Apple posts iPhone 4 press conference video, 'smartphone antenna performance' page
By Donald Melanson 
posted July 16th 2010 2:57PM
posted July 16th 2010 2:57PM
Well, that was quick. Not only has Apple already posted the complete video of today's iPhone 4 presser (minus the Q&A), but it's also put up a special "smartphone antenna performance" page that offers pictures and videos aplenty of the antenna comparisons shown during the press conference. And you didn't think today could get any weirder. Hit up the links below to see for yourself.
Update: We've embedded videos just after the jump of Apple's gamut of antenna tests. The iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, Samsung Omnia II, BlackBerry Bold 9700 and HTC Droid Eris are represented.
Update: We've embedded videos just after the jump of Apple's gamut of antenna tests. The iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, Samsung Omnia II, BlackBerry Bold 9700 and HTC Droid Eris are represented.
I tried this on my HTC Desire and found that the signal does not drop out when I hold it in the death grip.
Personally I have nothing against apple as they make fabulous products but they had to one slip through the quality testing net.
At least they mad up for it so stop bashing the damn iphone and enjoy which phone you chose to buy.
it's good they're giving away that $3 bumper that they wanted to charge $30 for if they had their way. but what happens at Sept 30? no more free bumpers and those customers have to pay the outrageous $30?
its unbelievable that they manage to ruining everybody's life (whoever bought the iphone 4) they have to take time from their life in order to pick up a case for their phone " that has no problems", i actually tested this in my outdated Motorola Cliq and found that that although the OS is not the latest (android 1.5) it does not suffer from losing signal when grabbing the phone "wrong". Just accept it apple, your ambition to be the top seller has ruin your reputation, STICK to Computers!!!
The i-phone sucks anyways, there's nothing great about it, the EVO is 10 times better, with cheaper plans from Sprint, but nobody talks about that.
@Neotyguy40
http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p82/nr01/engadgetbias.jpg
@thaprinze That's because the apple campus has tons of nearby towers and femtocells like Apple and AT&T stores.
Location location location.
This is why not everyone reports this problem with the iPhone 4.
I'm not saying the antenna thing doesn't suck, I'm just saying..... You're wrong
My Palm Pre doesn't lost reception no matter which way I hold it. I suppose that's why Steve left it out of his presentation.
These video are useless. The bar means nothing. Apple clearly stated that in their previous press release. And now they are comparing bars with other phones... What!?!
You can't trust apple, they manipulate information to their advantage. If you want to show that your phone as better reception than other you have to compare the signal attenuation DB wise...
http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/10/06/30/wireless_experts_weigh_in_on_iphone_4_reception_issues.html
Clearly in this test the Iphone 4 is the one that loose the most signal. This is where it matters.
@PancakeMix What makes attacking that very same company any less ridiculous? At least, in the fashion that the vast majority of commenters here are doing it, including yourself.
Did you try the same grip on other phones in the store? Do you have any idea apart from the bar representation what the signal strength is like in that area? Where are you? Again, you offer only anecdotal evidence of a single experience with just the iPhone.
The big question here is just how bad is the attenuation compared to the rest of the phones? Signal strength has another unit, dbm, and is not the easiest thing to measure accurately in a testing environment. I have yet to come across any well constructed test which details the loss of signal in dbm's for the iPhone as compared to other models. Yet, *everyone* is convinced that the iPhone is the absolute worst, no other manufacturer has this problem, and that only Apple is lying about the issue.
But, I *can* produce statements by other phone company execs insisting you can hold your phone any way you like when the very owner's manuals that come with the phone show you which part of the unit you need to avoid touching so as not to interfere with the signal. But I suppose that's not a lie, because it wasn't spoken by Jobs, right?
Yeah, I do only speak up about things like this in Apple threads, but I recognize that this is a problem in any so-called "discussion" on this blog. The standards of proof are shockingly low for anyone who has something negative to say about any hated company whereas someone with an opposing viewpoint pretty much has to have a notarized affidavit from God saying "Yes, this one speaks the truth on the matter." Even then, odds are they'll be downranked into oblivion.
