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Where’s the Trump Phone? We’re going to keep talking about it every week. We’ve reached out, as usual, to ask about the Trump Phone’s whereabouts. As usual, we’re still waiting for a response. In the meantime, it turns out we might have two Trump Phones to worry about.
The Trump Phone may be no more than a whisper in the wind, but Trump Mobile is already planning a second. One of the company’s top executives revealed in an interview that a “T1 Ultra” is also in the works, though we know even less about it than we do about the first phone.
The unexpected comments were made by Don Hendrickson, one of the three executives Trump Mobile brought out on stage at the service’s launch, described then as its head of mobile operations. Last November, he spoke to trade publication Wireless Dealer Magazine in an interview that has so far gone largely unnoticed, but ends with a tantalizing tease of the company’s future hardware.
“Our next major step is the launch of the T1 Ultra.”
“We’re focused on evolving with our customers by offering even more powerful tools that fit their lives,” Hendrickson said. “Our next major step is the launch of the T1 Ultra — a premium device that builds on the success of the original T1 with enhanced performance, upgraded features, and the same bold, American-proud design.”
“The T1 Ultra will offer a top-tier user experience while staying true to our mission of combining value, functionality, and patriotic branding. As we expand, expect to see more integrated services, exclusive perks, and new product tiers — always centered around the same promise: delivering more than just wireless and doing it the Trump℠ Mobile way,” he added.
There’s a lot to unpack here. First is the claim to be building on “the success of the original T1,” a phone that is now five months late and counting, sparking Democratic lawmakers to write to the FTC asking it to investigate. Can an unlaunched phone really be a success? I suppose it depends how many $100 deposits the company has taken, though as I reported last week, we still don’t know what that figure looks like.
The regular T1 Phone is still MIA. Image: Trump Mobile
Unsurprisingly for a phone to be branded “Ultra,” the new handset will apparently have “enhanced performance” and “upgraded features,” though Hendrickson is vague on the details. The original T1 promises budget specs at a midrange price — though we still don’t know some core elements like what chipset it uses — so there’s plenty of room for an Ultra to improve on it.
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