Microsoft Renegs on Windows Phone 7 Tethering Claims
Talk about a sike out. Just last week, Microsoft's Windows Phone 7 chief, Brandon Watson, said it would be up to each wireless carrier whether or not to support tethering on the new mobile platform at launch. As it turns out, he was wrong, and we're officially bummed.
"A company spokeswoman told Electronista that statements from Microsoft's own Brandon Watson weren't correct and that the OS wouldn't support tethering in any form on launch," Electronista reports.
Paul Thurrott, who's often privy to what goes on in Redmond, said essentially the same thing: "To be clear: Windows Phone 7 does not support tethering at all."
Tethering allows a user to set up their smartphone or other mobile device as a hotspot, so even if there's no open Wi-Fi available, you can still hop on the net by 'tethering' your laptop to your smartphone. It's a handy feature to have, not just for traveling, but at home if/when your Internet goes down for any reason.
Looks like we'll have to make do without this feature on the Windows Phone 7, at least until someone mods it and kicks off the third-party ROM party that's sure to follow.
"A company spokeswoman told Electronista that statements from Microsoft's own Brandon Watson weren't correct and that the OS wouldn't support tethering in any form on launch," Electronista reports.
Paul Thurrott, who's often privy to what goes on in Redmond, said essentially the same thing: "To be clear: Windows Phone 7 does not support tethering at all."
Tethering allows a user to set up their smartphone or other mobile device as a hotspot, so even if there's no open Wi-Fi available, you can still hop on the net by 'tethering' your laptop to your smartphone. It's a handy feature to have, not just for traveling, but at home if/when your Internet goes down for any reason.
Looks like we'll have to make do without this feature on the Windows Phone 7, at least until someone mods it and kicks off the third-party ROM party that's sure to follow.