China Mobile exec: Apple interested in building 4G LTE iPhone at an 'early date'
The chairman of carrier China Mobile has indicated that Apple has shown interest in quickly developing a 4G long-term evolution capable high-speed version of its iPhone.
Chairman Wang Jianzhou specifically cited Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs in his remarks made on Friday. China Mobile has been working to launch its own TD-LTE network for fourth-generation mobile bandwidth speeds.
"Jobs has expressed his interest in an LTE iPhone and is willing to start the development at an early date," Jianzhou said outside of a Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference meeting in Beijing, according to Bloomberg.
China Mobile has been granted government approval to begin large-scale tests of its 4G TD-LTE network in Shanghai, Hangzhou and four other cities. The carrier is expected to invest $100 million in 4G this year.
The comments are similar to those made by Verizon CEO Ivan Seidenberg in an interview last November. He said Verizon's "embrace of LTE" had gained attention from Apple, which is interested in pursuing the new wireless cellular standard for its iPhone.
And Verizon Wireless CEO said in January that customers would see "more coming from Apple on LTE." He indicated that Apple understands the value in LTE, but did not offer a timeframe on when a 4G-capable iPhone might become available.
Verizon launched its own LTE network last December, but the recently launched Verizon iPhone 4 does not support that wireless standard. Officials said at the official Verizon iPhone unveiling in January that that Apple chose not to go with LTE because it would require design changes, and Verizon said they wanted the iPhone as soon as possible.
Apple has hired numerous LTE experts for its team over the years, and was seeking key new additions to its staff as recently as February.
Chairman Wang Jianzhou specifically cited Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs in his remarks made on Friday. China Mobile has been working to launch its own TD-LTE network for fourth-generation mobile bandwidth speeds.
"Jobs has expressed his interest in an LTE iPhone and is willing to start the development at an early date," Jianzhou said outside of a Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference meeting in Beijing, according to Bloomberg.
China Mobile has been granted government approval to begin large-scale tests of its 4G TD-LTE network in Shanghai, Hangzhou and four other cities. The carrier is expected to invest $100 million in 4G this year.
The comments are similar to those made by Verizon CEO Ivan Seidenberg in an interview last November. He said Verizon's "embrace of LTE" had gained attention from Apple, which is interested in pursuing the new wireless cellular standard for its iPhone.
And Verizon Wireless CEO said in January that customers would see "more coming from Apple on LTE." He indicated that Apple understands the value in LTE, but did not offer a timeframe on when a 4G-capable iPhone might become available.
Verizon launched its own LTE network last December, but the recently launched Verizon iPhone 4 does not support that wireless standard. Officials said at the official Verizon iPhone unveiling in January that that Apple chose not to go with LTE because it would require design changes, and Verizon said they wanted the iPhone as soon as possible.
Apple has hired numerous LTE experts for its team over the years, and was seeking key new additions to its staff as recently as February.
Comments
And of course Apple has an interest in an LTE iPhone when the components are right for it, I just don't think Apple would want China Mobile's CEO, whom the don't currently have an iPhkne for, mentioning it.
In other news, the sky is blue and grass is green.
My sky is gray and my grass is brown. =/
Does anyone else think 4G LTE sounds like "4G Lite" - like the less than full featured apps available for free?
Maybe you should look up what LTE means.
Maybe you should look up what LTE means.
he said sounds like. Also, it looks like that.
Potentially bad from a marketing angle, especially with fake 4G already out there.
"Steve Jobs said he likes Levi's jeans. Buy my Levi's knock-offs; four for $9.99."
Maybe you should look up what LTE means.
Took your advice but it is way out of my understanding. However, this bit seemed concrete enough to give a glimpse of its value. -from Wikipedia
The main advantages with LTE are high throughput, low latency, plug and play, FDD and TDD in the same platform, an improved end-user experience and a simple architecture resulting in low operating costs. LTE will also support seamless passing to cell towers with older network technology such as GSM, cdmaOne, UMTS, and CDMA2000. The next step for LTE evolution is LTE Advanced and is currently being standardized in 3GPP Release 10.[9] —also health issues (radiation?) were mentioned (healthier or less problematic).
added: Much of the standard addresses upgrading 3G UMTS to 4G mobile communications technology, which is essentially a mobile broadband system with enhanced multimedia services built on top.
Yawn.