Get a New iPhone Without the Antenna Issue

You say you want a new iPhone, and you don't want to worry about the whole antenna fiasco. Well, have I got a deal for you! What if I said you could get a new (as in not used) iPhone, and rest assured that you wouldn't see signal issues when you hold the phone, and you wouldn't have to put a bumper on the phone. AND you would save $100 at the same time.

If you've never owned an iPhone, or you're looking to upgrade from the original model, there's a solution: buy the new iPhone 3GS 16GB phone for $99. Trust me, it is fast enough and feature-packed enough for most users. If you can live without FaceTime, and the higher resolution camera isn't that important, it's an interesting option. After all, there are already thousands of accessories, many of which will probably go on sale as the iPhone 4 continues to ship in greater and greater numbers.

While the iPhone 3GS did exhibit the same antenna meter reporting issue, with the recent software update, that's a thing of the past.

Get last month's cutting edge phone, save a $100 up front, and by Apple's own admissions, have fewer dropped calls with AT&T than the iPhone 4. 

Today's Press Event: Wow.

I'm not sure we needed a press conference for Steve Jobs to tell a group of journalists that the issue people are experiencing with their phone, is merely the same thing that happens with other phones. Yes, he showed pictures of impressive testing chambers (chambers that are necessary to design the product to FCC specs, not some exotic choice on Apple's part). He also mentioned that "just" .55% of iPhone 4 buyers have called AppleCare to complain of the reception issue. Do most devices have over half of one percent of all owners call support within three weeks? That data might be more truthful and revealing.

If it's such a small number, then it shouldn't be an issue to appease those having the issue. Of course if it's an inherent design issue, then there isn't much you can do for those people until a different design is found.

What's the point of putting so much time into design if Jobs' "pet theory" is that iPhone 3G/3Gs drop fewer calls because they have cases?

All in all, it wasn't Jobs' best performance. There's something to be said for sticking to your guns, but just the way that it felt like the free bumper was being done begrudgingly, felt condescending to customers. If you want to surprise and delight, how about AppleCare for iPhone 4 buyers: build some confidence in the device, rather than offer a bulky plastic case to buyers for a limited time.

Apple's Friday Press Conference: Our Expectations

First, a note to the TDL mailman: Please stop losing our invites to official Apple events. Now then...

Apple has announced they will hold a press conference on Friday, regarding the iPhone 4. What could possibly come from this unorthodox (for Apple) event?

One of the most obvious questions is, will this be a press event, or a press conference? Despite being billed as the latter, will the press really be free to ask questions as one would expect in any other conference, or is conference simply being used in place of "event" to denote this is not a positive news event?

Second, will there be an iPhone 4 recall? Well others have argued quite logically that giving users free bumpers would solve the issue, and cost Apple significantly less than a full recall. Think about how much fun the Apple community would have at the expense of say, Dell, if they shipped a product that only optimally worked without a silly band of plastic around it. Apple will most likely offer some sort of fix to users that doesn't require the use of plastic. While I doubt that's a full recall, perhaps they've found a way to make an in-store adjustment to the metal portion of the phone and fix the issue.

Then again, this might simply be to announce iOS 4.1 which "addresses" the issue by showing fewer (but taller) bars. I can't imagine Apple would be that foolish this late in the game, unless the software update truly fixes the underlying issue, which seems somewhat improbable right now.

Hey, Anyone Here Good With Antennas?

By now, you've surely heard the reports that some, but by no means all, 4th gen iPhones are exhibiting an issue with lost cell signal when held a certain way, notably in the left hand. The word from Steve Jobs himself was that there wasn't any problem, and he advised people to hold the phone differently. Apple released a statement that it was common among many cell phones to signal attenuation when held certain ways, then came word that a fix could be forthcoming.

Well call it a coincidence, or a rush to action, but engadget has uncovered that on June 23rd, the same day the issue surfaced, Apple posted multple job listings for antenna engineers.

Do you think someone was canned over the antenna performance, or was it just time for Apple to scoop up a few more bright people for the team?

Behind the iPhone's big weekend

Apple has announced they have sold 1.7 million units of the iPhone 4 over the weekend. Oh, and that didn't include Sunday sales. Remember, it took 80 days for the iPad to get to sales of three million, and reports indicate the iPhone 3GS had sales of just about one million in the same amount of time it has taken the iPhone 4 to reach the 1.7million mark.

What's going on here? Many sites have attributed the increase to iPhone upgraders: first and second-generation iPhone owners making the upgrade. My observations indicate something bigger is at work here, and it has happened before.

When the iPod launched, it had modest success at first. Sure Apple fans thought it was a great design, but the price point and Mac-only compatibility kept growth in check. By the the time the third-generation iPod rolled around, people who had never purchased an Apple product before were lining up. What happened, from what I could tell working the front lines of an Apple Store in those days, was the iPod crossed over from the world of early adopters, and into the hands of everyday consumers.

In the lead up to the iPhone 4 release, I noticed many of my less tech-savvy friends were talking about the phone on facebook, twitter etc. People I thought would never buy an iPhone, heck some who had never bought an iPod, were looking forward to this launch. Why now? Why is this the iPhone to make the leap to a more mainstream audience? When the iPhone originally launched, it was a smart phone. Not only that, it was one of the "smartest" smart phones: many of the features, like internet and email on the go, seemed like needless luxuries to a large portion of phone-buying consumers. Fast forward to 2010, and many more phones offer a mobile internet experience. Sure on the surface this means more competition for Apple, but for the average consumer, it helps to sell these features as a standard part of a phone today. And if you're going to get a "standard" phone, you might as well get the one your friends have been talking about over the last few years.

iPhone sales were by no means slow over the last few years, but it looks like iPhone 4 has reached a tipping point. Let's hope AT&T is ready for the onslaught of new smartphone customers.