Monday, March 23, 2009, 06:50 pm

AT&T execs said touting new, faster iPhone for mid-June

By Katie Marsal

One or more of AT&T's more senior officials have reportedly slipped important details about the next iPhone, including a June unveiling and a continued emphasis on speed.

Confidently declaring that the information he has obtained is "100% confirmed," Boy Genius says he has heard a formal unveiling for the third iPhone is due in mid-June and that AT&T is now familiar enough with the process that a mid-year iPhone update is "becoming a tradition" at the carrier.

While it's not quite known how familiar the management-level source (or sources) might be with what's contained in the new iPhone, a distinct pattern in the remarks centers on the speed of the handset. According to the remarks, the next model "will be faster" and may well support AT&T's planned upgrade to 7.2Mbps 3G scheduled for this year.

AT&T is also purportedly keen to illustrate how many of the old arguments against the iPhone will have gone away. Customers should buy a smartphone from AT&T based on their personal tastes, according to the carrier, and "the gap in capability should be filled" with the new release -- although it's far from clear whether this refers to in-the-metal features or else the features added through the iPhone 3.0 firmware that will also apply to older iPhone models.

The statements also echo AT&T's vision of integration with TV services and claim an iPhone app is in development that would let users steer the video recorders for AT&T's U-verse digital TV.

Although none of the statements individually challenge existing reports, their believed origins at AT&T do point to a near-repeat of the strategy taken for last year's iPhone 3G, which again was announced in mid-June and revolved around Internet access.

The mention of a June schedule also isn't exclusive to AT&T; UAE provider Etisalat matter-of-factly stated that it would get the next iPhone in June.