Verizon Wireless Cripples Bluetooth… Again at MobHappy

Verizon Wireless has a well-deserved reputation for being the most close-minded and locked-down carrier in the US. Remember they got sued for crippling the Bluetooth in a Motorola handset — only allowing its use with headsets. Verizon says its agreements with content providers precluded it from allowing Bluetooth, but common thinking was simply just that they didn’t want people to be able to do things like transfer photos off the phone, instead having to pay to send them over the network. Keep in mind, too, that Verizon is fresh off another scandal: breaking the MP3 playback functionality of some of its phones in favor of a Windows Media format.

It should come as no surprise, then, that Verizon won’t let its new Treo 700W be used as an EV-DO modem. The excuse explanation this time is that “the Treo doesn’t currently meet requirements they specify for their network”. That’s probably not far off, actually. They require that their handsets wring as much money out of users as possible. So if Treo buyers want an EV-DO modem for their computers, they’ve got to shell out for a PC card modem and an additional $60 a month.

“We have a history of taking care of our customers,” a Verizon employee says. Is that “taking care of” as in treating them well, or “taking care of” as in The Sopranos?