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1. 

   dienasty
   Admin

   Reputation:821

    

   So I'm not sure if you've heard the news - but word has it that the new iPhone 4 has reception problems, due to the way the antenna is set up on the phone (read: at the bottom, and on the two sides). So there's been a spate of videos:

   and a number of people who emailed Steve Jobs about the problem, and Jobs replied:

   Gripping any phone will result in some attenuation of its antenna performance, with certain places being worse than others depending on the placement of the antennas. This is a fact of life for every wireless phone. If you ever experience this on your iPhone 4, avoid gripping it in the lower left corner in a way that covers both sides of the black strip in the metal band, or simply use one of many available cases.

   And also a shorter version:

   Just avoid holding it that way.

   And so this guy does the obvious, which is to take images of all the official Apple demos, and put them together in one blog under the title: "Just avoid holding it that way":

   
   
   
   
   
   

   HEHEHEHE =D

   Posted 2 months ago #
2. 

   orenzai
   Member

   Reputation:479

    

   haha I stumbled upon the reception problem article. I posted it on the previous thread. From the video that engadget posted, the reception went from 5 bars to just 1 bar left. And then when he releases his grip off the left hand corner the phone goes back to 5 bars. Dyu think using a casing will help?

   Posted 2 months ago #
3. 

   dienasty
   Admin

   Reputation:821

    

   I think it may help. But I'm beginning to realize that signals are a very precise, kinda cool science - from this antenna blog:

   Just about every cell phone in current production has the antenna located at the bottom. This insures that the radiating portion of the antenna is furthest from the head. Apple was not the first to locate the antenna on the bottom, and certainly won't be the last. The problem is that humans have their hands below their ears, so the most natural position for the hand is covering the antenna. This can't be a good design decision, can it? How can we be stuck with this conundrum? It's the FCC's fault.

   You see, when the FCC tests are run, the head is required to be in the vicinity of the phone. But, the hand is not!! And the FCC's tests are not the only tests that must be passed by a candidate product. AT&T has their own requirements for devices put on their network, and antenna efficiency is one of them. I know because I have designed quad-band GSM antennas for the AT&T network. The AT&T test similarly does not require the hand to be on the phone.

   The article goes into some detail on how and why the iPhone is built the way it is, and how to improve on the signal. It's pretty good; you should go read it. =)

   Posted 2 months ago #
4. 

   orenzai
   Member

   Reputation:479

    

   So, basically there cant be a fix for this problem without redesigning the whole iPhone, eh? Whats ironic is that by using your left hand to grip the phone, which is what most users will do, which will make calls drop and etc, why didnt the design department take into account of this before putting it into production? Worst still, the ads are all demonstrated using left hand grips. LOL

   Posted 2 months ago #
5. 

   orenzai
   Member

   Reputation:479

    

   http://i.imgur.com/zAJ0y.jpg
   (too big for the forum)

   here is a post of 101 youtube videos of users "holding it the wrong way". hahaha

   Posted 2 months ago #
6. 

   Kubuk
   Member

   Reputation:325

    

   Its the same with 3gs. It doesn't apply to the iphone4g only. The way you hold it is something. But OS 4.0 has something to do with it too. After downgrading, I get better reception.

   Posted 2 months ago #
7. 

   orenzai
   Member

   Reputation:479

    

   Yep, Andrew you're right. There will be a fix for this problem in the coming update.

   http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/10/06/25/death_grip_hysteria_may_end_monday_with_ios_4_01.html

   Posted 2 months ago #
8. 

   dienasty
   Admin

   Reputation:821

    

   I'm not convinced a software fix will be able to solve this problem - but I'll have my fingers crossed.

   (Ars Technica says that Apple thinks it's a wavelength problem. They, too, aren't very convinced it would help much).

   Posted 2 months ago #
9. 

   aquavires
   Member

   Reputation:117

    

   An easy fix seems to have been found: Prevent contact between the skin and the antenna. How? Nail polish (or tape)!

   Posted 2 months ago #
10. 

    orenzai
    Member

    Reputation:479

     

    http://www.engadget.com/2010/07/16/live-from-apples-iphone-4-press-conference/

    I think it was very immature and stupid of Steve Jobs to be "inviting" all the other big players in the industry to almost certainly put Apple on the chopping board.

    Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs, responding to the complaints, said that the entire smart phone industry shared such reception problems, naming specifically Research in Motion, Samsung Electronics and HTC Corp.

    "This is life in the smart phone world. Phones aren't perfect. Most every smart phone we tested behaved like this," added Jobs.

    RIM's reply:

    "One thing is for certain, RIM's customers don't need to use a case for their BlackBerry smart phone to maintain proper connectivity," stated RIM's executives.

    And then I googled for a bit and found that Apple put this up on their website.

    What is your opinion towards Steve's response to the antenna issue?

    RIM, HTC, Nokia, Motorola, & Samsung are all out to get back at Apple now. :P

    Posted 1 month ago #
11. 

    Lord
    Moderator

    Reputation:149

     

    I think the latest retarded idea from Stevie was to give freebie casings to the people who bought the Iphone? But only up till a certain date? Which means if your retarded enough to buy it after that date, you will then have to buy the casing on your own. Buyer beware?

    Does anyone think it strange that another way to avoid this farce for the Iphone would be to use a hands free accessory? Which would be stupid for such a sexy phone you just want to hold and look at with its oh so wonderful touch screen.

    Posted 1 month ago #
12. 

    orenzai
    Member

    Reputation:479

     

    Lord,
    The world also has the same thing in mind as you do. Which is why one of the first questions of that press conference was about the free bumpers.

    11:25AM Q: Will the bumper offer extend outside of the US?
    A: Yes.
    Q: And beyond September 30th?
    A: We'll evaluate.

    The free bumpers were the least they could do to calm the crowd down. Its the retarded marketing strategy of Jobs to point the finger at the whole smartphone industry for its very "common" antenna problem. Antennagate is what they call it.

    Posted 1 month ago #
13. 

    dienasty
    Admin

    Reputation:821

     

    But only up till a certain date? Which means if your retarded enough to buy it after that date, you will then have to buy the casing on your own. Buyer beware?

    Gizmodo/Engadget is currently receiving reports of new iPhone 4s having a thin coating around the antenna, so I'm going to assume that beyond that date, all iPhone 4s produced would have that coating to prevent attenuation. Apple's not stupid, you know.

    That said, this Taiwanese news reproduction is probably the funniest thing I've seen on the issue, ever:

    Posted 1 month ago #
14. 

    orenzai
    Member

    Reputation:479

     

    Woa! Glad that you showed me that video. I read like 1 hour + on the whole Jason Chen story. Nice!

    Posted 1 month ago #

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