Call interrupts meeting between Cook, Softbank CEO

Former Apple CEO and chairman Steve Jobs was doing work for the company on the day before his death, an interview with Softbank CEO Masayoshi Son reveals. "I visited Apple [headquarters] for the announcement of the iPhone 4S," says Son. "When I was having a meeting with [Apple CEO] Tim Cook, he said, 'Oh Masa, sorry I have to quit our meeting.' I said, 'Where are you going?' He said, 'My boss is calling me.' That was the day of the announcement of the iPhone 4S. He said that Steve is calling me because he wants to talk about their next product. And the next day, he died."

"Even one day before he passed away, the first subject he wanted to call Tim Cook about...he wanted to talk about the next product...That's the kind of spirit a true entrepreneur would continue to have until they die," Son comments. "He was very sick, very ill. But the announcement of their newest product made him live longer. Physically he could have died much earlier. But his passion, his love for his own company and dream, about the next products, that made him energized."

It's unknown which product Cook and Jobs were discussing. One possibility is the iPad 3, since the tablet is generally expected to ship in March or April. Rodman & Renshaw analyst Ashok Kumar recently claimed, however, that Jobs had a direct hand in the creation of the next-generation iPhone, even though the product is unlikely to ship until June or July at the earliest.

By Electronista Staff