Big Phone News: Fake Steve Jobs, The Real Best Carrier, and Google Phone

There has been some big phone news within the past few days.

This article by Fake Steve Jobs is hilarious: A not-so-brief chat with Randall Stephenson of AT&T. It contains a lot of profanity, so if that turns you off, you may want to skip it. It is so funny, though. Since the article’s content is fictional, it may be a stretch for me to call this “news.” But, word of the article spread so quickly on Twitter and other social media that it had the appeal that news usually has.

AT&T has been getting slammed in the press for a good while now on problems with its 3G network, and recently was poorly rated by Consumer Reports in comparisons with other wireless providers. It could be that they are getting a bad rap, though. This NYT article makes some good points and claims that AT&T truly does have the best 3G network: AT&T Takes the Blame, Even for the iPhone’s Faults. Quoting from the article:

When I set about looking for independent data, however, to confirm the superior performance of Verizon’s network, I was astonished to discover that I had managed to get things exactly wrong. Despite the well-publicized problems in New York and San Francisco, AT&T seems to have the superior network nationwide.

Perhaps the biggest news is the “announcement” of a Google Phone. Search Engine Land has a good article that summarizes the current information on the phone. One thing that makes this look like a reality to me is that the WSJ is one of the sources claiming that the phone is real. Since it looks like this will be an unlocked GSM phone, it would be compatible with my existing AT&T network, so I would likely buy one just to see how it stacks up against my iPhone. I love competition, and am delighted to see Google attempting to make the current smartphone market more competitive.