How jailbroken iPhone users can avoid being caught tethering by AT&T

We know that there are those of you out there who would rather not have to payAT&T an extra $20 per month for tethering when you're already paying upwards of $45 per month for a data plan. The trouble is that AT&T isn't really a fan of people avoiding their rules and fees, and the carrier has been cracking down on unauthorized tethering by jailbroken iPhone users. AT&T has been sending e-mails and SMS messages to customers asking them to stop the unauthorized tethering or else they would be charged.

AT&T actually has a very simple way to track down unauthorized tethering byiPhone users, because most tethering options use the same method as the official tethering, which routes your Internet traffic through an alternate APN (AT&T access point/router). This alternate APN is designed specifically to identify traffic as tethered, so AT&T can keep track of data usage and billing. Since many jailbreakers use the stock iPhone options for tethering, this makes it very easy for AT&T to track unauthorized usage and contact those in violation of their policies. 

Luckily, one of the oldest and most popular apps in the Cydia app store for jailbroken iPhones is PdaNet from the good folks at June Fabrics. PdaNet has been around for the iPhone since the early days of jailbreaking (well before Apple offered a proprietary option), so the app has had plenty of time to mature and gain features. Right now, PdaNet for iPhone is on version 5.01, and best of all offers an option to hide usage from AT&T.

Of course, you'll need a jailbroken iPhone to take advantage of the app. Be warned that there are always risks associated with jailbreaking, so be sure you know what you're doing.

PdaNet is also available for Android, BlackBerry, and other mobile platforms.

Microsoft, Nokia Team Up to Challenge Apple on "App Store" Name

Microsoft, Nokia and others joined together today to fight Apple's exclusive rights to the term "app store," adding another log to the fire of copyright litigation now blazing up in the tech industry.

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"Today's filings by HTC, Nokia, Sony Ericsson, and Microsoft, like Amazon's recent action, demonstrate the breadth of opposition to Apple's unsupportable claim of exclusivity," said a Microsoft representative. "'App store,' like 'toy store' or 'book store,' is a generic term that should continue to be available for everyone to use for stores that sell apps."

These companies are continuing the legal battle that began in 2008 when Apple first opened its App Store. At that time, its original filing for a patent was denied because of the term's generality. In 2010, after securing a Tentative Trademark that was left open to appeal, Apple then turned to the EU Community Trademark office for more substantial validation.

As Apple's App Store grows, ringing in three-quarters of worldwide app sales at nearly $3 billion in 2011, rival companies are racing to keep up. Amazon launched its own AppStore in March of this year, while Microsoft plans to start its own store in 2012 once its Windows OS is up and running on Nokia handsets.

Google's open-source Android Marketplace is growing fast and presents the biggest threat to Apple's closely-monitored App Store.

Apple has sent armies of lawyers to battle these newcomers to the smartphone and app market, suing Sony, Samsung, Nokia, Microsoft and a host of others for allegedly copying its product and service designs. These companies have responded in turn with their own suits, churning up the waters as these tech giants jostle for position in a fiercely competitive industry.

More than anything, these companies want to protect their niche markets from rivals who would encroach on their territory. Apple has pumped plenty of advertising dollars into its App Store brand, so it isn't surprising the Cupertino company won't give up without a fight.

As long as smartphones remain popular, apps will make up a vital chunk of the online market. And if they want to have a chance against Apple, the reigning king of app revenue, Microsoft and others must differentiate themselves now or risk becoming less unique copycats.

But with a clunky name like "Windows Phone 7 Store" Microsoft knows it won't score any cool points. So it, and others have a lot riding on the EU's review of its petition.

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Microsoft and Nokia to discuss sale of Nokia’s mobile unit next week?

Do you know what could easily overshadow the $8.5 billion acquisition of Skype by Microsoft? How about a multi-billion acquisition of none other than the biggest phone maker in the world – Nokia? If we are to believe Russian tech analyst Eldar Murtazin’s inside information, that’s exactly what’s about to happen as talks about the sale of Nokia's mobile unitare to be held next week between the two tech behemoths. What’s more – both Redmond and Espoo are reportedly in a hurry and the deal could close as soon as the end of 2011. For the time being, however, Murtazin notes, everything will remain behind closed doors. As unbelievable as it would have been mere months ago, the deal sounds close to reality after Nokia and Microsoft signed the Windows Phone agreement.

If true, the deal will change not only Nokia, but the mobile landscape from the ground up. It’s still a rumor, but it seems credible as Murtazin is the exact same analyst whoe correctly predicted that Nokia will ditch its Ovi branding two weeks ahead of the event. Currently, Nokia’s market value hovers around the $33 billion mark and it’s the company’s main mobile unit that could be sold. How would this change the mobile industry? Feel free to share your opinions in the comments below!

Samsung DROID Charge launches tomorrow at Verizon

While Friday the 13th is considered to be an unlucky day for the superstitious, Saturday the 14th looks to be a great day for Verizon customers. Verizon has officially announced that it's second 4G enabled device will be launched tomorrow after a brief delay of about a week and a half.

