Windows Phone is becoming an increasing popular platform, but its initial release in 2010 baffled commentators by omitting key functionality such as copy and paste and tethering. Omitting these features arguably punished the platform, resulting in some poor early reviews. Making matters worse was the fact that devices from Samsung and LG had wired tethering functionality that could be enabled via a hidden engineer’s console, resulting in a platform offering tethering on some handsets but not others. Hardly ideal!
Microsoft has since resolved these shortcomings with the latest release of its successor to the clunky old Windows Mobile. Windows Phone 7.5 “Mango” is currently shipping on new devices from HTC, Nokia and Samsung and first generation devices can be upgraded to run this version of the software, which includes wireless tethering. This will enable you to share your mobile Internet connection with other devices.
Why the Big Deal?
News of this feature came late in the day (release day in fact!) thanks to Microsoft being cagey about some of the details of the Mango release. Despite being a much-requested function there was never any confirmation (although plenty of denials) that tethering of any kind would be included.
Fortunately for Windows Phone users, wireless tethering is now a possibility. The benefits of this are considerable. For instance, you might own a tablet, netbook or laptop and have no wireless functionality or access to any nearby wireless networks. Thanks to wireless tethering you can easily use your Windows Phone as a Wi-Fi router and connect to the Internet!
There are a couple of things to bear in mind, however. The first is that if your mobile phone contract
