Samsung joins the crowd, rejects Apple's Omnia 2 antenna claims
By Tim Stevens 
posted July 20th 2010 9:31AM
posted July 20th 2010 9:31AM
Why is Samsung being rather more polite? Because it's full of really nice people? Or, is it because the iPhone 4 is stuffed with Samsung memory chips? We'll let your level of cynicism be your guide here.The antenna is located at the bottom of the Omnia 2 phone, while iPhone's antenna is on the lower left side of the device. Our design keeps the distance between a hand and an antenna. We have fully conducted field tests before the rollout of smartphones. Reception problems have not happened so far, and there is no room for such problems to happen in the future.
Was there ever an article in Engadget that was either negative or at least NEUTRAL towards Apple?
Every time I read an article here that has Apple in the title, I expect even by the very last sentence for a kiss on Apple's butt. Even with this article: all they had to do was to mention the reply of Samsung; simple as that! So was the innuendo that Samsung is afraid/dependent of Apple really necessary?
@PKR
Well they're the biggest tech company in the country, ... you expect them to be flailing around ?
@Wesscoast Samsung is the biggest tech company in the WORLD. They don't need to be kissing anybody's butt. Certainly not Apple's.
Moron.
@PKR Engadget doesn't NEED to be negative, that's for all you anti-apple children to take care of FOR them. ;)
Geez can we just end this mess. I seriously have had no problems with my iPhone 4. I purposly can make it lose signal if I death grip it when I have low service anyway. Most of the time i'm holding it in that manner and I lose one bar if anything all. I just wish we could all get on with our lives. Everyone acts like there is some magical combination of network and phone that is going to get them to the holy grail. Just enjoy what you have and shut up. Phones are so annoying now... I heard some girl on the train complaining about her iPhone 4 for an issue that had nothing to do with the Antenna but now everyone is looking for something wrong.
Notorious BIG was right... Mo Money Mo Problems
But it still happens with the omnia II.... This changes absolutely nothing.
Fandroid Sheeps became l33t antenna expertz.
"while iPhone's antenna is on the lower left side of the device."
No, the iPhone antennas are pretty much all around. How can they have missed that?
Next to that they seem to have missed that it's not touching the antenna but touching the spot between the antennas that is causing the problem...
Samsung concluded their statement by saying, "Our customers can hold their devices anyway they like, but we recommend placing your hand over the screen to block our TouchWiz user interface."
I own a Samsung Omnia II, and I never had any reception problems. In fact, I have to hold the phone really tight and cover the lower back entirely for the drop in the signal to happen. In other words, a drop in the signal never happens with normal usage.
Oh and by the way, the only times I have dropped calls, is when I am talking to someone who has an Iphone :-)
@epsilon283
Using part of your quote...
(I've owned three iPhones including the iPhone 4), and I never had any reception problems. In fact, I have to hold the phone really tight and cover the lower back entirely for the drop in the signal to happen. In other words, a drop in the signal never happens with normal usage.'
@johnv
What about the second part of my quote?
And if it doesn't happen with normal usage, why did Steve Jobs apologize then? He could have just proven that it doesn't happen with normal usage instead of asking people to hold their phones differently.
Ok I'm not an Apple fanboy, but this antennagate BS is just getting out of control so here are facts...this is from their owners manual:
"• Ensure that you are not blocking the internal antenna and the Bluetooth antenna. The internal antenna and the Bluetooth antenna are located at the bottom of the device."
All cell phones have this problem move on people....
@washingtonegasgmailcom Yeah the fandroids have done a nice job of perpetuating this myth that iPhone 4 signal magically disapears when you touch it.
They call it the "death grip" because you have to physically chock the phone to lose signal (just like all the phones Apple demoed)
This issue was only noticed because people started obsessing over it and trying to replicate the problem.
I was about to take my i4 back but tried a little experiment instead. I used the phone for 15 days. If I had even one dropped call or no signal in places I had signal before I would return it for an N1 or Captivate.
Much to my satisfaction I had absolutely no problem, plus, I get a free case. I'm satisfied, as are most people who bought the iPhone 4.
The people who aren't happy with the iPhone are the very people who have never even picked one up. It's pathetic. I know better than to talk shit about the Droid or Android phones because they are great and I don't hold childish grudges against a company and masterbate to the image of their failure.
Grow up kids, the iPhone 4 rocks and is wildly popular because it works like a fucking dream dispite the overblown signal issue. If you want people to see the light and convert to android stop being cock suckers about it and let's be friends.
TS. It is subject to the phenomena, in fact their manual warns about it.
apple is one piece of BS I'm waiting for the day thay will die like the kin and s. Jobs should stop thinking is on top of the world and find dumb excuses for antena issue,
I personaly have a iPhone4 and a pixi and I enjoy the web os a lot more, apples molti tasking is not nearly as easy as web os and thare are over enogh things that are a lot better BECIDES the app. Stoe which I am not a big fan of apps. And games
@shmulik
mee to. i has ifone 4 and is bad. appl is BECIDES a stom meak.
my desire:
I can squeeze the hell out of it.
IT wont loose more than 1 line of signal, no matter what.
Wifi(2 lines)
Nokia, i loose way more.
and yes, Iph4 loses reception, even standing 100 feets away from a GSM 3G HDSPA+ sender with a touch of a finger.
My E52 also have bad reception, but not by a touch of a finger, by 3.
there is tons of phones that isnt great at reception, but for some the Iphone 4G might be the death... some most likely have no issues, while others do.
But many iphone owners i know still have the plastic on the front screen and a condom on... their 1stGEN! the electronics and battery break before they have a scratch on them.
No wonder why iphone owners have little problems, when they aint using it as a tool.
ipod is actually one of the mp3 players with most faults around in my country... apple isnt just about quality, 3G was good, no denying, 4G looks sexy, and screen is awesome.
