Its been almost a week since Steve Jobs announced the new iPhone 3G at Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference 2008 and we are slowly getting to know more tidbits about the next generation iPhone.
We now have details on AT&T’s upgrade policy if you are considering to buy iPhone 3G, also that there is no tethering for iPhone 3G and folks at iLounge have revealed that the new iPhone has a second proximity sensor.
You can get all the details after the jump.
No tethering for iPhone 3G
Folks at iPhone Atlas are reporting that AT&T will not be offering tethering capabilities for iPhone 3G. AT&T offers an alternative data plan referred to as a Phone-As-Modem (PAM) plan for various BlackBerry and Window Mobile devices that allows users to tether their phones to laptops to use the phone as a wireless modem.
However, I think the reason for AT&T not offering a Phone-As-Modem plan for iPhone or iPhone 3G has nothing to do with AT&T but more to do with the fact you cannot tether the iPhone 3G to your laptop which is also the case for the current iPhone unless you hack your iPhone.
Some enterprising iPhone hackers had figured out a way to tether the current iPhone to get internet access with AT&T’s EDGE network from your laptop. In case you want more details then checkout this post or the detailed step-by-step guide by iPhone Hacks reader, Payne, in the comments (thanks Payne).
AT&T’s Upgrading Policy
There were still some questions unanswered after writing this post 3G iPhone and AT&T: 3G Coverage, Where to Buy, Cost, Subsidy, Tariff plans and lots more so here is some more answers to your questions regarding AT&T’s upgrading policy.
If you had bought an iPhone after 27th May and are planning to upgrade to Apple’s iPhone 3G then you are lucky as AT&T has informed folks at Engadget that anyone who bought an iPhone after May 27th will be able to swap out their handset with no additional charges for an iPhone 3G.
In case of everyone else who had an iPhone prior to 27th May and had signed a 2-year contract with AT&T then you’ll have to sign another new 2-year contract to upgrade to a new iPhone 3G which will overwrite your old contract so you’re just locked into another 2 years, not 3 years.
iPhone 3G’s second proximity sensor revealed
iLounge has revealed that Apple has included a second proximity sensor to the iPhone 3G to provide more accurate face-detection which increases the number of sensors to three (two proximity sensors, one ambient light sensor) from two.
The current iPhone had one proximity sensor near the ear-piece of the original iPhone to prevent accidental key presses when the phone was held against your face. The second one is apparently to have improve the face-detection functionality even further.
iLounge is also reporting that this has resulted in case manufacturers increasing the size of the opening surrounding the earpiece of the iPhone.
The improved face-detection functionality would also have helped the video conferencing functionality we had all speculated to be part of iPhone 3G feature list but was not announced at WWDC.
You can checkout the entire coverage on Apple’s soon-to-be-released iPhone 3G here at iPhone Hacks under the new iPhone 3G category.
As always do let us know your what you think about the new details revealed about iPhone 3G in the comments below.
[Source: iPhone Atlas, Gizmodo, Mac Rumors]
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