Mobile Hotspot App for Verizon Hacked Onto Sprint webOS Handsets

Part of the “Plus” for Palm’s Pre on Verizon is double the memory and storage than that of the Sprint version. But I’d also call turning the handset into a mobile hotspot a “plus” as well. Sure it costs you $40 a month, but you’re getting 5 GB of bandwidth just for the tethering feature, in addition to the 5 GB you can use directly on the phone. Of course, you need that Mobile Hotpost software, which is made solely for webOS devices on the Verizon network. Enter some enterprising PreCentral forum members who caught the software inadvertently available for Sprint devices.

The Mobile Hotspot software alone doesn’t do the trick, however. There’s a patch involved as well as the freeTetherD app — once you have all the bits, you’re good to go. Of course, this isn’t a Sprint-sanctioned approach, so you’re on your own when it comes to responsibility to your contract’s terms of service. It’s really quite a shame that webOS device owners on Sprint aren’t offered this functionality. I’d definitely call it a value-add and while some would rather not pay, I know I’d be willing to ante up some coin for MiFi-like functionality on my phone. Clearly the hardware is capable and the software is readily available — what the issue here?

For the record, I did purchase MyTether for $10 months ago. The software enabled both Bluetooth and USB tethering but I found it too flaky to use on a regular basis. Eventually, as new webOS updates arrived, the stability of the application worsened. While the one-time payment was appealing, I’d still be apt to pay a carrier each month if I could count on the software and the service.

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