I have found out from Hofo that T-Mobile users are able to use third party applications using Wi-Fi through UMA. That is why anyone that can use Opera Mini through wi-fi is on the T-Mobile network. I suspect this is the same for the Blackberry 8820 on AT&T (eventhough they lack UMA). Those wireless carriers must have sent a service book to those wi-fi berries to enable third party apps to use wi-fi if they have a blackberry plan.
From Hofo
"All of the apps on the 8320 can make use of WiFi due to UMA. When the phone has UMA up, all voice and data traverses the WiFi link, not the cellular network. So in one regard, the people stating all 8320 apps work over WiFi are correct. (And this is easily confirmed, too -- things like Google Maps flies when you have a WiFi connection, but trundles when on EDGE.)
On the other hand, these apps can only make network connections via the standard TCP<->APN gateway logic. Only the web browser in WiFi mode appears able to make direct connections over WiFi, bypassing the APN gateway. So to use these other apps, you must have a Blackberry data plan, since they are ultimately being tunneled through the carrier's APN infrastructure. So the OP is also correct in a sense; for people who want to use the 8320 without a data plan, they can't really make use of the WiFi interface in the 8320 to get around the data plan requirement. Only the web browser can be made to work over WiFi when there is no data plan.
Personally, I don't understand the point of a Blackberry without a Blackberry data plan, but I won't get into that religious war...
very well said,
just to reiterate (and further oversimplify), 3rd party apps that are setup to use the EDGE connection, when in UMA mode which is WiFi, have no idea that they aren't using the EDGE connection. All data is tunneled towards t-mo's network (which is what the 3rd party apps are "looking" for with regard to TCP and WAP settings) but instead use a different "doorway", WiFi over UMA as opposed to EDGE over GSM. "
|