This is a feature I definitely want: the ability to tether my iPhone to my laptop so that I can take advantage of the 3g connection AND the big beautiful tactile keyboard and screen, anywhere I can find signal. While wi-fi certainly is proliferating, I still can get more cell signal in more places. If you travel with your work and need to compute, tethering is a great option.

I have missed the tethering ability I used to enjoy with my Treo 750 and PDAnet. And I thought tethering remained an impossible dream with a law abiding, non-jailbroken iPhone. Apparently, I misunderstood. Apple is taking down the barrier to tethering but has placed the details firmly in the hands of the carriers that must supply the necessary bandwith. And if the bandwith issues ATT suffered at SXSW were any indication, a sudden influx of tethering might upset the applecart, so to speak.

However, all over my RSS today, tech talking (or would that be typing) heads were reporting that someone heard that someone somewhere had successfully tethered their iPhone equipped with 3.0 software. Lifehacker has the story here, but I saw it at Gizmodo and other sites as well. Both Lifehacker and Gizmodo remarked that tethering might be available via USB, which would be great for preserving power and connection. Gizmodo also indicated that the tether might also be available via Bluetooth. That will be great for my little Eee PC but not so much for my Lenovo which lacks blue teeth.

Tethering is such a killer feature for professional road warriors who cannot rely on hitting a wi-fi spot while they follow the trail to there and back again. Let’s hope that ATT can figure it all out and unlease the tether on tethering sooner rather than later.

UPDATE: Techcrunch has the how-to right here.

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