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Apple Takes on Droid X With Latest Smartphone Antenna Video

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Out of my 8 friends & I who got our iPhone 4s on launch day... Not one of us can force our phone to drop bars, let alone a call, from gripping it differently. Even using 2 hands. Crazy. We've gotten 4 more friends to purchase them also. This is fun to watch though.
 
TheGambler22 said:
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_0_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/532.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Mobile/8A306)

Out of my 8 friends & I who got our iPhone 4s on launch day... Not one of us can force our phone to drop bars, let alone a call, from gripping it differently. Even using 2 hands. Crazy. We've gotten 4 more friends to purchase them also. This is fun to watch though.
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Thank you, good sir :)
 
Mattie Num Nums said:
Wrong. I have the original iPhone and an EVO. The EVO is on par to the current iPhone they are just different. Its like the Ford vs Chevy argument.
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Where ford is good and chevy sucks right?

BTW just in case people want to know, I am typing this while death gripping my iPhone 4 while at the core of the earth.
 
TheGambler22 said:
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_0_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/532.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Mobile/8A306)

Out of my 8 friends & I who got our iPhone 4s on launch day... Not one of us can force our phone to drop bars, let alone a call, from gripping it differently. Even using 2 hands. Crazy. We've gotten 4 more friends to purchase them also. This is fun to watch though.
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Obvious :apple: plant :cool:
 
Markisss88 said:
lol this makes me lauph.....you my friend should do some research.
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Aye, I'm trading my iP4 in due to "the problem" partly because it's an inconvenience for me and partly out of principal at Steve Job's condescension about such low return rates and "all phones do this" comments - If I didn't think there was a decent alternative I would keep the phone. I've spent a good couple of hours messing around with my friend's HTC Desire with Android 2.1 and yes, in some ways iOS4 is better, but in many ways the Android system is better - the phone is definitely faster, the widgets are great and hell - it can even play Flash. With the 2.2 update coming I think it will surpass iOS4 as tests are already showing (pure speed and processing, iOS still has a slight interface advantage). iPhone users should pull their heads out of the ground (to be polite), the World has caught up. I felt exactly the same way about the iPhone until I tried the HTC and it firmly grounded me back in reality.
 
If you hold the phone using the death grip you need to have your hand chopped off - there is no reason to be man handling a device like some sort of knuckle dragging ape. Btw, I would be saying this regardless of the phone vendor.

Btw, whilst all you suckers have been paying NZ$800 for a phone, I can use my NZ$149 which ever way I want and I can tether it without having to pay a special privilege fee for it.


Jimrod said:
Aye, I'm trading my iP4 in due to "the problem" partly because it's an inconvenience for me and partly out of principal at Steve Job's condescension about such low return rates and "all phones do this" comments - If I didn't think there was a decent alternative I would keep the phone. I've spent a good couple of hours messing around with my friend's HTC Desire with Android 2.1 and yes, in some ways iOS4 is better, but in many ways the Android system is better - the phone is definitely faster, the widgets are great and hell - it can even play Flash. With the 2.2 update coming I think it will surpass iOS4 as tests are already showing (pure speed and processing, iOS still has a slight interface advantage). iPhone users should pull their heads out of the ground (to be polite), the World has caught up. I felt exactly the same way about the iPhone until I tried the HTC and it firmly grounded me back in reality.
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Android also has the ability to choose from a variety of vendors but the downside is this; if you own a HTC Hero you aren't going to get an update even though your phone is less than a year old. That isn't an isolated incident btw - for all of Apple's 'sin's', at least a phone a year old can still get the iOS 4 update. Keep that in mind next time you swoon around your friends Android which will be left high and dry with the next release of Android.
 
LagunaSol said:
Should Apple sit by as Moto/Verizon run ads saying you can hold the DROID X "any way you like" - a point which, as we've seen in video evidence (from Apple and actual DROID X users), is not true at all?
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That's not true. There is no video evidence from actual DROID X users that shows you can't hold the Droid X anyway you like. I've found one (1) youtube video, where the guy's been able to go from 2 bars to 0 bars with a death grip, but the phone still does not drop a call or drops data.

