Microsoft Says No To Windows Phone 7 Tethering

Microsoft has squashed rumours that its forthcoming mobile phone system, Windows Phone 7, will allow users to connect other devices to the Web.

According to reports on 24 September, it seemed that Windows Phone 7 would support tethering, a feature included in some Android phones (is is in Android 2.2 and in phones such as the Droid X) which lets users share their mobile broadband with other nearby devices, such as laptops. The news appeared on Websites such as WMExperts, after Windows Phone 7 director Brandon Watson allegedly mentioned that tethering would be a feature in the upcoming mobile platform, on a Windows Weekly Podcast – but it seems to have been a mistake on Watson’s part.

Whoops, did we just say that?

“Windows Phone 7 does not support tethering,” a Microsoft spokesperson told eWEEK on 24 September. Microsoft has not publicly released plans for future smartphone versions, but all five UK operators have promised to carry phones running the OS, when it arrives in October .

Some Google Android-based smartphones, notably the Droid X, permit tethering to additional devices, and operators include the feature as a paid-foir option In contracts. A lack of tethering could affect Windows Phone 7’s marketplace.

Unlike Google Android and Apple’s iPhone, which arrange individual apps in grids, Microsoft’s smartphone user interface aggregates both Web content and apps into a series of subject-specific “Hubs” such as “Office” and “Games.” The company’s hope is that the brand-new interface — paired with a wide variety of apps and devices — will help reverse its slow decline in smartphone market share.

Many US carriers will have to wait for the phone, while Europe gets a head start, as it is coming first in a version for GSM networks (which is used by AT&T in the US) while US carriers that use CDMA will have to wait till next year.  “In developing Windows Phone 7, we are placing high-quality customer experiences above all else,” a Microsoft spokesperson told eWEEK on 17 September. “In keeping with this goal, Microsoft chose to focus on delivering a great GSM version to the world first, and then a great CDMA version in the first half of 2011.”

Earlier in September, Microsoft released the final version of its Windows Phone Developer Tools, with which it hopes developers will use to create mobile applications for the platform. Twitter, Netflix, OpenTable, Flixster and Travelocity are some of the higher-profile companies planning to have apps available upon the smartphones’ release, expected in the October-November timeframe.

Microsoft remains tight-lipped about the number of Windows Phone 7 smartphones that will be available for the initial launch. But that, along with the number of carriers, will likely have a greater effect on sales than the ability to tether.