The next generation of iPhone, the 3G S, is about to be revealed and it will come with a piece of equipment (well, the Optus version anyway) that has been missing from the unit – a tethered modem.
With all the hype that surrounds the iPhone (the queues in Sydney’s CBD were considered newsworthy), it’s sometimes hard to believe that there are other smartphones that outperform it. In the US, the Blackberry Curve is more popular, while in July last year the iPhone was ranked fourth. To be fair, these stats are from the US, but in Australia the iPhone is pushed to the limit by the likes of HTC, Samsung, and the Blackberries, which could be due to this tethered modem technology. So what does this mean for users? For a start, you can bluetooth to your laptop, without having to carry around a wifi dongle (albeit small). This in turn means you can have your mobile office at your fingertips. What this could do for Apple is push it over the edge in popularity, as now it can call itself a bona fide business mobile. As stated, this will only be available from Optus iPhones, as Telstra has yet to announce anything. However, the cynic in me says Telstra probably won’t offer the technology. Why? Too much to be made from their dongle mobile plans.