I have not tested this myself, so I’m taking the video at face value, but the basic here is you tether by launching a new HTML5 web app for the iPhone that lets you tether your 3G-enabled iPhone or iPad to any wireless-enabled device. Right now you can sign up for a free trial if you use blackberry or Android, $15  a year for iphone.

What makes this interesting, assuming this works well, is that Apple cannot remove this app from the app store because this is a webservice.  I’m sure they will try to find a way to block it, or sue Tether.  Regardless, this is clearly not the end of the story; we’ll keep you posted.  Till then, check out the Vid below.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=8GkbAiRMf40

According to reviewers, the biggest problem with the PlayBook is that it requires a Bluetooth connection to a BlackBerry phone to access your email, calendar, contacts, memo pad, and the popular BlackBerry Messenger chat. Without the phone connection, which RIM calls BlackBerry Bridge,  those apps are greyed out and completely inaccessible from the PlayBook — that means you’re left out in the cold if your phone runs out of charge. It also means that none of that seemingly basic functionality is available to users of competing platforms like the iPhone and Android. RIM says that standalone versions of those apps will be available this summer.

Mind blowing. Who in the right minds would release a product that ONLY blackberry users can use and ONLY if they phone is nearby.  That has to be the most insane thing I have ever heard.  So not only do you have to complete with all the other slates out there, you are asking your customer to make sure their phones are nearby.  And if you lose power on your phone, opps, your bad.

Gezz.. worse if you are the type that wants to carry this around then hold up because  the Bridge feature is also the only way for the PlayBook to receive mobile internet access — the device doesn’t ship with 3G or 4G cellular radios, though RIM mentioned that mobile broadband support will come in future versions of the PlayBook later this year.

So what can we conclude?  There will be a VERY soft launch of this device.  In fact, we should just call it a beta launch because with so few apps, 3,000, no 3G and dependance on a blackberry phone, its not something I would call.. launch ready.

I wrote about using GPS on your ipad a few months back.  To use GPS you need to connect to a bluetooth GPS unit and at the time of the writing, I recommended that you preload your trip ahead of time because the only wifi based tethering app for the iPhone was not working.  Last month, PDANet, one of my top 10 jailbreak applications; finally has non per to per WIFI tethering.  Win!  This worked so well, that was actually able to have a skype video call with my brothers while bring driven down the I5.  Well for as long as I had 3G.

PDANet also works for Androids too, AND blackberry, AND windows.

PDANet is $10 but well worth it.

image by Rob Jackson

Last week I talked about how near 30% of current ebook owners would have bought the iPad if it had been available. Well, another study from arstechnica states that %4o of blackberry users will go to a smart phone when their contract is up.. Many of them going to the iphone.  Its pretty clear that the iphone/android offering is the future of the sophisticated hand-held market, but what is really of interest here is the massive rate of adoption.  And since neither Palm, or as far as I can tell, Microsoft is going to make a significant dent in the migration, we can see the two most dominate players the phone, tablet, non-PC device already shaping up.

So what does the mean to you?

Well basically, we are seeing the PC /Mac wars all over again, and just like last time, there will be those that like the warm fuzzies of a constrained but well thought out world of the iPhone vs the freedom, and pain that Android offers.  As the iPad and the Android/Chrome competitors get out into the battlefield, we can watch a grand battle.

Who will win?

This is effort is part of the Open Screen Project adding Adobe Flash to various operating systems – including Google Android, Palm WebOS, Microsoft Windows Mobile, Nokia’s Symbian OS, and RIM with their Blackberry OS.

When you see the video below, you see that they have taken the same approach. I do not know who long it will take till its up and running, but I volunteer to beta test.

Watch this Tutorial Video

Remember, this is still early, so do not expect too much from the video.