AT&T chief lays out futuristic vision for the iPhone

Posted:
in iPhone edited January 2014
Before a future version of Apple's iPhone wakes you up in the morning, it will have downloaded the morning's news feeds and sent a message to your coffee maker to begin brewing a fresh pot, says AT&T Mobile chief Ralph de la Vega.



Those are just two examples from a laundry list of future capabilities rattled off by the executive at the Web 2.0 Summit Thursday during his interview with TechCrunch's Michael Arrington -- the same conversation that brought word of an application under development at AT&T that will soon give way to an official iPhone 3G tethering solution.



If you'd rather read the morning news on your TV while you sip your fresh brewed cup of Joe, you'll be able to simply wave the handset towards the TV to throw the day's feeds up on the big screen, de la Vega added.



"Some of this sounds pretty far-flung to me, and if this were some start-up company talking about these 'exciting new plans,' I'd probably take it with a grain of salt," wrote PC World's Mark Sullivan. "But in my experience, AT&T plays it pretty close to the vest on its future plans, and usually does what it says it will do, eventually."



De la Vega's vision for future iPhone features isn't confined to the home. He told Arrington that you'll be able to use the handset to lock your doors on the way out each morning, then start your car. There will also be little need to fiddle with your car radio while battling morning rush hour traffic, because the iPhone will start reading the remainder of the day's news to you using its text-to-speech capabilities.



While at work, he continued, the iPhone will orchestrate a conference call with two potential clients in the Far East. You speak English, they speak Japanese. That's not a problem, however, because the iPhone will handle the automatic translations in real time.



De la Vega also noted that AT&T is performing extensive testing within its labs regarding previously announced plans to integrate the handset with U-Verse, its suite of Internet television and VoIP services.



The goal is to allow customers to listen to their voice mails on their TV, and download shows from their digital video recorders onto their iPhones. A new application for the handset would reportedly serve as a television remote that will let users search the Web and TV listings via the iPhone's virtual keyboard.



In addition to its normal network upgrade process, the AT&T chief also revealed during the interview that his firm plans to begin using a new swath of 850 MHz spectrum to improve its 3G signal quality in densely populated areas such as New York City.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 101
    As if we in the resource rich countries need a more sedentary life.



    I can't help thinking of those obese human beings on the spacecraft in Wall-E.



    Poor us.
  • Reply 2 of 101
    Quote:

    Before a future version of Apple's iPhone wakes you up in the morning, it will have downloaded the morning's news feeds and sent a message to your coffee maker to begin brewing a fresh pot, says AT&T Mobile chief Ralph de la Vega.



    Another marketing guy not understanding technology.



    * Why talk about downloading news, as it was something that would be necesary to do in advance in the future (or even now). News are available right away and doesn't have to be downloaded.



    * Many people actually prefer making their own coffe ...



    The rest of the predictions - well translationen, remote controlling or whatever isn't just something that would be unique for an iPhone. And those "predictions" - I think we have heard them around 1 million times before
  • Reply 3 of 101
    In the Future, You Will! And the company that will bring it to you: AT&T



    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZb0avfQme8
  • Reply 4 of 101
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by AppleInsider View Post


    You speak English, they speak Japanese. That's not a problem, however, because the iPhone will handle the automatic translations in real time.



    Yeah. Right.
  • Reply 5 of 101
    I'm not impressed. I want a pony. And a plastic rocket. And a flying car.



    But the news, in text-to-speech... sooooo teeeempting....
  • Reply 6 of 101
    Coffee? I have a good idea: how about delivering the F@&king picture messages my relatives send? Before we enter the 22nd century, can we enter the 21st? I know they are low tech, but so are a lot of the people I have to communicate with....
  • Reply 7 of 101
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by mowenbrown View Post


    Coffee? I have a good idea: how about delivering the F@&king picture messages my relatives send? Before we enter the 22nd century, can we enter the 21st? I know they are low tech, but so are a lot of the people I have to communicate with....



    I'd be thrilled if in the future it checked my email every 15 minutes as programmed, got copy and paste, turn by turn directions and better 3G. Get that stuff figured out first and then worry about the coffee. Besides, I am sure the ATT guy already has an admin assistant who makes the coffee for him.
  • Reply 8 of 101
    teckstudteckstud Posts: 6,476member
    WTF is de la Vega of AT&T discussing iPhone's future capabilities when he can't even get their own 3G network to work right?
  • Reply 9 of 101
    teckstudteckstud Posts: 6,476member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by mowenbrown View Post


    Coffee? I have a good idea: how about delivering the F@&king picture messages my relatives send? Before we enter the 22nd century, can we enter the 21st? I know they are low tech, but so are a lot of the people I have to communicate with....



