We've heard in the past that the Palm Pre would be available at other carriers "next year" sometime after Sprint's exclusivity period is up, and now we have a vague verbal confirmation from AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson that he "sees" AT&T grabbing hold of the Pre once it's available. The remarks were made today at the D7 conference. If this pans out, it fits with rumblings we've heard of the Eos being AT&T's low-end, Centro-style webOS device, with the Pre snapping up the higher end.

[Via Phone Scoop; image courtesy of PreCentral.net]

It's a little silly just how hush-hush this whole iPhone-AT&T exclusivity agreement has been, but now it sounds like it just might be next century before any of you CDMA loyalists are able to indulge in the App Store. According to a fresh report in The Wall Street Journal, people "familiar with the matter" have suggested that AT&T is feverishly working to extend its exclusive agreement to carry the iPhone in America until 2011. Last we heard, the deal was stretched out through 2010, and considering just how many new subscribers are flocking over solely for this phone, can you really blame the guy for wanting another dozen months of bliss? Not surprisingly, an Apple spokeswoman had more to say about her personal life than on these rumors, but if you were really banking on snapping up a Verizon-branded iPhone at the end of next year, you should probably ask someone to blast you with a giant fire hose of reality.

[Via HotHardware]

Apple's deal with AT&T obviously got re-done in order to get the iPhone 3G on the street for a subsidized $199, but it looks like Steve gave in on a little more than revenue-sharing when he re-upped with Ma Bell: USA Today says that AT&T's US exclusive on the iPhone has been extended for an additional year, until 2010. The extension isn't officially announced, but it's being cited in the context of a long interview with AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson, who's quoted as saying things like "The iPhone has repositioned AT&T as the premier wireless brand in the world." So yeah, dude's a fan -- and with iPhone customers spending almost double on rate plans than the average AT&T customer, it's not hard to see why. Looks like our dream of glorious data plan price wars will have to wait until Android makes a splash later this year.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Even 6 months ago, it would have been inconceivable to imagine the CEO of the biggest cellphone operator in the US sniping at its primary competitor's hints at becoming more open. The key point being that none of the cellphone operators in the US are actually "open" by any objective definition, so maybe AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson should have bitten his tongue rather than stating that his company is "probably one of the most open networks in the world," in a mild rebuke to Verizon's open network plan for 2008. Also Randall, stating that "all of the handsets we sell are Java-equipped" might be a little unwise considering that AT&T's flagship handset, and probably the most widely publicized handset (ever?) is clearly not. At least the debate is moving forward: hopefully his statement that "[all carriers] are all going to be open over time" will come to fruition with a little more gentle prodding coupled with the occasional kick up the arse.

[Image source]

USA Today wasn't the only publication to get some alone time with Steve Jobs and Randall Stephenson yesterday, Wall Street Journal has an interview of its own up this morning, with Jobs at his most candid -- which really isn't saying a lot. Most pressing on the mind of hundreds of uber-fans across the country is the kind of supply Apple will have available today. Steve didn't spill any numbers, but he confesses that "We're building a fair number of them, but we may not [meet demand]... We've taken our best guess but it wouldn't surprise me at all if it ain't enough." Let's just hope it's not the riots in the streets brand of not enough. Mr. Jobs and Mr. Stephenson also touched on some other interesting topics, with Steve talking with a particular bent toward corporate America, comparing the EDGE speed of the iPhone to a BlackBerry: "You know every (AT&T) BlackBerry gets its mail over EDGE." He also expects a slew of third party corporate apps, saying: "I think the majority of applications people are going to write for the iPhone are going to be things that corporations like." Steve and Randall also seem to be particular fans of WiFi-based VoIP, and while the iPhone certainly isn't supporting that out of the box, it seems like it could be a big thrust for Apple and AT&T going forward.

[Via InfoWorld]

Thankfully for us all, the iPhone launch is but hours away, and what better way to make those last second decisions on braving the crowds (or not) than to read over what's likely to be the last pre-iPhone-launch interview with both Apple and AT&T's head honchos? Sitting down with USAToday, Steve Jobs and Randall Stephenson faced a number of dutiful questions, and a few of the answers were intriguing to say the least. Besides bragging about revolutionizing the mobile phone industry and finally producing "a phone people like," the duo noted that the 6:00PM launch time was chosen to give "everyone the same shot" at nabbing one, and they both made it seem like shortages wouldn't be too much of an issue. Most noticeable was the dodging of the inevitable EDGE inquiries, as both execs spent more time boasting of the iPhone's ability to "fluidly switch from EDGE to WiFi" than actually responding to the "sluggish" criticism received thus far. Furthermore, Jobs noted that Apple was already working with a number of companies in regard to corporate email, and while he wouldn't budge when questioned about an overseas release, he did state that "selling 10 million" during its first year was a "realistic goal."

We knew he was coming, and now his coronation is almost complete: Randall Stephenson becomes the new CEO of AT&T on Monday. Now that ex-CEO Ed Whitacre is probably off on a cruise somewhere, Mr. Stephenson takes the reigns of the company just as it's about to head full on into the month of the iPhone. Lots of corporate speak about innovation and caring about the customers is undoubtedly abound, so we'll spare you. As Stephenson is moving up from the Chief Operating Officer role and has been described as the former CEO's "understudy," we can't imagine that he'll be taking any massive steps away from the company's comfort zone. We'll find out soon enough, as Stephenson is scheduled to keynote the NXTcomm on June 19 in Chicago: any bets on whether he'll flash an iPhone? Oh wait, he already did, just like seemingly every other exec at AT&T.

Hey, hey, iPhone fans, guess what. The iPhone is like, totally here at CTIA. The bad news? It's not exactly tethered to a display case or even enclosed in glass as it was at MWSF -- it was dutifully and briefly whipped out by AT&T COO Randall Stephenson, who showed a video demo (not on the phone itself) and let everybody know AT&T had received over a million customer inquiries regarding the iPhone. How many of those will transform into sales we don't know, but damned if they don't have peoples' attention.