iPhone 4 No Worse Than Others ... But Here's a Free Bumper

As if you didn't already know, last Friday at 6 p.m. (10 a.m. Pacific Time), Steve Jobs held a press conference aimed at calming the Antennagate scandal that's been hot news on the web and in the media since the iPhone 4 was released. And Jobs' magic solution is—you guessed it—free Bumpers all round.

For those of you who've been living on a different planet for the last month, I'll briefly explain. Shortly after the iPhone 4 was released bloggers, journalists and disgruntled users noticed that the number of network reception bars shown on the screen started to drop when you hold the iPhone 4 in your left hand, covering a particularly sensitive area between the two antennae, now located in the metal band around the handset.

After releasing a software update to modify the size of the bars, update the reception indicator and the algorithm for calculating when to display the next bar, the problem still seems to persist. We've been hard at work testing our iPhone 4 to confirm this, and will bring you the full results of our tests on Friday.

'Not Unique to the iPhone'

In the end, Steve Jobs didn't really give that much concrete information during last week's press conference. So does the iPhone lose signal strength when held in a certain way? Yes, clearly it does, and tests in an anechoic chamber (like those carried out by the Consumers Union) have confirmed this. Interestingly, though, Jobs defended himself by passing the buck, claiming that the problem is common to smartphones and mobiles in general, and 'is a challenge for the whole industry.' He then went on to demonstrate a similar reception drop when holding the Blackberry Bold 9700, HTC Droid Eris and Samsung Omnia II, the results of which are now published on a special Smartphone Antenna Performance page on Apple's website.

Understandably, the manufacturers cited were less than happy about being dragged into the affair. BlackBerry maker RIM was quick to speak out, declaring that 'Apple's attempt to draw RIM into Apple's self-made debacle is unacceptable' in a rapidly issued press statement. Apart from that, though, sharing out the blame seems a rather surprising way of defending a product.

We did a few quick tests of our own on a range of phones, including smartphones like the HTC Legend, BlackBerry Bold 9700 and HTC Diamond 2, as well as more traditional mobiles like the LG Viewty Arena, Sony-Ericsson v640i etc. Whereas the signal display issue varied from model to model, with our hands wrapped firmly around each model, data rates were no more affected than on the iPhone 4.

No problem, just a solution

Even though Apple's new phone is allegedly no worse than its competitors, the firm has still reacted by proposing a solution to its supposedly non-existent problem. Jobs said that iPhone 4 owners who aren't satisfied with their new phone can return their product for refund. Those who have already forked out £25 for a magic Bumper (Apple's rubber case which mysteriously improves network reception) can get the cost of the case refunded, and Bumper-less users and future customers will receive one free of charge.

While Apple may usually be a master of marketing, their communications strategy for the iPhone 4 has perhaps not been the firm's finest hour, nor has their handling of Antennagate in general. From the overblown advertising claims of a Retina screen, boasting a higher resolution than the human eye (even though not actually the case, the display quality is still very impressive), now the dodgy antenna is being played down by Apple with a mass Bumper operation. And, as if by coincidence, the iPhone 4 happens to be the first generation of iPhone for which Apple has designed its very own case ...


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