    I'll never understand why anybody would buy something that doesn't give them what they want in the first place. Lack of pix messages is one reason why many of us haven't yet and won't.

    And BTW that's not low tech either (sending/receiving pix via your cell number) but the opposite.
  • Reply 10 of 101
    I don't want to hear about the iPhone from AT&T, it is not their product, they simply provide the dumb pipes and the phone network to service it. That's all i want them to do.



    Second, since when it is ok for AT&T to dictate what i can use my service for? Can we say "network neutrality" anyone? Doesn't matter that its a mobile network, i don't care. It's internet service, and they are restricting what i can do with it until they feel like allowing me to tether my laptop to the thing.
  • Reply 11 of 101
    Lots of research shows the pitfalls of multi-tasking on productivity and safety. Better watch out in the future as you listen to your messages and take your mind off of driving the car!



    Having lead a teleclass for a group of coaches in Japan where I went through a translator - it was the most nerve wracking experience I've had in leading ANY conference call or face-to-face presentation (small group to Emcee with 600 people). Being able to translate on the fly like that would revolutionize how small business and solopreneurs conduct global business.



    I can live without the coffee yet the translation on the fly would be amazing.



    Hey, cut and paste is overrate and only gets you into trouble



    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LTOXlo1npmY
  • Reply 12 of 101
    What about:

    MMS?

    Video Recording?

    COPY and PASTE!



    This new technology of the future stuff is great, but how about some CURRENT technology NOW!
  • Reply 13 of 101
    quinneyquinney Posts: 2,528member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by teckstud View Post


    I'll never understand why anybody would buy something that doesn't give them what they want in the first place.



    That's pretty ripe coming from someone who has cried an ocean about their AppleTV.
  • Reply 14 of 101
    kickahakickaha Posts: 8,760member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Freekowtski View Post


    Yeah. Right.



    http://www-03.ibm.com/press/us/en/pr...ease/21323.wss



    It's already here, and running on handheld units.
  • Reply 15 of 101
    Quote:

    you'll be able to use the handset to lock your doors on the way out each morning, then start your car.



    That's what we all need, a device powerful enough to translate two Japanese speakers on the fly that has complete access to every part of our lives and is available to anyone who wants one At least cell phones are never lost or stolen.
  • Reply 16 of 101
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by freethinker View Post


    As if we in the resource rich countries need a more sedentary life.



    I can't help thinking of those obese human beings on the spacecraft in Wall-E.



    Poor us.



    our creed: Give Me Convenience, or Give Me Death!
  • Reply 17 of 101
    teckstudteckstud Posts: 6,476member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by quinney View Post


    That's pretty ripe coming from someone who has cried an ocean about their AppleTV.



    Big difference. AppleTV was sold (and I bought it ) with promises of integrating and simplifying music and video files to the living room and it has done neither. It's been turned into an iTunes digi$al jukebox. It is harder to find music on it than one's own computer. It's a joke.

    If you know what's not featured on the iPhone yet is on all other phones -yet you buy? And then complain?
  • Reply 18 of 101
    hattighattig Posts: 860member
    Before a future version of Apple's iPhone wakes you up in the morning, it will have downloaded the morning's news feeds and sent a message to your coffee maker to begin brewing a fresh pot. Sadly, you went on holiday 4 days ago, but forgot to disable this function on the iPhone, which has been texting the 'brew' instructions whilst you are sunning yourself on the beach. When you come home, the kitchen is 3 inches deep in coffee that has spilled over the top of the jug.
  • Reply 19 of 101
    Surely they must be speaking about the iPhone as just any phone in general because there's no way Apple is going to design a next-gen iPhone that revolves around AT&T's ideas.



    It's likely Apple and AT&T won't even be doing business with each other by then.
  • Reply 20 of 101
    If AT&T is cool with paying for the WiFi-capable coffee maker, TV and home security and automation systems I'd need to take advantage of ol' Ralphie's daydream, and installation and support for all of the above, then hell, sure.
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