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Take a look at BlackBerry Mobile HotSpot and tethering for OS 6.1
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27 Comments

Take a look at BlackBerry Mobile HotSpot and tethering for OS 6.1

By Bla1ze on 11 Mar 2011 01:11 pm
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Back when the leaked 2011 road map came out we saw some of the details about BlackBerry Mobile HotSpot and how Research In Motion was expanding upon their devices tethering abilities. After that, not much more information leaked out. Today though, some newer slides detailing the process and what it will all look like have appeared online. Personally, I'm glad to see RIM rolling this feature out finally, since its been known to be arriving since back when the BlackBerry Storm 9570 was outed for the first time. Nice to know that feature didn't die with that device. Jump on past the break for some shots of the UI and further details.

Mobile HotSpot

Here you see how Mobile Hotspot will be integrated into the connection manager set up that we know today. According to the information, the Mobile Hotspot feature will allow up to 5 devices to be connected all at the same time which -- is by all means pretty standard. Another option you'll notice is the NFC portion that is also user manageable just like on the Samsung Nexus S android device. You can enable and disable NFC whenever you do so wish.

Mobile Hotspot

Since it is RIM working on this, they've also considered security and battery life here. As noted, deafult security is WPA2 and can be changed to WEP if one decides that is more fitting. For battery saving, the auto-shutdown session will start after 10 mins of inactivity. The rather interesting portion here though is that while Mobile HotSpot is un use, only limited Bluetooth activity can be made use of.

Mobile HotSpot

And finally, what is likely the best news for some users out there. Especially Mac users, tethering no longer requires the use of BlackBerry Desktop Manager anymore. No messing around with software, just set up your device and start using it. Also noted here is that you'll need your carrier info in order for all this to work. not a big deal but folks using unlocked devices often have their APN's set to the original carriers, in which case you'd need to set it to the carrier the device is being used on. All in all, pretty awesome. Just a shame we have to wait for OS 6.1 for it to happen.

Source: N4BB

Topics: Tethering BlackBerry OS 6.1 News & Rumors

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27 comments

smnc

OMFG! Finally!
I can't describe how happy to see this finally rolling out!

lacroixn

I seriously LIKE!!!! My faith in RIM is not misplaced. Go! Blackberry

SharpieFiend

This alone could make it worthwhile to get an OS6.1 device, especially with QNX devices coming out so quickly.

miller

So is this going to be included on the Touch 2 or just the Bold Touch?

Cula

anybody knows when its gonna be released?
Q3 maybe? earlier? later? any ideas?

aris20

Since this is an Update of OS 6 I would say that 'this' will roll out Before than what every one is thinking, I would say at beggining of Q2 which is pretty soon :) (I could be wrong)

the brother

isn't 6.1 rolling out on the next wave of devices - Storm 3, Bold Touch, etc? around that time native os6 devices should see leaks, right? Torch & Bold 9780?

will some carriers have the option to block this feature??

hurray blackberry!

SharpieFiend

It's highly unlikely that current devices will see OS6.1.

maliz23

I couldn't disagree more. There's no doubt in my mind the 9800 and 9780 will run OS 6.1. The higher end devices have always been able to upgrade to the "latest and greatest" OS's...so why would that stop? The biggest OS6 builds don't even crack 200MB, how big could 6.1 be?

Skeevecr

Most of the new devices seem to have 768MB of ram, so it looks quite likely that full os6.1 needs that much, but the apollo is leaked as only having 512mb so there is some hope for older devices in that respect, but for all we know os6.1 could purely be just os6 + support for new hardware features meaning that there was little point doing a version for older hardware.

Deathcommand

6.1 Lite.
No Hotspot feature.
At least to my understanding.

mssca

Good news for me. My parents going to buy me a new phone soon. I will wait till they roolout bold touch for sure.

rafiks

Too bad carriers would still charge you extra for tethering. :-(

aet92

FINALLY not having to pay, for a feature that is a must have, in our phones, thats why ios and android are far better, APPS!

Flip4Bytes

But wont carriers end up charging extra for the ability to tether or something? Or are they not able to do that...?

Mischief433

lol is it coming to the Storm2? haha i couldn't resist

DenDen2008

I'm wondering whether Bold 9700 would be getting it? :P

macizcool

Will this go through BIS? If so, ouch. I sometimes use Tether and let me tell you. BIS is definitely a bottleneck...

SCrid2000

Lol, there's no way Sprint won't block this.
I don't really care, I always have wifi. But I seriously doubt any carrier, except maybe TMo, won't charge for this.

jwong90

they should still keep the desktop software tethering available, for connections to a desktop and other devices that don't have wifi.

ncpete

I tether my 9780 using bluetooth now... Sure, it won't support multiple devices that way, but I don't even have Desktop Manager installed on the machine. Guess I am not sure why this is such a big deal for most folks?

pokervibe

call me an idiot but I just got my very first blackberry the torch and I have no clue what this all is about nor how to do it Geeeshh....do I need to go back to the ip[hone?

zaersx

seriously? this is the only thing in the os6.1 section?

just_luc

Everyone seems to be missing why this feature will soon be so important..

With the playbook coming out, why buy the 3G version and pay for a second data plan? Setup mobile hotspot on your BB which is always with you anyway.. get the wifi only playbook and voila.. you now have a 3G playbook and only 1 bill!

emilian

This post appeared back in March 2011 : Take a look at BlackBerry Mobile HotSpot and tethering for OS 6.1

I just got a Curve 9330 and an iPad2... Can I turn my BB into a hotspot to use it with the pad? Any direction would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

mikelevans

Anyone know if this was carried over into OS7 ? My Torch 9810 is on order and this feature would be great.