“Tethering” may sound a bit confining, unless you’re talking about it as a way to link mobile devices. Then it’s actually very cool.

And what’s cooler, most of the time, than something done by Apple.

The computer company recently  previewed its latest version of the iPhone software and some IT managers are excited to see one particular feature: tethering capability.

Tethering is among about 100 new features Apple touted recently for the uber-popular smartphone.

Tethering will turn the iPhone into a modem and eliminate the need to issue air cards to laptop users – a chore and cost many IT managers would rather avoid. (Yes, IT will be avoiding the cost because the smartphone will have the capability built-in and most laptop users are also going to have a phone as well. Might as well be an iPhone, Apple marketing gurus are saying to themselves.)

While tethering will be built into the iPhone 3.0 software – likely being released this summer – it will be up to network carriers to implement it.

Among the other new 3.0 features: copy/paste function, MMS and search.

Tags: Apple, features, iphone, modem, operating system, release, Software