign right now, where you get 2 SIM cards, one for a phone and one for a tablet, when you sign up with them.

BUT... Try to look at it from AT&T or whoevers point of view. Here's an example: They give you a low price on unlimited data for a cellphone, knowing full well that there is a practical limit on how much you'll use it. It's a small screen so obviously you won't be downloading 720 HD videos, for example.

A tablet however, has a much bigger screen, and is designed for media consumption. Even assuming that you won't watch more videos on it, than you do on your cellphone, the higher resolution screen means that 4 hours of movies takes a 1 or 2 GB download, and not 3-400 MB.

So data consumtion drastically goes up.
The provider offered you a contract with unlimited data for X amount of dollars, on the assumption that you'll use it on a cellphone only, setting a practical limit on how much data you'll use. Tethering a tablet to your cell completely changes that calculation.

which devices are you talking about that can create their own wifi hotspots?
Not all devices can create their own wifi hot spots. Their are still alot of phones out the are running before os 6.0. Most people i know have all older bbs, they do not have hotspot.

Practically all modern smartphones have it, as it's not something that the cellphone needs a special chip or hardware for. If your cellphone has a B/G wireless wifi antenna, it has the hardware to act as a hotspot, but whether it can use it is up to the software and operating system.
(Android built this option into version 2.2, which came out about a year ago)

My Desire is a year and a half old, as is my HTC Legend, and both have the ability. I think it's a safe assumption that if your cellphone is a year old or less, it has that option.

Bridge is great for me. The best idea rim has come up with, i think. When at home i use my wifi, but when im out im connected to bridge. If i didn't have bridge i wouldnt have internet cause i do not have devices that create a hotspot, and i don't want to pay an extra tethering fee. With bridge it solves this problem for me.

Again: I'm not saying that it's a bad option, or useless or anything like that. But it doesn't really provide anything that you can't get through using your cell as a hotspot, so it's hardly a unique feature or an awesome selling point.
(If it's the best selling point the Playbook has, things are sure looking pretty bleak!)

And since there's a natural speedlimit in how fast Bluetooth can transfer data, in some cases Bridge is actually a WORSE option than tethering wether through wifi or usb.

[jthep]

Following that logic, there's nothing wrong with recording a movie off HBO, burn it on DVDs, and either give it away to people, or sell it.

After all, you've allready payed for watching the movie once, no? You're just using a superioir technology to make sure you can wacth it again and again...

You're clearly breaking the intent of the contract, and probably also one of the clauses, no matter if Bluethooth is specifically mentioned or not.

What you're doing: Knowingly breaking a contractual agreement, is borderline illegal, and immoral.

If you don't like the conditions of the contract like tethering, fine. Go ahead and find another provider and take your business elsewhere. But don't sign it with a smirk and then knowingly break it, while calling it something cute like "a workaround" to make it sound any less immoral or illegal.



I live in Scandinavia, and have never heard of tethering charges. Au contraire, they actually try to encourage people to use tablets and data right now.

One of the big providers here is actually doing a campaign right now, where you get 2 SIM cards, one for a phone and one for a tablet, when you sign up with them.

BUT... Try to look at it from AT&T or whoevers point of view. Here's an example: They give you a low price on unlimited data for a cellphone, knowing full well that there is a practical limit on how much you'll use it. It's a small screen so obviously you won't be downloading 720 HD videos, for example.

A tablet however, has a much bigger screen, and is designed for media consumption. Even assuming that you won't watch more videos on it, than you do on your cellphone, the higher resolution screen means that 4 hours of movies takes a 1 or 2 GB download, and not 3-400 MB.

So data consumtion drastically goes up.
The provider offered you a contract with unlimited data for X amount of dollars, on the assumption that you'll use it on a cellphone only, setting a practical limit on how much data you'll use. Tethering a tablet to your cell completely changes that calculation.



