[fass]

I am firmly in the RIM camp (3 blackberrys), but I'm trying to understand why tethering capabilities are touted as such an advantageous feature in Blackberry vs ipad debates. If you have an iphone with a data plan and buy an ipad with wifi, have wifi at home, office, and every coffee shop or restaurant where you may be meeting clients, you really don't need anything else, do you?

[Kerms]

Besides internet access the tethering is suppose to allow you share your contacts,email, calendar and maybe a few other features that are on your BB with your PlayBook.

[TheScionicMan]

You're assuming that Wifi is everywhere it is needed, which we have found to not be the case. I've got an attorney that goes to City Council meetings where there is no wifi and now he's the techy Hero since I got him a Mifi.

If Wifi were so ubiquitous, nobody would be able to sell a USB modem or Mifi but I see a lot of them in use.

Besides it being a more secure connection than the anonymous wifi you might be grabbing, it is something you can rely on to be there and available when needed.

[fass]

I see your point. In my situation it's not a big deal because it's hard to find a spot that doesn't have wifi.

[dkingsf]

Besides internet access the tethering is suppose to allow you share your contacts,email, calendar and maybe a few other features that are on your BB with your PlayBook.

To be clear...tethering allows you to DISPLAY those on the Playbook, they will not be retained or otherwise "sync'd" to the Playbook, at least as of the latest information I've seen.

[Chrisy]

I don't work in an office, have home internet (not to mention wifi), no starbucks here! I need to tether!

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[howarmat]

the tethering is important for some people so you can have access to internet for no extra data charge. That is what RIM is trying to accomplish with it i think. I have wifi hotspot on my incredible so i am a walking hotspot no matter what if needed so the tethering is a bit different for me. But it seems without a BB you are SOL for email/contacts/calender so that will be a downer for alot of people. Just have to see

[fass]

I'll just have to wait until more information is available. I want one but I think it's based more on aesthetics and my insatiable appetite for things electronic than any practical need. "Amplifying" information on my phone may not be enough.

[Kerms]

To be clear...tethering allows you to DISPLAY those on the Playbook, they will not be retained or otherwise "sync'd" to the Playbook, at least as of the latest information I've seen.

Yeah I know. I guess I should have mentioned or worded it different. In simple terms it's sort of like a RDP to your BB.

Even though it will allow you to tether to share internet data, I wonder what the carriers are going to have to say about that. Will they try to tack on some other fee? A PB is suppose to have more media consumption than a smartphone.

[TheScionicMan]

But it seems without a BB you are SOL for email/contacts/calender so that will be a downer for alot of people. Just have to see

It would depend on how you are configured for email/calendar/contacts. If I didn't have my BB, I should be able to access our Outlook Web Access site and get the same things being fed to my berry and it will still be in sync. I can go to Google for email/calendar/contacts. Same for Yahoo, HotMail, etc. Where are you pulling mail from that you can't get to with the PB?

[howarmat]

I am saying you have to use the websites to do it though like you mention. That is not what most people will want to do to check email/calender/contacts. They want to use built in apps with that data store and available at all times. It appears that an email app wont work without the BB to sync with. The data wont be stored on the PB itself, only the BB. Again all of this is still mostly unknown but we are putting the puzzle together piece by piece.

[TheScionicMan]

I guess it depends on if you see it as a big phone or a small PC. It seems to me like it is no different than any other tablet when it comes to email and the BB Sync is a bonus offering. You seem to perceive it as a detriment...

[howarmat]

i do kinda, there are no good BBs on the market and wont be for another year pretty much. There are many people that dont own BB that would be interested in th PB but this would be drawbacks to them.

[TheScionicMan]

How would it be different than a Galaxy Tab? What would one do on that device for email/calendar/contacts?

[fass]

So it looks like for the average consumer, especially one that does not have a Blackberry, there is little to lure them away from another platform. (other than the impressive hardware....and in this day and age it's more about the software)

[Kerms]

i do kinda, there are no good BBs on the market and wont be for another year pretty much. There are many people that dont own BB that would be interested in th PB but this would be drawbacks to them.

It would be a draw back for. I could use OWA but I rather have a dedicated app. Hopefully one that would Push.