To refresh your memory, the Samsung DROID Charge offers a 4.3 inch Super AMOLED Plus display with resolution of 480 X 800 pixels. Under the hood is a 1GHz single-core Hummingbird processor powering the device, which will be loaded with Android 2.2. The camera on back is 8MP with a 1.3MP front facing camera. The model is priced at $299.99 with a signed 2-year contract.

Verizon customers finally have another 4G enabled handset to go along with the HTC ThunderBolt. Just remember though, ig you are looking for some dual-core processing action, you will still have to wait until May 26th when Big Red releases the Motorola DROID X2.

Seagate Gives IPad a Hard Drive

Seagate's GoFlex Satellite is a Wi-Fi-enabled portable hard drive that works with tablets and smartphones as well as computers, bringing high-capacity storage to ultra slim mobile devices.

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The 500-gigabyte GoFlex connects wirelessly to iOS devices and can stream video and music as well as access documents via a Seagate app. Other mobile devices can connect via a web browser, and an Android app is reportedly coming this summer.

Storage options like this could help a tablet fill a netbook's shoes by providing PC-class storage capacities that are rarely offered in the solid-state storage world of tablets. Already, PC and netbook sales are reportedly stagnating as people hold off upgrading in favor of shiny new tablets.

The GoFlex's lithium-polymer battery is good for five hours of constant streaming video, according to Seagate, or 25 hours of stand-by time. The iOS app caches the stream, allowing the drive to momentary go back to sleep and extend battery life.

The drive can also connect directly to a computer like any other portable hard disk, via USB. It's compatible with the last three Microsoft operating systems and Mac OS 10.5.8 or later.

At $200, the GoFlex isn't cheap for its capacity, but the fact that it can add storage to closed iOS devices may make it a worthy investment for some.

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Lodsys explains its in-app purchasing legal threats

The company Lodsys is threatening legal actions against some Apple iPhone app makers over in-app purchases and many are quickly calling the company a patent troll that may be trying to shake down some smaller developers for money. In a blog post over the weekend, the company explained its actions in a pretty clear and transparent way.

Lodsys said that it’s in-app purchasing tech is already being licensed by Apple, as well as by Google and Microsoft. That doesn’t give a blanked license to every company that uses the app store though.

The company uses the analogy of a hotel: the owners of the hotel are still legally liable for the experience of the user and Apple would be akin to the owner of the hotel’s land. There might be some ways for Apple, Google and Microsoft to take care of this, Lodsys suggests:

One blogger suggested that an OS or device vendor or retailer could choose to contact Lodsys and purchase a license on behalf of its application ecosystem, but so far such discussions haven’t taken place. From Lodsys’ perspective, it is seeking to be paid value for rights it holds and which are being used by others. Economically, the best return is probably to license each Application vendor for a piece of value, rather than to include in a “buyout” for an OS vendor.

The Lodsys in-app purchase patent could be a big deal moving down the road, as many app makers are finding that selling virtual goods within the game can be just as lucrative as selling the app itself. The in-app payments just recently landed in the Android Market and the early returns suggest this will be a hit.

How much is the company seeking? Well, it clearly stated that it wants .575 percent of U.S. revenues over the period of when it sent out a notice letter to the expiration of the patent, plus past usage.

I’m not a smart enough legal guy to know if the patent in question is legit but I do appreciate Lodsys being candid about why it’s doing what it’s doing.

NVIDIA CEO outlines reasons for slow Android tablet sales

NVIDIA is one of the main driving hardware forces in the Android tablet world and slow sales of tablets with Google’s operating systems seem to have touched NVIDIA’s CEO Jen-Hsun Huang on the raw. Huang uttered not one, but a couple of arguments detailing the reasons behind the slow start of Android tablet sales in an interview for CNET: "It's a point of sales problem. It's an expertise at retail problem. It's a marketing problem to consumers. It is a price point problem," he mentioned.

While the first three arguments seem to touch on all Honeycomb tablets, most of which run on the dual-core NVIDIA Tegra 2 chip, the price point issue instantly spurs thoughts about the Motorola XOOM. "The baseline configuration included 3G when it shouldn't have," Huang underlined. "Tablets should have a Wi-Fi configuration and be more affordable. And those are the ones that were selling more rapidly than the 3G and fully configured ones," he further explained his point. TheMotorola XOOM hit retail shelves with a hard-to-swallow $799 price tag for a 3G version and lacking a Wi-Fi only model initially. In comparison, the iPad 2 carries a much more affordable $499 price tag for the base model with no 3G.

NVIDIA's CEO Jen-Hsun Huang

Echoing what rival Apple has been pointing out for a couple of months now, NVIDIA’s main man added: "And it's a software richness of content problem." The scarce number of tablet-specific apps seems to become the chant for tablet makers as Motorola’s own Sanjay Jha also mentioned the problem.

But all of those negatives have been “largely addressed by a new wave” of tablets as per Huang’s words. We can only hope for the upcoming Galaxy Tab 10.1 and 8.9 to live up to the expectations this time and give us, the users, more arguments to opt for an Android slate. But what’s your opinion about the slow start of Android slates and the underlying reasons? Don't hesitate to let us know in the comments below.