It's not a phenomenon limited to tech either. I see it *everywhere* and it makes me sick to see the hypocrisy, but I spend a lot of my time on the Net trying to keep up with tech news, so this is where I usually overdose on the idiocy and then feel the need to post.
ha
lol @ apple comparing its iphone 4 to the eris. wtf ?
Try comparing it to the Nexus One which is an android flagship phone comparable and even better than the iphone4
I just did.
It went from 4 bars to 3 and then back to 4 all without me letting it go.
and lol @ how the apple dude is squeezing the eris until his finger turns red and holds it down at two bars HOPING that it will go down to one bar like the iphone BUT IT NEVER does. He also grips the eris from the top, bottom and sides.
in contrast be just holds the iphone without gripping it tightly and the second it goes down to 1 bar he immediately lets go.
all this test proves is how disingenuous apple is being about all of this. and how biased their weak tests are.
face it apple your design looks nice but sucks balls. just give out the free cases and be done with it, no need to point fingers like a toddler trying to save himself by blaming shit on their older sibling.
you got sonned
So I just tried holding my HTC myTouch the way they did on the video and also holding the phone to cover all of the sides and even the whole phone, longer even then they did in the video. I saw no signal deprivation. I have also never noticed said signal deprivation in any past phone I have own. This dude must have one of those chambers in his hand.
@DefPoet They are trying to balance how quick they can get information out as compared to how much information they provide. They want you to know things right away, and sometimes it doesn't give them as much time to get all of the information. The additional articles are a good thing.
"You can't use someone else's sins to justify your own."
Who knows that you, apple, don't use some sort of isolator or something to block the signals in the place... 'Cause the signal is decreasing gradually in a perfect manner... while in reality it fluctuates, up and down. This must be a trap you used to justify your failure !!! And 'Com apple we all know you're such a big lier, so just stop it !!
You began with the fool of holding the phone in a wrong way, then miscalculation problem, and now you're drawing others in your own problem.
..and of course, Steve will get away with it because the tech blogosphere will not have the gut to contest it.
The funny thing is that you clearly see the guy holding the phones squeezing them to try and replicate the issue. His thumb even turns red in the one for the Droid Eris. Why didn't anyone complain about any of these phones if they were so bad? Apple all of a sudden magically decides to direct everyone's attention to a problem that never existed until they told us it did, instead of just saying sorry. I'm not surprised because living on Cloud 9 all these years makes it hard for them to accept reality. Their mindshare over people will make them believe this nonsense too, that's the funny part.
Wow Apple is getting desperate trying to draw attention away from the problem at hand.
For a price of roughly 600€ without a contract I am not willing to put a rubber band around it to get it functional in areas without 5 bar coverage.
Posted from an iPhone ;)
@CDice : Agreed... why doesn't my wife's Eris do this crazy level of signal loss? I don't have a video of it, but without the cover on it, she goes from -73dB (3 bars)... then when I hold it like they show on the video (or in any other way) the most loss I can see is down to -87dB (3 bars)
What's are we doing wrong to NOT cause the signal strength loss that Apple is showing?
Im tired of this shit.
MS fanboy, Apple fanboy, whomever...this is all bullshit.
If Apple said during the press conference to introduce the iPhone that they spent time and money researching the antenna and ultimately produced this, WHICH STILL HAS A DAMN ISSUE, then clearly it was poorly designed. Saying that it someone people complained about it and a small percentage returned the phone just brings to light that people will stay with something that has the mindshare of being the "best smartphone" before they consider jumping ship. A concept that is absolutely asinine. Saying that it happens to all smartphones is also a damn cop out. don't try to be better than everyone else by pointing out their downfalls. improve upon your own. come the fuck on this is stupid! WHY ARE WE ALLOWING THIS TO CONTINUE. Why force people to put a bumper on a phone that has been engineered to fucking work? If it was supposed to have a bumper, it should have come with one. DAMN IT.
I have no problem on my HTC Hero and Nokia N97 currently. I also did not notice any noticeable signal problem on all of my other phones: Nokia N82/N95 8GB/N73/E61i, HTC Touch HD, XDA ... Stupid Apple was trying to fool all people around the world ... why not we all keep our hand wrapped before making calls??
They cut out the Q&A???
that is just because the apple's testing for other mobiles was done in a Faraday cage but still they held up and they did the iphone 4 testing in at&t's main office