AT&T is firing on all cylinders at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show, and most of their news is related to the company’s forthcoming 4G LTE plans. Among the companies listed as launching LTE devices in 2012 is Apple -- does that mean what we think it does?
BGR is reporting on AT&T’s big keynote at CES 2011 today, which featured a host of 4G LTE-related announcements, including executive cameos from Motorola, HTC and Samsung. AT&T CEO Ralph de la Vega took the stage to announce that the company “is accelerating its LTE deployment,” with a launch later this year and “complete deployment by 2013.”
While the carrier has 20 some 4G devices that will be introduced this year -- ranging from modems to mobile hotspots and of course, phones -- the real nugget of data is that De la Vega “included Apple in his list of manufacturers set to launch LTE devices in 2010, implying that AT&T will launch a 4G LTE-compatible Apple iPhone next year.”
For those of you playing the home game, that’s likely to be the iPhone 6 and not this year’s fifth-generation model, which is in keeping with recent rumors claiming that Apple plans to sit out the initial 4G launch this year, much in the same way the original iPhone was released sans 3G in 2007.
After giving a preview of Android-powered 4G handsets from Motorola, HTC and Samsung, De la Vega also confirmed the company’s first 4G tablet “will come soon from Motorola,” complete with Android 3.0 “Honeycomb.” The carrier is launching a total of 12 new Android devices in 2011.
Last but not least, De la Vega mentioned that the much-maligned Blackberry Torch has seen “strong” sales and that Windows Phone 7 sales “have increased steadily since its launch,” which probably comes as good news to two of Apple’s mobile handset rivals.
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