Hacker News Reader

Comment by cryptnoob | Hacker News Reader

They should never have been allowed to sell an Android phone in the first place. They're probably trying to promote their cash cow, the iPhone by crippling Android in the court of public opinion.

View on HN

Allowed by whom? Google went out of their way to give handset makers and carriers almost total control over how they choose to package Android. I suspect we'll see more of this simply because the carriers will want to create a low end SmartPhone market to replace the dumb phones out there. They'll only run a few carrier approved apps and may not have access to the regular Android Market but instead a carrier run market instead.

I know in the on-going Internet race to judgement Android has been anointed the White Knight role but Google's choice to give carriers/handset makers so much control over how Android gets into consumer hands is nothing to be proud of. We shouldn't be cheering on a solution that really isn't nearly as open as people suggest. Even a more legitimate Android phone like the Droid or N1 is crippled from doing wifi tethering unless you root/jailbreak it. Why? Because carriers didn't like it. If we're really looking for a 100% open mobile platform Android isn't really the solution. It's probably the best bet out there today but that should not stop us from pointing out why it's also restrictive.

Tethering app was only removed from the US T-Mobile store, it is available everywhere else.

http://androidcommunity.com/google-allowing-tethering-apps-f...

They still do not allow wifi tethering apps unfortunately -- or they are blocked on Sprint (HTC Hero)

Yikes, that is quite unfortunate.

Do 3rd party markets apps like Wifi Tether from anda.pk work?

http://discuss.gdgt.com/htc/hero/support/tethering-with-the-...

Crippling Android on their phone might just make it easier to do an apples-to-apples comparison. Assuming AT&T screws up on something everyone else is getting right.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com