I'm thinking Android tablets can sync to an Exchange server

I wish we could get a clear answer to this. I'd also like to know if it can connect to AdHoc networks.. Android doesn't but for most of them you can edit a file that will allow you to. My iphone using MyWi creates an AdHoc wifi and I'm thinking Andriod hotspot is adhoc also

[howarmat]

How would it be different than a Galaxy Tab? What would one do on that device for email/calendar/contacts?

the tab has all those apps on it. its a standalone device, all it needs is wifi and it can do push email and everything else

[grncherry1]

How would it be different than a Galaxy Tab? What would one do on that device for email/calendar/contacts?

I am using a Galaxy Tab right now and it has no problem with my email/calendar/contacts, etc. I don't get it with people thinking the PB is the only tablet that will do this. The Tab is doing it now and probably the Ipad as well. It is no big feat to accomplish.

[fass]

So, as I understand it, the only plus to the PB tethering is if you find yourself in a place without wifi, you can tether to your BB and use your data plan. But even this isn't a plus if you get a tablet on another platform that comes with 3g.

[howarmat]

true, if you get another tablet with 3G its completely standalone probably. no other device needed. If you have an android device, you can create your on MIFI basically with the phone and your tablet onlys needs wifi, no 3G for the tablet. right now it looks like the PB functionality will be heavily tied with the need to have a BB along with it. we dont know for sure though as RIM is very slow about releasing this KEY info to the world

[TheScionicMan]

I am using a Galaxy Tab right now and it has no problem with my email/calendar/contacts, etc. I don't get it with people thinking the PB is the only tablet that will do this. The Tab is doing it now and probably the Ipad as well. It is no big feat to accomplish.

No, its that I don't see why people think the PB WON'T have the same capabilities. I think its just an assumption that without a BB, the PB won't have email functionality. You can sync it with your BB email, but I haven't heard that you can ONLY get email that way. Did I miss an announcement or is this a theory that has become a "fact"?

[t0tor0]

here in asia, we have a unlimited data roaming plan. most countries here are not huge like USA. so many people travel all the time.

with tethering, we get to share the unlimited data plan. this is the big different between BB and iPhone. iPhone has no such plan and if u plan to surf internet when ur plan is delayed in the airport, expect to pay off the roof!!!

[fass]

here in asia, we have a unlimited data roaming plan. most countries here are not huge like USA. so many people travel all the time.

with tethering, we get to share the unlimited data plan. this is the big different between BB and iPhone. iPhone has no such plan and if u plan to surf internet when ur plan is delayed in the airport, expect to pay off the roof!!!

But most newer plans here in the US are not unlimited. So tethering will either call for a more expensive plan that includes tethering or we will, at the very least, be using amounts of our alloted data every time we tether the PB to our phones.

[Kerms]

No, its that I don't see why people think the PB WON'T have the same capabilities. I think its just an assumption that without a BB, the PB won't have email functionality. You can sync it with your BB email, but I haven't heard that you can ONLY get email that way. Did I miss an announcement or is this a theory that has become a "fact"?

It was being discussed in another thread and I think Mike was asked about email and he mentioned web based mail and syncing to gmail but the way he made it sound was that to have corp email on it will would require BB tether. I'm guessing that's so when you're not tethered you're emails would no longer be on the device.

Someone else may could shed light on it better than I can. I really wish this would be cleared up. I can't imagine why RIM would do this or see it as a feature unless they are saying it from some type of security stand point.

[Kerms]

here in asia, we have a unlimited data roaming plan. most countries here are not huge like USA. so many people travel all the time.

with tethering, we get to share the unlimited data plan. this is the big different between BB and iPhone. iPhone has no such plan and if u plan to surf internet when ur plan is delayed in the airport, expect to pay off the roof!!!

I'm soooo glad I was grandfathered in with my unlimited data for my iPhone. I'm sure when LTE comes around they'll probably get rid of it so I may be stuck with my iPhone4 for a while it's jailbroken so I can tether with it.

AT&T really bends you over IMO with data plans and tethering. $25 for 2GB + $20 more if you want to tether and that doesn't include any extra data.