Practically all modern smartphones have it, as it's not something that the cellphone needs a special chip or hardware for. If your cellphone has a B/G wireless wifi antenna, it has the hardware to act as a hotspot, but whether it can use it is up to the software and operating system.
(Android built this option into version 2.2, which came out about a year ago)

My Desire is a year and a half old, as is my HTC Legend, and both have the ability. I think it's a safe assumption that if your cellphone is a year old or less, it has that option.



Again: I'm not saying that it's a bad option, or useless or anything like that. But it doesn't really provide anything that you can't get through using your cell as a hotspot, so it's hardly a unique feature or an awesome selling point.
(If it's the best selling point the Playbook has, things are sure looking pretty bleak!)

And since there's a natural speedlimit in how fast Bluetooth can transfer data, in some cases Bridge is actually a WORSE option than tethering wether through wifi or usb.

First off, I don't get your counterfeit movie selling analogy? Why not just portray me as a drug dealing child ****** murderer too? All I am doing is using data I already paid for. I am deciding how to use it.

Every other carrier in America has not blocked bridge, except AT&T. On top of that, their official statement when they blocked it at launch was something along the lines of "We are testing it to ensure it gives the best experience possible to the consumer". Thats an outright lie, they are trying to squeeze more money out of the consumers by charging extra for a new technology that my phone and tablet are fully capable of doing without their meddling. No logical person should pay AT&T one cent for this.

As far as AT&T's point of view? I dunno, feeling sorry for a multibillion unethical corporation is tough, but I will try. I am not going over the data allotted that I already purchased, so no, I don't see their point. I purchase 2gigs a month, no more, no less.

As for the WiFi hotspot or tethering features in phones, you get it for free and have the nerve to tell me I am doing something unethical? So if prostitution is legal in your country and you engage in that type of behavior, but illegal where I live and also engage in that behavior, can you really take the moral high ground and judge me? Perhaps someone who doesn't engage in that behavior at all could say something about it. But either way sharing data I paid for on devices I paid for is not unethical or immoral.

Its hypocritical for someone whom gets free data sharing in their devices standard in their plans bc of where they live to throw stones at someone who just wants the same thing.

Bridging is not illegal, immoral, or unethical behavior. What AT&T did in telling lies and changing the rules of the game as they go absolutely is and when my contract is up, AT&T could got to ****...

[lawguyman]

Bridging is not illegal, immoral, or unethical behavior.

It just violates the contract that you agreed to. AT&T may never catch up with you but that does not mean that people can claim that it is allowed. It isn't.

I think that once the cell network matures to broadband-type speeds that we will see unlimited data plans again. It costs a lot to have to build out new networks every few years. GSM GPRS EDGE 3G 4G. Those are a lot of networks in a short amount of time.

[jthep]

It just violates the contract that you agreed to. AT&T may never catch up with you but that does not mean that people can claim that it is allowed. It isn't.

I think that once the cell network matures to broadband-type speeds that we will see unlimited data plans again. It costs a lot to have to build out new networks every few years. GSM GPRS EDGE 3G 4G. Those are a lot of networks in a short amount of time.

Well OK, agree to disagree on the morality of using bridge on an AT&T phone. But I was debunking your point as in Bridge being useless to AT&T customers, its far from it.

Playbook bridged w/ a Blackberry is already the best tablet out there, the interesting part is it improves constantly.

And before I read someone else say its niche, there are estimates of 50-70 million active Blackberry phones in use out there, thats not a niche. Playbook even sells to 2% of them and its a success.

Or others that say "well you need a phone to make your tablet functional". Phone/tablet combos are here to stay, evident by tether/hotspot plans carriers offer. This wasn't invented by RIM, tablets did this before the Playbook. Its just no one did it where the consumer would make out so well getting that service for free!

[sookster54]

Data Sharing | Tablets | TELUS Mobility

[NursingNinja]

They need to focus on that pair dynamic. Tablets are marketed as laptops but I think their greatest appeal is as a companion to the phone.