AT&T cops to Jesus Phone-as-modem app

Eat your heart out, NetShare

By Cade Metz in San Francisco • Get more from this author

Posted in Mobile, 7th November 2008 21:43 GMT

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Why was NetShare - the app that turns the Jesus Phone into a modem - yanked from the Apple App Store? AT&T and Apple have tethering app plans of their own.

During an on-stage interview at a conference in San Francisco yesterday, AT&T CEO Ralph De La Vega said the mega telco is working with Steve Jobs to deliver an official Jesus Phone tether in the not-too-distant future.

He did not say how much the app would cost. But AT&T charges around $60 a month for other tethering plans. And you can rest assured the company will charge more than you'll pay for today's jailbroken Jesus Phone tethering apps - which are completely free.

This summer, Apple inexplicably pulled Nullriver's Netshare app from the iPhone App Store, de-pulled it, and then pulled it again. By mid-September, Nullriver announced that Jobs and cult had apparently banned iPhone-as-modem apps from its online protection racket.

AT&T - which has an exclusive on the iPhone here in the States - currently forbids tethering on Steve Jobs' handheld status symbol, though it does provide its own app for the CrackBerry.

"Unlimited plans (except for Data Connect and BlackBerry tethered) cannot be used for any applications that tether the device (through use of, including without limitation, connection kits, other phone/PDA-to-computer accessories, Bluetooth, or any other wireless technology) to laptops, PCs, or other equipment for any purpose," reads the telcos terms of service. ®

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