Penny Mobiles – Mobile phone news, reviews & information

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.

The black version of the iPhone 4 has kept Apple and their affiliated manufacturers on their feet producing enough to keep up with consumer demand. That being said, there are still those who patiently wait for the white version of the device. At first, people thought it would be released at the same time as the black iPhone 4, seeing a tech journalist sport the device on a review. Unfortunately, it was simply a press unit and was not yet mass produced for consumers.

The delay was attributed to the difficulty in producing white iPhone 4 devices versus the black one. Apple gave a tentative date for those eager to get their hands on the fairer handset which was at the end of July. Unfortunately, the Cupertino based company was not able to meet the deadline and the white devices will still not be appearing in shelves any time soon.

This is truly sad news for those that have put off their Apple iPhone purchase hoping for the alternative color. Those who are in a hurry to get the popular smart phone will still be able to purchase the black variant without any problems. According to Apple’s official statement, the production problems are restricted to the white model.

“White models of Apple’s new iPhone 4 have continued to be more challenging to manufacture than we originally expected, and as a result they will not be available until later this year. The availability of the more popular iPhone 4 black models is not affected”

The “challenge” in manufacturing has apparently spared the black iPhone 4. On the other hand, nobody knows just when the white variant will be released. Perhaps after all the bad press, Apple is busy rearranging the device’s internal parts to make way for a better positioned antenna. Hopefully, when the much anticipated unit gets released, the improvements will not be purely cosmetic.

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.

According to Steve Jobs, the antenna issue is “a challenge for the whole industry”.

Mobile phone users and many mobile phone makers beg to disagree; after all, this is the first time that a device would actually drop calls if its antenna was held. Even in the early days of 2G/GSM devices, Nokia manufactured plenty of mobile phones with visible antennas that literally jutted out of the phone body. Phones like the old Nokia 5110 would still work properly even if the antenna was being touched by the hand.

And in the many years since then, various phone makers have made countless numbers of mobile devices that have not only made the antenna smaller and non-obtrusive, but also equally, if not more efficient.

Companies like RIM, whose BlackBerry Bold 9700 was named directly by Apple as a device affected by antenna issues. What Jobs might have failed to realize that even if the Bold or any other handset loses a bar of signal from touch, none of these phones would drop a call like the iPhone 4 would.

Jobs also failed to realize that RIM would also speak out.

To sum it up nicely, here is a quick excerpt from RIM’s official statement, “Apple’s attempt to draw RIM into Apple’s self-made debacle is unacceptable. Apple’s claims about RIM products appear to be deliberate attempts to distort the public’s understanding of an antenna design issue and to deflect attention from Apple’s difficult situation.”

Nokia has also stated they their company emphasizes a lot on testing their products –including the antenna performance, to ensure the usability of their mobile handsets.

The two companies are not the only phone makers to have made their voices heard. Samsung and Motorola have also spoken out as well. Of the three companies that Apple has directly mentioned in the presentation, only HTC (manufacturers of the HTC Wildfire and Desire, among others) has yet to make a comment (and many believe that it will not be long before that).

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.

And this is the official explanation from Apple as to why people are having dropped calls when using the iPhone 4.

Now, there is no reason to doubt that such as problem exists in the first place. Apparently the code that Apple uses to calculate the signal strength for the handset has been off since a patch was released for the older iPhone. The changes still remain to this day –an effect that seems to have had gotten no reactions from users of the iPhone in the past couple of years.

However, it seems that iPhone 4 users are not so lucky. Despite the simple nature of the signal meter bug, it seems that plenty of people are being lured away to locations with low signal strength. Fooled with the possibility that the reception in the area is actually two to three bars better than what is actually available; users will make calls that cannot establish a proper connection in the area and have their calls dropped.

The bug is both vile and sinister in its nature –and something that does not explain why holding the handset on that small piece of plastic on the side will kill the reception. Well, technically, we all know that holding a handset in a certain way changes its performance. The same is to be said about devices from other manufacturers. But the iPhone 4 is the only one designed in such a way that it actually loses signal strength when held in the left hand in a normal grip.

Despite the fact that Apple is fixing the signal meter to show less bars (which, as they reported, should be the case), it does not really solve the issue. With many new iPhone owners disappointed with the performance of Apple’s newest smart phone, the folks at Cupertino better come up with a better solution.

We pretty much expect every single major mobile phone released to be marked with a couple of weeks worth of issues and troubles. And while it is expected that the Apple iPhone would not be immune from such problems, the types of issues that the handset is having is definitely something that Apple needs to act upon.

The first problem is more of a production issue. Apparently, there is a mixture or adhesive in the smart phone’s touch screen that has not been applied or dried properly which makes it appear as a giant yellowish tint on the display screen. Users have described the issue as bothersome and annoying and many feel that they have been cheated in their expensive purchase.

For a screen that costs Apple plenty of money to make, one would think that the touch screen would be the one part that they got right.

Speaking of parts, it appears that the iPhone 4’s parts costs have been broken by the iSuppli website in order to give people a clear understanding about what parts make the iPhone tick. The screen is one part, the other is the Samsung developed NAND flash memory. Now this part is so far, proving to be very reliant. Hopefully, no issues with the internal memory and battery ever arise.

In other iPhone related news, it appears that the device is also suffering from reception issues. The antenna has been carelessly designed to be easily interfered with if the phone is held in certain parts. The solution for many has been to place the handset in a case or even use nail polish to provide a protective layer for the antenna. In terms of cost, the parts used for the antenna on the iPhone are pretty cheap. Many expect Apple to come out with a more reliable solution to the antenna trouble by next week.