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Despite all the fuss and hoopla surrounding Apple’s iPhone 4 antenna, it seems that the market demand for the newly released smart phone has not gone down. It has been almost a month since the official launch of the handset and until today, people are still inquiring with retailers and networks as to when the device will once again be available.

Virtual mobile network operator 3 UK has announced that they will be offering the iPhone 4 this coming Friday, July 30. Many are expected to line up for the device and the operator is already taking scheduled appointments with interested clients. Those who intend to take up the offer or switch to the iPhone 4 would want to contact 3 UK as soon as possible.

The Apple iPhone 4 has been at the center of a big media buzz as complaints about the device’s antenna issues has soared to a point that Apple’s constant denials could not distract users any longer. The folks at Cupertino originally released a short open letter to all iPhone 4 owners before the public pressure forced Steve Jobs to finally concede and provide an active solution.

However, Jobs’ emergency conference did not have the effect that Apple intended. While owners appreciated the gesture of receiving free bumper cases for the handset, the fact that it took Apple over three weeks to find the problem and offer such a basic solution did not sit well with many fans of the brand.

What made matters worse was the mention of other smart phones in Apple’s presentation, which promptly led to other companies making official statements countering what Steve Jobs said.

3 Mobile has not made any mention of the aforementioned antenna issue affecting the handset, but it is believed that new iPhone 4 owners will still need to use the special iTunes app to acquire the free bumper case.

While the public is busy discussing the validity (or rather, invalidity) of Steve Jobs’ claims during the Apple emergency conference, there is something that many people are simply unable to ignore -the statement that the refunds and free case offers would only last until the end of September.

To be more exact, it was specified by Steve Jobs that current users can either refund their case or obtain a new free case until September 30, which alludes to the possibility that at that point, something new will happen.

The logic here is that the “free case” and “refunds” are special offers that Apple is giving out due to the antenna issue. For as long as the antenna issues persists, then Apple is obligated to provide users with a solution (as ineffective as it may be. And yes, Apple is obligated as they have sold a faulty product to users). To state that the offer will only be good until a specific date means that Apple has something up their sleeve.

The initial assessment is that a second batch of iPhone 4 handsets would be ready. These second versions would not be suffering from the same antenna issues. At that point, Apple might even be able to offer a special exchange program for current owners (though that is quite unlikely).

One other rumor that is quite persistent is that October might see the launch of the iPhone 5. This is one rumor that we definitely have to back away from as it is not just unlikely, but is not Apple’s style at all. It is more believable that this could be more than just an iPhone 4 (iPhone 4s perhaps?), but never a full jump to a completely new version that would be labeled as the fifth in the series.

After all, completely replacing the device with an all new model would be the same as Apple admitting their mistake –which is something that the folks at Cupertino can never do outright.

It was not due to lack of testing that the faulty antenna design for the iPhone 4 actually made it to the production. In fact, it was an issue that was already brought up earlier on by one of Apple’s senior engineers and an expert on antenna technology, Ruben Caballero. The information was leaked by a source from within Apple who refused to be named.

With that little trivia known, the only thing we can really ask now is “why Apple, why?”

The iPhone 4 is a major handset. No matter how one looks at it, it has been designed to be the next in line to the throne that was once occupied by the iPhone 3GS. So it makes no sense that Apple would ignore such serious warnings. However, the fact of the matter is that the iPhone 4’s antenna is indeed faulty; the folks at Cupertino could not afford to let such a major flaw be part of the final product.

This is also a major issue internally; after all, experts like Ruben are good at what they do. For their assessment to be ignored and the final product to still have the major flaw they pointed out is an insult to their skills and expertise.

To have this news break out at such as time is also a major blow to the company –as it further undermines their capacity to handle problems with handsets –if they failed to prevent it in the first place, how could people trust them to fix it at all?

In the meanwhile, it is only a few hours before the Apple conference starts and we will finally be able to know what Microsoft has been planning recently. It may have been strange, but at least the emergency conference seems to be focused on dealing with the antenna issue.