It's hard to say how calculated this was. After all, AT&T CEO, Randall Stephenson, doesn't have the reputation of being as outspoken as, say, Motorola's Ed Zander, and from the sound of it, he didn't exactly reveal some top secret iPhone specs and the identity of a CIA operative drunkenly at one of those weird super rich guy parties.
Still, there's a part of me that can't help but envision a black turtlenecked Steve Jobs stroking a cat behind his giant CEO desk in Cupertino, telling Stephenson why he should never take sides against the family.
Whatever the motivation, the head of the country's largest wireless carrier--an industry which Jobs, as he has already made abundantly clear, rates somewhere between the cockroach and naked mole rat on the evolutionary scale--has less than subtly spilled the beans about one crucial feature of the upcoming iteration of the Apple iPhone: 3G.
Now, it's not exactly a huge secret that the phone would be upping its wireless speed, which currently rates somewhere around a 2.5, thanks to EDGE. The phone's speed has been one of the biggest complaints amongst users, since its inception. Jobs, however, has asserted thus far that 3G phones are, "real power hogs," according to a Bloomberg story, saying, "We've got to see the battery lives for 3G get back up into the five-plus-hour range. Hopefully we'll see that late next year."
Stephenson, for his part, said that that time would be, well, pretty soon. "You'll have it next year," adding that the cost of such a phone would be up to Jobs.
Oh, and since he was on a role, Stephenson also addressed Verizon's big news that hit early this week, stating that it was, "overblown...The industry's headed that way. We are probably one of the most open networks in the world, not just the U.S.''
Oh, snap. You gonna take that lying down, Verizon?
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November 29, 2007 12:38 PM
I like the "Oh, Snap." may favorite part of this article!
November 29, 2007 12:50 PM
I like the misspelling in the last paragraph! "Role" should be "Roll"
November 29, 2007 12:51 PM
I just can't wait to give my iphone to my kid and buy the new one !
November 29, 2007 1:04 PM
Damn, just when I was hoping AT&T would shut up about there junky network and disappear. Still don't believe anything AT&T says, nor trust them.
November 29, 2007 1:06 PM
LOL, I like how Stephenson said "We are probably one of the most open networks in the world, not just the U.S.'"
I guess he's never been to Japan, Hong Kong, or Korea?
November 29, 2007 1:23 PM
Well I guess I don't need to buy any iPhones this Christmas. Wait for the new one to come out and the old ones to drop in price and save some bucks for gas money!
November 29, 2007 2:14 PM
Just wanted to say to Jigawatt, say what? You're confusing "advanced" with "open." The Japanese and Korean networks are generally closed. You can only use KDDI or SK equipment on KDDI and SK, for instance. Now, they have terrific equipment, but they ain't open. AT&T's much more open than the Japanese or Korean guys.
Also, I don't advise anyone buying an iPhone before February when the SDK comes out. That SDK may make the iPhone an entirely new and more marvelous device, but Apple still hasn't said whether the current phones will work with it.
November 29, 2007 2:34 PM
i believe 'jiggawhat?' is the proper response.
November 30, 2007 8:03 PM
I'm going to have to save up money to buy the 3G iPhone :)