Conclusion: You can hold the phone anyway you like - even if you're left handed (woohoo).
 
macintoshtoffy said:
If you hold the phone using the death grip you need to have your hand chopped off - there is no reason to be man handling a device like some sort of knuckle dragging ape. Btw, I would be saying this regardless of the phone vendor.

Btw, whilst all you suckers have been paying NZ$800 for a phone, I can use my NZ$149 which ever way I want and I can tether it without having to pay a special privilege fee for it.




Android also has the ability to choose from a variety of vendors but the downside is this; if you own a HTC Hero you aren't going to get an update even though your phone is less than a year old. That isn't an isolated incident btw - for all of Apple's 'sin's', at least a phone a year old can still get the iOS 4 update. Keep that in mind next time you swoon around your friends Android which will be left high and dry with the next release of Android.
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Well the Desire at least is getting 2.2 as it's been confirmed. I'm not an Apple hater and I'll give props to them on things like that but as many have experienced it's not always an advantage to get the latest software - the iOS 4 update to my old 3G seems to have introduced a second or two lag to every input (despite being improved initially by a reset from being drastically slower). Like I said iOS and Android both have plus points, when the iPhone 3G came out it was miles ahead of the competition, it's evolved gradually while the competition has been catching up in leaps and bounds - you have real choice now and to say Android is vastly inferior is a little naive (other posters, not you in particular), sure the HTC phone's aren't perfect, battery life is nowhere near as good as an iPhone 4 (I expect this is also the reason for the HTC being faster in side by side comparisons, Apple usually "underclock" a little to save the battery, sensibly) but then their less "nannying" mentality means you can always change the battery.

Both systems are good, there's no clear winner now - check out group tests and reviews and things are no longer black and white, competition is a good thing. If the iPhone 4 didn't cause me issues when it's in my left hand or pocket I'd gladly keep it, my 3G always worked under those conditions and I never complained about it in any forum, only praise it - coincidence?
 
macintoshtoffy said:
Android also has the ability to choose from a variety of vendors but the downside is this; if you own a HTC Hero you aren't going to get an update even though your phone is less than a year old. That isn't an isolated incident btw - for all of Apple's 'sin's', at least a phone a year old can still get the iOS 4 update. Keep that in mind next time you swoon around your friends Android which will be left high and dry with the next release of Android.
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The HTC Hero got Android 2.1.
 
MorphingDragon said:
The touchscreen is a perfectly adequate conduit from man to machine by way of thumbs
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No, it isn't. A 3.5" thumb touch screen is not an adequate general purpose computing input or output device. It is a reasonable compromise for a limited subset of computing tasks.

By your logic, I could also say that any computer running windows is not a real computer as it lacks the opportunity for control, ditto for Mac OSX.
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(1) It's a computer running Windows/OS X - it still has general purpose I/O, the ostensible ability to remove Windows/OS X if I choose, etc.; (2) Windows/OS X give you a far greater degree of control than the iPhone's operating system.

Did you seriously compare a keyboard to an entire computer?
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Not yet. I had commented that a keyboard or some other similarly worthy input device is an essential component of a "computer" in the sense in which the term "computer" is commonly used. I then used the Model M keyboard as an example of an input device on top of which we haven't seen much mainstream advancement over the past 2.5 decades.

The iPhone doesn't have keyboard hardware internals.
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The iPhone is not a computer. But now what you seem to have been asking for: if you argue that anything which computes is a computer then the Model M keyboard is a computer. What else is the 8048/8051 microcontroller therein?
 
It's amazing how many Apple h8trs suddenly found religion and began preaching that Apple should turn the other cheek (Matthew 5:38-40).
 
Max(IT) said:
Psst ... I will give you a secret: all phones need an antenna, and placing it inside a thin plastic cover don't change the attenuation issue so much.
Apple's videos are just demonstrating that ...
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Look, half those grips on the other phones are ridiculous. Who would grip a phone when using it so that their fingers cover the front of the phone? NO ONE DOES THAT!

