Apple to Unveil Faster IPhone, AT&T's Stephenson Says
From Bloomberg
Apple Inc. will introduce a version of the iPhone next year that can download from the Internet at a faster rate, AT&T Inc. Chief Executive Officer Randall Stephenson said. The device will operate on third-generation wireless networks, Stephenson said today at a meeting of the Churchill Club in Santa Clara, California. San Antonio-based AT&T is the exclusive carrier for the iPhone in the U.S.
"You'll have it next year,'' Stephenson said in response to a question about when the 3G iPhone would debut. He said he didn't know how much more the new version will cost than the existing model, which sells for $399. Apple Chief Executive Officer Steve Jobs "will dictate what the price of the phone is,'' he said.
The prospect of a new handset may make some shoppers put off buying an iPhone this year, Gene Munster, an analyst with Piper Jaffray & Co. in Minneapolis, said in an e-mail. The number of shoppers who delay a purchase won't be ``enough to make a difference,'' he said.
(Shawn's Comment: That sound you hear is Jobs strangling the CEO of AT&T...)
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The Plot Thickens
Those of us out here in Verizon Siberia can only hope that Jobs will take this opportunity to yank AT&Ts exclusivity contract and allow us into the game. Heck, I'll buy a soon-to-be-obsolete iphone if that's what it takes, promise!
Phone Call from Jobs
I can hear it now...
Jobs is yelling into his iPhone: "Are you out of your freak'n mind! Get a grip on your mouth!" ...Pregnant pause. Silence from both ends...
Jobs speaks first & still angry: You may have just cost us a GREAT holiday buying season for the iPhone! As a matter of fact, we're going to send you a bill for the estimated difference." ...Pause...
Jobs continues, speaking through clenched teeth: "Oh, by the way, you too have a good holiday... NOT." ...Click & Dial tone from Jobs' end.
...Gulp & click from Stephenson's end.
11/30/07 Update -
There may be a twist to the AT&T CEO Stephenson's outburst. If interested, go to ICringley @ PBS.org. ...Robert X. Cringley has an interesting take on this fiasco.
Damn shame...
that Apple couldn't have gone it alone by creating their own network instead of having to pick from that den of thieves we call the wireless phone companies. But I suppose it would have been way too expensive and taken too long to set up.