Saturday, July 17, 2010
Apple's iPhone 4 Press Conference : The Lowdown
Posted by
Bumtion Network
Plenty of speculation surfaced over the contents of the iPhone 4 press conference Apple called at a reasonably short notice this week. Many people have put their money on a product recall for what Apple is calling their most successful product launched to date selling 3 million phones since it's launch 3 weeks ago.
At the centre of the recent internet hullabaloo is the antenna issue. If you've been on the internet, you'll know about the fabled "Antennagate" and the "death grip" which drops calls miraculously when held in a particular way (with your left hand). We can safely say that it's not just the iPhone 4, rather lots of phones react badly to being held in such a way that covers the antenna. However the iPhone 4 has the unfortunate privilege for being the only phone with the problem that drops bars just with a touch on the offending area.
EDIT: The tests mentioned after the jump that were carried
out with other smartphones were conducted by Apple and were not
replicated by Lowyat.Net.
EDIT 2: Check the end of the article for RIM's response to
Apple's test with the Blackberry Bold. Let's just say, they're not happy
campers.
At the press conference earlier this morning, Steve Jobs himself
addressed the thinned out crowd (probably from short notice) and was
quick to hammer home the the point that it's not just the iPhone 4 which
suffers from the antenna issue, but (using the examples of the Bold
9700, HTC Droid Eris and Samsung Omnia II), all smartphones too.
Steve also presented some hard numbers to how insignificant the problem
was with the amount of calls to the Apple Care support line regarding
the issue to half a percent as well as the return rates of the iPhone 4
being 1/3 of the 3GS. Also through some experiments Apple ran, they also
found out that the amount of dropped calls compared to the 3GS was less
than 1 more call per 100.
We knew that from testing done by other sites such as the consumerist
report, you could fix the problem with the inelegant solution of duct
taping up the section of the body of the iPhone, or just use a 3rd party
case with the phone. When Steve announced iOS 4.0.1 fixing the
"problem" with the bars not displaying correctly, I was about to
publicly declare my distaste at how Apple handled this problem and
suggest that they just give out free bumpers to everyone. A page refresh
later, that's what I found out they're doing.
For everyone with an iPhone, you'll get a free bumper case, a refund if
you've already got one and for every iPhone 4 purchased through to
September 30th. Since they will probably not be able to make enough
bumpers to satiate the 3 million people who own their phone, they'll be
sourcing other cases and giving the customers the choice. On top of
that, if you are still unhappy with the iPhone 4 for some reason, Apple
is giving a full refund if you return the phone within 30 days of
purchase.
In other news, it was also announced that the iPhone 4 would be
available in 17 other countries come July 30th including our neighbours
Singapore. Unsurprisingly Malaysia was left out, so as with the previous
models, we'll just have to wait more for the phone and the free bumpers
(hopefully) to reach our shores.
While I still don't think giving out 3rd party cases is a proper fix to
the issues at hand, I'll give it to Apple for manning up and doing it.
To quote Steve Jobs in closing "We love our users, we love them. We try
to surprise and delight them" Want to surprise and delight me? Get a
product like the new iPhone / iPad into Malaysia in the first round of
releases. Now that would be a delightful surprise.
RIM's Response
In a direct reply to the Apple press conference where Steve Jobs showed
the Blackberry Bold afflicted by the "grip of death", RIM co-CEO's Mike
Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie issued this rather strongly worded statement
to the world.
"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. RIM is a global leader in antenna design and has been successfully designing industry-leading wireless data products with efficient and effective radio performance for over 20 years. During that time, RIM has avoided designs like the one Apple used in the iPhone 4 and instead has used innovative designs which reduce the risk for dropped calls, especially in areas of lower coverage. One thing is for certain, RIM's customers don't need to use a case for their BlackBerry smartphone to maintain proper connectivity. Apple clearly made certain design decisions and it should take responsibility for these decisions rather than trying to draw RIM and others into a situation that relates specifically to Apple."Oh snap!
Nokia's Response
Nokia also issued a statement about the antennagate scandal despite their phones not being the target of Apples tests. "Antenna design is a complex subject and has been a core competence at Nokia for decades, across hundreds of phone models. Nokia was the pioneer in internal antennas; the Nokia 8810, launched in 1998, was the first commercial phone with this feature.
Nokia has invested thousands of man hours in studying human behavior, including how people hold their phones for calls, music playing, web browsing and so on. As you would expect from a company focused on connecting people, we prioritize antenna performance over physical design if they are ever in conflict.
In general, antenna performance of a mobile device/phone may be
affected with a tight grip, depending on how the device is held. That's
why Nokia designs our phones to ensure acceptable performance in all
real life cases, for example when the phone is held in either hand.
Nokia has invested thousands of man hours in studying how people hold
their phones and allows for this in designs, for example by having
antennas both at the top and bottom of the phone and by careful
selection of materials and their use in the mechanical design."
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