In an interview with the Seattle Times, Glenn, an AT&T rep. talks about and confirms some new iPhone information. This interview is one you won’t want to miss. It talks about some new Google applications that will be put on the iPhone along with an update on AT&T’s plan to give customers an unlimited amount of data with their phone, which is good cause we will be needing it.
“Q: One point of skepticism is the price. That BlackJack is pretty nice, and it costs $500 less than an iPhone …
A: Here’s how I’d explain it. The most popular iPod, a 4-gigabyte Nano, costs $200. If you’ve got a RIM BlackBerry or Palm Treo, you probably paid $200 minimum. Then you’ve got a phone that you got for free or paid maybe $50.
You’re at $450 or $500. The question you’ve got to be able to ask yourself is, is this device going to be able to replace those three, so you carry one? That’s the question.
I think when people get their hands on it and really experience it — the touch screen is phenomenal, this touch screen is like nothing you’ve ever used — to experience that, the skepticism, I think, around some of those things will go away.
There are other things — you have the widgets, some of the Google applications that are coming — there are just so many things here that the price will not be an issue.
Q: So you don’t think you’ll have to subsidize the phone’s price?
A: We’re not talking about that.
Q: What’s your impression of Apple?
A: It’s a great company. I know there are lots of interesting thoughts out there about how Steve and his team have done so many things, but they have been such innovators. If you look at the music side, it’s hard to argue that they aren’t driving a lot of things.
Q: What’s your favorite iPhone feature?
A: I don’t know if I can answer that. It’s a pretty incredible browsing environment. That’s the first part that I think will blow people away. It’s the first widescreen iPod they’ve ever done; it is very, very good, works extremely well.
I think the other thing people haven’t really thought through is that Apple’s so good at simplifying things. That’s just what they’re known for; they’ve really simplified the phone. The standard phone applications are really intuitive, whether it’s receiving a phone call, putting that person on hold, adding another party and bringing a conference call together.
Q: Won’t the full-powered browser hurt AT&T? People won’t need to use its services as much — they’ll just pull things from the Web, instead of calling directory assistance, for example.
A: No, actually it won’t. I think it will be great for us, and here’s why. One of the things with this device — people are going to be asked to have an unlimited package — people are going to have to have a package with us to browse. That’s one good thing for everybody.
I think this is going to create a new way people use handheld devices because the browsing experience is as good as the PC browsing experience. So I think it’s not going to hurt us at all. I’m excited about what it will do for the industry in terms of how people view mobile browsing.
Q: What’s the risk in your deal with Apple? Are there downsides or concerns?
A: Not that I can see. The thing I get asked about a lot is, obviously, that our companies are different cultures. But they have been incredible to work with.
The one thing we found as commonality is our pursuit of customer experience. Whenever we got into discussions, the thing we kept coming back to was this unwavering “what’s the customer experience going to be?” That’s gotten us over the hump every single time.
Q: What do you think of Jobs?
A: He’s a great guy. I’ve been dealing with Steve a lot. I think my prior comments fit: He is all about the customer, the customer experience, making sure that what customers get meets expectations. That’s what my mesh has been.”
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