Rogers, O2 tease iPad data plans
On the heels of international shipping delays, carriers from the UK and Canada have released terse confirmation that they will be offering iPad data plans by "...the end of May."Rogers senior director of social media, Keith McArthur, wrote on the company's blog, "Rogers today announced that it will offer iPad price plans for all models from the end of May in Canada. We will share more details soon."
Likewise, the UK's O2 carrier has released a tease which reads, "O2 today announced that it will offer dedicated iPad price plans for all models from the end of May in the UK." Again, no details were offered.
What the Rogers post omits (other than, well, everything) is what many Canadians are anxious to learn: Will tethering be available with 3G models? Rogers offers free tethering to iPhone customers who subscribe to a data plan of 1 GB and above, something their southern neighbors can't do without jailbreaking.
Now, the waiting game
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On the heels of international shipping delays, carriers from the UK and Canada have released terse confirmation that they will be offering...
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Do you know if I can use my iPhone 3GS (which has thetering capability) as an bluetooth modem to iPad. Can iPad uses iPhone's connection over bluetooth?
April 26 2010 at 7:57 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyI know Steve Jobs says no tethering between iPhone and iPad, but I am still waiting for the detail to come out for Canada.
What I see is that tethering is really a "carrier" issue, not Apple issue. iPhone can tether in Canada for a long time now but US still don't have it. I am pretty sure that it's AT&T that's having problem with that.
btw, I tried to see if I truly cannot tether the two. Well, the verdict is that iPhone and iPad seems to ignore each other when you turn on bluetooth in either device. They detect other bluetooth devices all around my work area though. Seems to me like a software block...
It's most definitely a software issue. Put simply, the iPhone OS does not currently provide client support for a Bluetooth DUN or PAN profile. You can tether through an iPhone, but not from an iPhone.
The limitation on tethering from iPad to iPhone is strictly on the iPad side of the equation, since you can very obviously tether a Mac or PC through your iPhone.
When Jobs said tethering was not available, I'm pretty sure he wasn't speaking for AT&T, since they're just about the only iPhone carrier on the planet that doesn't allow tethering. I suspect he was more likely speaking to the current capabilities of the iPhone OS itself. Apple would not only rather sell 3G devices for those who want anywhere-access, but would probably rather see the customer experience be such that the iPad stands by itself and doesn't rely on tethered connections to do its thing. This isn't even an iPad-iPhone issue specifically -- if Apple opened up tethering client capabilities, people would be able to tether through any device providing tethering capabilities, with mixed results.
Will this change in OS 4? Current indications seem to suggest not, but you never know.
I see.
thanks for clarifying that. :)
No tethering for the iPad, Per Steve.
http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/10/03/05/reader_steve_jobs_says_no_tethering_between_ipad_and_iphone.html
It's not just O2 who have teased at pricing plans; Orange and Vodafone in the UK have also said they're going to be carrying it.
http://newsroom.orange.co.uk/2010/04/14/press-release-1184/
http://www.vodafone.com/start/media_relations/news/group_press_releases/2010/ipad_plans.html
I have faith that Rogers will beat AT&T here. They've already beat them with Tethering support on the iPhone. And yes, Apple will include Tethering support for iPad, it's running iPhone OS and that already supports it. The carriers can enable it or disable as they desire, just like on iPhone.
What I would really like, is to be able to tether my wifi only iPad to my iPhone (therefore using just the one Rogers account and plan). That would truly be awesome and would put Rogers ahead of all other carriers. Finger's crossed.
I have given up on the iPad. After months of literally no information other than "late April," then a delay (likewise with barely any info), Apple can keep their product.
April 14 2010 at 2:02 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyYeah so because it nots been released yet and no details forthcoming you are not buying it when it is released and details known, that makes sense!!
April 14 2010 at 6:47 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyI'm tired of being treated like a second-rate customer. We have virtually no info, and all this time has let me do more research and realize maybe an iPad isn't something I need. If they would've been released at the same time here, I would have purchased one in a heartbeat.
April 14 2010 at 7:10 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyWhat I am hoping for is that Rogers allows me to use my iPhone 3G plan with the iPad 3G. I have unlimited monthly data on my phone and I pay $99 / month, it would be cool if I could share the data between the two devices.
At the very least, I hope they allow the data credits bought for the iPad to be a pay as you go type thing so I can just throw $29.99 (or whatever it is) on my account and then use the data as I need it.
I don't see me needing it all that often, but when I travel on business to other parts of Canada, it would be nice to be able to use the 3G.
Course, we all know how Rogers typically is, so I suspect they'll roll out some lame plan that will end up requiring me to pay two bills a month.
Don't get your hopes up - neither of those things sound like something Rogers would do. I bet they'll just do what AT&T does (likely a bit more expensive though).
April 14 2010 at 1:47 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyI use my Rogers data plan regularly with my iPad. I jailbroke my iPhone and installed the MyWi app, and it works pretty well. My iPhone becomes a Wifi hotspot (with optional WEP encryption) and the iPad can just use that.
I also made a special male-to-male dock connecter cable to power my iPhone from the iPad's battery since using it as a tethering device drains the iPhone battery pretty quickly.
Works like a charm.
It will also remain to be seen whether or not Apple includes tethering support into the OS at all. My bet is on a lack of support for tethering, but I'd love to be proven wrong.
If Apple doesn't provide the tethering support, the carriers will not be able to allow tethering.
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