AT&T exec chats about the iPhone's features

30 May 2007 13:39 GMT / By Amy-Mae Elliott

When Glenn Lurie, president of national distribution for AT&T (the mobile operator in the States who've bagged the five-year iPhone distribution deal) was recently interviewed by the Seattle Times, he gave a tantalising glimpse of what may be coming for Apple's over-hyped phone.

Perhaps unaware of how his comments would be picked up by the technology press, Lurie seemed a little overwhelmed by the hype the iPhone has generated: "The anticipation that we're seeing, the buzz we're seeing, at least for me, has far exceeded our expectations of how important this would be to the business and us", he said.

When quizzed about whether ordinary folk would want to shell out the $500 plus for the iPhone, Lurie stated:

"I think when people get their hands on it and really experience it — the touchscreen is phenomenal, this touchscreen is like nothing you've ever used — to experience that, the scepticism, I think, around some of those things will go away."

Suggesting that the iPhone's converged features would be what sells it, Lurie carried on to say: "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".

As far as reading between the lines of Lurie's promise of forthcoming Google applications, the one confirmed Google feature we know about is the access to Google maps, but Lurie's quotes seem to suggest more than one Google app which has led to mucho speculation as to what they will be…

According the Seattle Times, Lurie was using an iPhone, but he wouldn't take it out for a photo. "Can't do that", he said.

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Phones, Mobile phones, iPhone, Apple, Google, Cameras