So there's a rumor floating around the internets concerning AT&T, iPhones, and tethering. The story goes something like this: the word tether is mentioned in an AT&T notice about users upgrading to a new iPhone and being forced into another two-year agreement. Apparently, some folks who've only quickly browsed the document made the mistake of assuming that AT&T used the word "tether" the way we all know it best: computer-to-phone, modem-style tethering. Unfortunately, this is a semantic problem -- what AT&T's talking about is using the dock connector to activate the phone, and sync with your computer... not the other way around. So next time you hear someone talk about AT&T's "tethering" plan feel free to set 'em straight.

Just when we're getting used to our Blackberry tethering via Bluetooth, news (and not the good kind either) travels downstream that the latest software release for Cingular and T-Mobile decreases the download speed significantly. Is it that RIM is intentionally making our BlackBerry 8700 slower or is it the carriers' request to cut down on consumer tethering? More than likely it's the first one seeing the problem didn't exist in earlier releases of the 4.1 OS and it doesn't exist in the Pearl's 4.2 OS. According to the Brain Murmurs, which created the "Pulse" tethering application, data speeds went from a decent 200k to a crawling 65k. Hopefully, this is nothing more than some developer's sick idea of how the fast the information superhighway should be, and we can all return to our regularly scheduled speeds in some future release of RIM's OS.

Sure, tethering 8700s to Macs is a neat trick -- but how about cutting the cable entirely? "Pulse" by Brain Murmurs aims to do exactly that, trading that pesky USB cable for the more convenient Bluetooth connection (and yeah, it's Mac compatible, to boot). Pearl users might have no concept of what we're talking about (on account of RIM's latest goodness coming with DUN in the box) but Pulse should be big news for 7130, 7290, and 8700 owners looking for a moderately less conspicuous way to pipe hot data from their phones into their PCs. Be sure to give us the down-low in comments if you get the chance to give this a whirl, eh?

Proceed with caution, intrepid readers, but we've come across a hack for your brand new Treo 700p that supposedly makes it nigh impossible for your carrier to distinguish tethered data from on-device usage. Call us the Robin Hoods of the tech world if you will, but we know how Sprint and Verizon charge for tethering, and we don't like it one bit. Again, this involves some hackery, so turn back now if you can't stand the thought of bricking 400-odd dollars of gear that still has that new-Palm smell. Otherwise, go forth and, uh, let us know what your bill looks like next month, m'kay?

[Thanks, Matthew]