The difference is, with the iPhone 4, the grip that results in attenuation is one that a normal person would normally use during normal daily use. With the other phones, a lot of the times, the grip is some ridiculous grip.

So, signal attenuation may not be a design flaw. Experiencing it during normal use is. That's the iPhone 4 issue.

Jobs' response is just silly. Everyone knows it's an issue. If your customers perceive it as an issue, IT IS ONE! That's the bottom line.

Apple is pulling a Toyota (with, albeit, much less dangerous consequences...).
 
macintoshtoffy said:
Android also has the ability to choose from a variety of vendors but the downside is this; if you own a HTC Hero you aren't going to get an update even though your phone is less than a year old. That isn't an isolated incident btw - for all of Apple's 'sin's', at least a phone a year old can still get the iOS 4 update. Keep that in mind next time you swoon around your friends Android which will be left high and dry with the next release of Android.
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and what about all those millions of iOS devices that can get iOS4, but without multi tasking and customizable background? you know, the only real reason to update? sure, i was able to update to iOS4, but all i got was the ability to make folders and a slow-ass device.
 
Shasterball said:
Look, half those grips on the other phones are ridiculous. Who would grip a phone when using it so that their fingers cover the front of the phone? NO ONE DOES THAT!

The difference is, with the iPhone 4, the grip that results in attenuation is one that a normal person would normally use during normal daily use. With the other phones, a lot of the times, the grip is some ridiculous grip.

So, signal attenuation may not be a design flaw. Experiencing it during normal use is. That's the iPhone 4 issue.

Jobs' response is just silly. Everyone knows it's an issue. If your customers perceive it as an issue, IT IS ONE! That's the bottom line.

Apple is pulling a Toyota (with, albeit, much less dangerous consequences...).
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Answer to your question is that pretty much everyone making videos showing iPhone4 losing bars are holding their fingers in front of the phone. In some videos their fingers are going white from gripping the phone hard.. I often naturally hold my phone with left hand, but never clutching in the way demonstrated in these videos, unless I walk through a dodgy area and want to avoid some 13 year old snapping it out of my hands..
 
gturban said:
Answer to your question is that pretty much everyone making videos showing iPhone4 losing bars are holding their fingers in front of the phone. In some videos their fingers are going white from gripping the phone hard.. I often naturally hold my phone with left hand, but never clutching in the way demonstrated in these videos, unless I walk through a dodgy area and want to avoid some 13 year old snapping it out of my hands..
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Like here? - http://www.youtube.com/user/jluce1976#p/a/u/1/ff6RBiClfEI
 
Veri said:
"No but yes"? My individual experience is irrelevant.


This is the room for an argument. That's why there are over 1000 responses to this news item. I've given an example of a statistic. If you're bored you can read through some posts I made a few days ago about use of logic vs statistics in American business.


No, it doesn't. No-one's even come close to suggesting that the 'phone is "a piece of crap". That straw man was about as expected as... well, nobody expects it.

The theory suggests that the signal will be significantly attenuated if you directly touch the antenna, more so if you bridge two antennas. This will drop data transfer rate, reducing data transfer and/or call quality. In a sufficiently marginal area typical of the places I tend to be, this means lots more dropped calls.


And now we're on to Apple's straw man. There is no "attenuation problem" (emphasis fanboys') on "all phones". Unlike the Inquisition, this behaviour is entirely expected, minor and has been compensated for on all 'phones since, well, the first brick - notice what Cooper isn't doing with that antenna?


What method are you using to objectively measure signal strength change and practical effects?


I've heard arguments about incorrectly pluralising "anecdote", but now we have a new singular form.


Android isn't flourishing with artistic beauty, but I prefer the Android calculator icon as far as usability. I want a calculator, and the icon depicts one of the simplest possible recognisable representations of a calculator. The latest OS X icon shows a selection of four of the buttons on a (non-RPN) calculator, one of which (was two) is represented differently on a computer's numeric keypad.

