Due to public pressure regarding the iPhone 4 "death-grip" antenna issues, Apple has folded and announced they'll offer free iPhone 4 cases to everyone.
If you had already paid for a bumper, you'll get a full refund. And, as they say they can't make enough Bumpers for all, they'll also offer 3rd party cases for you to choose.
Personally, I find this all deal... surreal!
There's a lot of thing Apple is/should be criticized about... but this all "antenna issue"... I can't agree with it.
Ever since I heard the first antenna issues I was kind of puzzled; what's new with the signal strength being affected by the way you hold your phone?
I even went as far as recording a video showing the exact same effect in the device I had at hand at the moment: an HTC Desire.
It's plain physics... you place an obstacle between a transmitter and a receiver... and the signal drops. Physics 101.
Ok, so the iPhone 4 suffers more if you carefully place your hand in such a way that reduces its antenna performance even further... big deal!
The thing is... people forget that with those same external antennas, the iPhone 4 can now make calls in places any previous iPhone couldn't! Why doesn't that get the same "press"?
In fact... if this is indeed such a *big* problem, why are there only 1.7% of people returning their iPhone 4s? (less than the previous models.)
It's kind of sad, when 1% of complaints on the internet cause such major fuss worlwide... to the point of making anyone tired of trying to explain why/how/what is really happening.
(Some have already admitted they contributed to this whole "out of proportion" issue.)
Even Apple itself was forced to create a smartphone antenna performance page... where you can see the exact same effect in other devices (HTC, Samsung, Blackberry)... devices that never received any flak about this issue.
... oh well.
P.S. If you're still reading this, and all you can think is... when I can i get my white iPhone 4... looks like they're due to arrive at end of the month - in limited quantities, be warned..
This article is personal opinion and slanted to an Apple-bias, in my opinion. It omits the fact that the antenna issue native to the iPhone 4 is due to the antenna being exposed, for example, and how touching the exposed antenna affects signal reception (and hence, why the bumper-case will enhance signal performance). The article's author even pushes for sales of the next iPhone 4 in a white color at the end. (Is he an Apple salesman or does he receive kickbacks from Apple? One has to wonder.)
ReplyDeletePlease, just the facts. Give us the positives and the negatives and let us decide for ourselves what best suits our needs. We consumers need to be informed, but not blindly led to a conclusion. Thanks!
Well, we're all entitled to our own opinions, and that's why people interpret it their own way even when looking at the same facts.
ReplyDeleteFact: the iPhone has an external antenna, giving it better reception than ever.
Fact: touching the antenna will alter its performance, to various degrees, including the worst case scenario when you "bridge" the two different antenas while covering the bottom area.
Fact: even while doing that worst case scenario you can do calls and transfer data providing you have a decent cell coverage.
Fact: if the signal strength is low, the attenuation cause by touching it in that spot can indeed make your call drop.
Fact: I've been using my iPhone regularly and have yet to face a single call drop in regular use (I did manage to drop one call while testing the "spot" - in a place where my 3GS constantly drops calls even without "touching".)
Fact: in that same place, I proved *any other* mobile device also drops calls/signal depending on how you hold it (as if this was something new - and hence my "awe" watching this all isse being blown out of proportion.)
Come on... I've been having cell phones for decades, ever since we had to check cell coverage maps first, had to pull out external antennas, and transmitters were measured in the 4 and 8W power ratings.
If no one ever noticed this signal dropping depening on how you hold it is either because:
a) you never bothered to look
b) you're in a place where it doesn't really matter
With the iPhone 4, the exact same things are true.
Again, I just find odd that everyone clings to the "finger" issue, and no one bother with the "Hey, I can make call in places I couldn't before!"
But again... those are just "facts"...