France Telecom

France Telecom CEO: gold rush is over, budget iPhone is inevitable

Apple's rumored less-pricey iPhone has been envisioned over and over again in some damn good renderings. The rumor mills have been churning out their fair share of whispers on a regular basis and both the Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg have thrown their credibility behind the meme. But despite all this crazy talk and tremendous speculation, Apple is seemingly unimpressed as the company's marketing honcho kinda shot down the rumor, recently telling the press his company isn't one to blindly pursue market share.

Be that as it may, analysts warn there's only that much room to grow in the saturated high-end smartphone market. Therefore, conventional wisdom has it, Apple's going to need a more affordable device sooner than later. This has now become a sentiment shared by one wireless carrier CEO who cautions of changing consumer behavior as a lot of folks are now unwilling to pay north of $600 for an unlocked smartphone...

Apple is ‘a little less arrogant than they used to be,’ says carrier exec

Faced with intensifying pressure as it vies for supremacy in the highly competitive smartphone market - fighting chief rival Samsung and other vendors left and right - Apple has reportedly softened its stance on carriers and has shifted in how it goes about doing business with the world's wireless carriers, or so thinks one particular wireless industry executive.

Instead of putting on the 'our way or the highway' posture in its dealings with the people who are pushing the iPhone to wireless subscribers, Apple is "a little less arrogant than they used to be," according to France Telecom-Orange CEO Stephane Richard. Here are some choice quotes...

AT&T Working On Smaller SIM Cards Just Like Apple

In an interview at All Things Digital's D9 conference, AT&T CEO Ralph de la Vega hinted that the mobile phone carrier is working on a new, smaller SIM card standard for future smartphones just as Apple is already confirmed to be.

According to AppleInsider, the comment came after All Things Digital's Ina Fried asked about the possibility of a new embedded SIM card as Apple had been rumored to favor, saving valuable space inside ever-shrinking handsets...