Also, I hate it when people change icons just because. They're supposed to be representative and familiar, so why do four different minor versions of a system need four different icons? And why replace the division with an equals symbol? What message is being conveyed there?

And, yes, I do prefer the pre-OS X Mac UI. So simple. So to-the-point. So usable. I understand that some people really like UI eye candy, and I've tried hard not to link to the rant by a well-known veteran developer on why skinning etc is evil... but I don't. Beautiful animals that way <<<. Beautiful plants that way >>>. Beautiful and fairly useful sky that way ^^^. Workstation vvv optimised for working most productively.
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I used the calculator icon as an example to show the difference in design, not that I like the Apple icons!

As with regards to your question

"And why replace the division with an equals symbol? What message is being conveyed there?"

I think there are qualified professionals that could maybe answer that question :p

Classic over OS X? I was a huge fan of classic (I still use classic in fact) BUT! with the current advances in processors and RAM I feel your argument to be a little redundant, maybe if we where in the 90´s I could agree with you, but for you average Joe Blogs they will or would not notice the speed bump. and working extended hours in front of various screens kinda makes you happy there is such a thing as eye-candy :p just wish Apple would use a UNIFIED GUI and not keep changing them.. I loved UNO Apple should have taken a page from there book! but that is another subject.

There are of course situations I can agree with you about the GUI being evil..Video & 3D rendering but even there, things are changing so quickly that the differences are quite small in-fact.

BTW I am not anti ANDROID I just choose not to use it, after spending various years always trying to find a hack to connect my Sony Ericsson and Blackberry to my mac at last I have something that just works! fits into my Apple eco system, I am and have always been a Mac user even in the work place, so does not make sense to me (PERSONAL opinion) to have any other phone, and yes I will purchase the iPhone4 when we get it at the end of the month.. with all its flaws :p

I feel ATT is your evil here! as it has been YEARS since I have had a dropped call here in Spain (yes I have friends with a iPhone4)
 
bobob said:
It's amazing how many Apple h8trs suddenly found religion and began preaching that Apple should turn the other cheek (Matthew 5:38-40).
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Its not jsut the h8trs, long time loyal fans also believe that apple is carrying on like a spoiled brat. As a fan and user of the Iphone 4, I could not give a "£!"$!$! about what issue droid etc have. Mind you the same lame advertising/markerting was used in the Im a PC / Im a Mac ads, instead of selling the benefits of OSX, we got some 55 ads that were frankly BS and just took the piss out of Microsoft. Sure they were a laugh, but frankly knowing that if someone with a Droid holds thier phone is a really unnatural position, does not make me feel better about the iphone 4 huge design fault.
 
Apple should stick to their own problems and should't release videos of other mobile phones dropping bars. Nobody knows how they tested it and of course nobody would think of them being independent. Seriously they could have done the tests in the isolated room of their 100million dollar antenna factory and just closed the doors to get the bars drop...or maybe in a bunker and then close the door. I should be pretty obvious that having the antenna exposed like on the iphone4 makes it much more vulnerable then other phones.
I really appreciate the new design though. Lot less curvy and more grown up for me.
People bitching about android most likely never tried one of the devices themself or it never put time in to get used to the system. (guess thats with a lot of apple haters here too). Both systems got their pros and cons but if you sum up on how expensive it is to give away free cases for the ip4 (3million times 10$+ and plus shipping).....nobody would do this for free if there wouldn't be a problem.
Don't get me wrong...i will receive my ip4 next week and got a Droid sitting here since a long time so i don't want to bitch about anything. I just think people should be lots more unemtional on things. There is a problem and Android is on par with iOS4 and will gain a bigger marketshare too. Competition is good for everybody....especially for our wallets!!
 
Ok now ...

I think what apple is doing here is really a challenge to Consumer Reports, more than a bait for other smart phone manufacturers. It was the CR report that really caused apple to go nuts.

Frankly, I think that apple is overreacting to the overreaction. It should have simply offered thirty day money back with no restocking fee and then shut its mouth. The iPhone 4 is an awesome piece of hardware.
 
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