Many smartphone users know what tethering is. It is a feature that allows you to use your mobile as modem to connect to the Internet or corporate LAN over your carrier's cell phone network. Unfortunately, Apple has not integrated tethering into the iPhone—both the original EDGE data network model or the iPhone 3G. Nor is it - apparently - going to allow anyone else to offer an iPhone tethering app of their own through the App Store.

Nullriver, which had seen its NetShare iPhone tethering application put up and then taken down from the App Store for no apparent reason, appears to have gotten a definitive answer on where Apple stands on the matter. A recent posting to the company's blog reads:

Looks like Apple has decided they will not be allowing any tethering applications in the AppStore. As such, NetShare will not be available in the iTunes AppStore. We are seeing a lot of similar reports from various developers who's applications were abruptly removed and banned from the AppStore without any violations of the terms of service. This is all unfortunate news for the iPhone platform end-users.

Writing at MobileAppsToday, Todd Ogasawarapoints out that the lack of a tethering capability in the iPhone is a deal breaker for some, including himself. It's also worth noting that there are businesses out there that won't even consider giving its executives a smartphone that doesn't include the feature either. T

That's bad news for Apple when you consider all the trouble it’s gone through to make the iPhone more palatable to the corporate market.

There is an option for those who must have an iPhone, but require tethering. You must take the unofficial route, however. A new application called iPhone Modem is available for jailbroken iPhones with the 2.1 firmware update installed. The whole process supposedly only takes ten seconds.