But i like my half the price do the same phone and customizeable too!
Steve lied for sure. The so called "DEATH GRIP" and "SIMPLY BRIDGING THE ANTENNA WITH FINGERTIP" completely different issue. What he is trying to do is to make the world think it is a common issue. Other phones doesn't suffer the iPhone4 problem because they don't put the antenna outside. ONLY iPhone 4 had the issue. The antenna design exposed user to the possible signal_lost@drop_call.
And to support his argument with the stupid animated bar signal make himself look more stupid, or he don't know about dB since Apple is new in phone technology compare to Nokia or Moto.
He is the actual problem, not the i4.
@MilX Pro I've been using my iPhone 4 out in the wild since launch day with no problems at all. And based on the number of returns, and complaints everyone else has been too. How do you explain that? The worst testing anyone can do including Apple is primary testing in an isolation chamber like CR did. Who out there is buying an iPhone for primary use in an Isolation chamber for crying out loud?! I just want to know that my phone works where I need it to work, and that's exactly what it does.
@XChrisX
Congratulation... but the problem is real and in weak signal area, the antenna design worsen it. Except you use bumper, it is more likely you'll experience the signal drop because you touch the antenna, and the design compromised the signal performance for sure.
@MilX Pro So you're saying that this doesn't happen to other phones???
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uVsiAhltY5I&playnext_from=TL&videos=L7mFQO49fYE
Care to pull your head out of your ass?
@NoobsRUs
So you don't get the point right? Other phones don't have issue with finger tip, i4 does, it's unique to i4 isn't it? btw, why your friend in that video 'slap' the phone? Is it new way to hold a phone other than your almighty Steve has suggested. :-))
In order to have reception problems, people have to buy and use the handset. No one buys this phone, so it's hard to claim that the absence of problem reports tells us anything.
And let's not kid ourselves. . .Samsung, Nokia and RIM would all kill for a handset that would sell 3 million units in 22 days, Antennagate or not. Apple mentioning them all is the biggest press they've had in months.
@Perspective Dumbass, Samsung is going to sell 200 million handsets this year. I don't think they give a rat's ass if a single model sells 3 million units.
@bj55555 Yea, whoa cares that Samsung will sell that many shitty dumbphones with no margins. Apple's in the business of making money, not giving phones away.
I wonder why apple didn't include motorola?
Its very telling how every single apple bashing post gets up-ranked and every single apple-defending or even realistically neutral post gets down-ranked.
Bias... massive bias.
Laporte is right. I think HE has lost his marbles.
And he has a voice like a little kid.
I bet he says "Get Off My LAWN" ! A lot.
Samsung is being nice because they're about to have their own phone problem on their hands. It seems like the Vibrant is having reception issues. Perhaps not the same type, but issues nevertheless.
@Bacchus027 - may be a problem but my international Galaxy S doesn't drop any bars no matter how I hold it. I wonder of different variations of the S may be more prone...?
Well I surely can't replicate deathgrip on my Omnia2.
This is ironic because my brand new Samsung Captivate has the exact same problem as the iPhone 4. When I pick it up it usually loses 3-4 bars when I'm at home.
Apples reply to this whole Antenna issue is like what a guy tells his girlfriend when he can't get it up:
"Hey it happens to everyone."
No Apple, you got problems.
I think the antenna attenuation is caused by a skin variance condition. Its ability to affect / absorb the signal may vary keeping the phone and person as constants. Given that to be true, Steve Jobs should have taken multiple phones from audience participants to demonstrate it. Like when someone asked him to reproduce it with his blackberry which Steve did not accept. Imagine if it worked, how embarrassing it would be to Apple.
@Bervick Apple has cell towers all over campus. Verizon even built one there recently and it was reported on this site. This is why lots of iPhone 4 users can't recreate this problem. If you have strong signal (apple campus) or a femtocell you won't notice. Hence the person reporting that their bb couldn't replicate the problem at the apple presser
This is not rocket science. Covering the antenna and squeezing it to death causes attenuation because you are physically blocking the signal with your hand. The affect is more noticeable in a low signal area. This is why it can happen to almost any phone despite everyone saying "mine doesn't".
The iPhone and whatever phone you have in your pocket use antenna tech that isn't much different. The iPhone isn't special, and neither is your phone. They all have/can experience this
This is a fact of life, not something that can be explained away as "it doesn't happen to mine, therefore it doesn't exist"
WONDER WHAT HAPPENED TO ALL THE TESTING THEY DID IN THAT SUPER SECRET LAB OF THEIRS??
My local Apple store is saying that iPhone 4 sales have been increasing exponentially since the AntennaGate scandal. People see that they will be getting a free case if they order before end of September, so they are rushing to buy the phones before Apple "runs out" of cases...LOL.
Really not smart of Steve to throw a supplier in front of the bear to save his own neck. You might end up getting their stock of marginal chips. Even if I wanted an iPhone now, I wouldn't be buying one any time soon.
thank you, engadget!! for hours of entertainment... who needs movies when you have apple threads
"Why is Samsung being rather more polite? Because it's full of really nice people? Or, is it because the iPhone 4 is stuffed with Samsung memory chips?"
Samsung is the market leader in ram manufacturing and has double the market share of it's next competitor. Do you honesty think Samsung would be hurting if Apple got their chips elsewhere?
Not very intelligent thinking.
Apple is making neither friends nor fans with all this crap, I'll tell you that.
@MattsZ What about attenuation with just 1 palm? Does that count?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uVsiAhltY5I&playnext_from=TL&videos=L7mFQO49fYE
There was a time when all antennas were external, they used stick out of the top of the phone and everyone knew not to touch them. It was a simpler time.