Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Best Buy Offering Free InvisibleSHIELD Antenna Strips for iPhone 4 Owners
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
I received my side protectors from Zagg last night and it did absolutely nothing for my antenna issue. I noticed no improvement while doing both the death grip and just touching the antenna spot.
They also shipped me the wrong front cover...not a good first experience with Zag..
I noticed this with the Gelaskins cover I have. There was no difference in the antenna attennuation with it on or off.
Works..kind of.
I had the side and back IS installed 10 min ago. My bars still drop but not as bad. Before the skin I would go from 3 bars to searching at home. With the skin on it stops dropping at 1 bar. My 3G data slows to about 30% of the speeds I get when not touching the spot but before the skin my data would stop dead with a light touch.
Bottom line, for me, it helps but does not eliminate the problem
I had the side and back IS installed 10 min ago. My bars still drop but not as bad. Before the skin I would go from 3 bars to searching at home. With the skin on it stops dropping at 1 bar. My 3G data slows to about 30% of the speeds I get when not touching the spot but before the skin my data would stop dead with a light touch.
Bottom line, for me, it helps but does not eliminate the problem
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) Version/4.0.5 Mobile/8A306 Safari/6531.22.7)
I went to my local Best Buy and showed them the post from the link & I walked out with my free side shields. Thanks for posting.
P.S. I bought my phone from Apple but I'm a BB rewards zone member.
Missveronica said:
I went to my local Best Buy and showed them the post from the link & I walked out with my free side shields. Thanks for posting.
P.S. I bought my phone from Apple but I'm a BB rewards zone member.
Like pulling the phone in and out of a bag or pocket won't have them ripped off by the end of the day, what a load of crap
What more makes me laugh is the Military grade claim, what a load of hogwash. Does this mean our photocopier is using military grade paper just because the army use the same brand.
Military grade either means it contains nasty chemicals or additives which wouldn't be allowed in commercial products, such as cadmium in cabling to reduce electrical resistivity.
Or in the case of some defence standards, is because commercial safety standards are too strict and a few corners need to be cut.
The only military grade standards worth shouting about are for stuff the public can't get ahold of.
So to quote military grade is such a con.
What more makes me laugh is the Military grade claim, what a load of hogwash. Does this mean our photocopier is using military grade paper just because the army use the same brand.
Military grade either means it contains nasty chemicals or additives which wouldn't be allowed in commercial products, such as cadmium in cabling to reduce electrical resistivity.
Or in the case of some defence standards, is because commercial safety standards are too strict and a few corners need to be cut.
The only military grade standards worth shouting about are for stuff the public can't get ahold of.
So to quote military grade is such a con.
They may be planning on it but why doesn't apple simply apply it's own very thin clear plastic coating over the antenna comments during the production process. Solves the finger bridging the gap issue and everyone can still enjoy the phones good looks. Forgive me if this has been discussed before. Just seems like a no brainer to me.
Ouch. Looks like engadget didn't give you credit.
http://www.engadget.com/2010/07/28/best-buy-to-offer-free-invisibleshield-4fix-to-aggravated-iphone/
Wouldn't care anyways. Thanks for finding out the info for us.
And since Rewards Zone members are eligible, and Rewards Zone memberships are free, people who did not get their iphones at BB can still take advantage of this offer
Actually the IS plastic is the same that is used on helicopter blades to keep them from getting damaged by sandstorms in that hellhole called the middle east
Well, the 4SKIN should fix that problem. I mean, 4FIX should skin that problem!
But if Apple is going to apply a coating on the antenna, I think iPhone 5 will be long available before they find the correct see-thru-ness of the coating.
Which might not be completely bad. I think Apple is wishing that the issue will be forgotten, but these kind of things will remind them that it's not. They might learn.
Don't get me wrong, I like Apple a lot, but this has been just a bit too ridiculous.
And for those saying the bars still drop... *Sigh*, Sure they do. But does it affect dropped calls or stalling 3G data?
Exactly. That's what they are supposed to do.
You can call it Invisible Shield, or you can call it scotch tape! I don't know how lame this is going to look, but if it's free, no one can complain!
But if such a thin piece of plastic can remedy the issue, then the problem isn't that the person's hand shields the antenna, but rather that the antenna, not being isolated with plastic or anything, comes in contact with the user's hand and changes the properties of the electrical conductivity?
If so, then this isn't the same problem as on other phones, since no other phone has an exposed antenna, so signal attenuation is rather caused by shielding by the hand and not conductivity.
So this may explain why simply touching the corner can cause problems, since a single finger is unable to shield an entire antenna!
But if such a thin piece of plastic can remedy the issue, then the problem isn't that the person's hand shields the antenna, but rather that the antenna, not being isolated with plastic or anything, comes in contact with the user's hand and changes the properties of the electrical conductivity?
If so, then this isn't the same problem as on other phones, since no other phone has an exposed antenna, so signal attenuation is rather caused by shielding by the hand and not conductivity.
So this may explain why simply touching the corner can cause problems, since a single finger is unable to shield an entire antenna!
exactly, imagine all the uproar that would have been prevented by $0.01 worth of plastic. Anyone know if this was invented by Eminem?
After reading the Update: I can see Apple reasoning. They should get the same 30% on the subscriptions and they should come via the Apps store. You can't simply use Apple to get the client and then expect to deal direct? Perhaps at most they could negotiate a discount on the % for volume orders and be happy with that.
My local Best Buy interpreted the eligability to be those who bought the iPhone 4 at Best Buy or anyone who is a Reward Zone member, regardless of where you bought the phone. I bought mine from AT&T but since I am a Reward Zone member they gave me a FIX4 and installed it for free.
One thing to note is that the section that covers the lower left (i.e the problem area) was slightly too long so it had to be trimmed. Before trimming, the strip either covered part of the volume down botton or partially covered the speaker hole. It was clear that the extra length was not due to stretching the skin. I'd be interested to hear if others have experience the same issue or if there is just bad batch of FIX4 shields.
Mike
One thing to note is that the section that covers the lower left (i.e the problem area) was slightly too long so it had to be trimmed. Before trimming, the strip either covered part of the volume down botton or partially covered the speaker hole. It was clear that the extra length was not due to stretching the skin. I'd be interested to hear if others have experience the same issue or if there is just bad batch of FIX4 shields.
Mike
Clever. A certain cross-section of potential buyers, if they were aware of this, would probably choose Best Buy instead of wherever else. I'd assume this program will more than pay for itself if publicized properly.
'Course, publicize it too much and phone sales drop. It certainly makes the antenna thing conspicuous. It will be interesting to see how they get the word out.
'Course, publicize it too much and phone sales drop. It certainly makes the antenna thing conspicuous. It will be interesting to see how they get the word out.
Glass half empty much!
Steve
What would an optimist would say in this situation?
If people wanted something that needed Best Buy and some sticky tape, they would have gone shopping at WalMart. Wait! The iPhone 4 is already there!
Really, I don't know what would constitute as a full glass in this situation.
Just went and got mine put on. Seems like it couldve been cut way better. Mine hangs over 1/2 of both my speaker and microphone. Will have to trim them. Not to mention its 7 small pieces instead of two or three.
I dont think these are intended to fix any issues, but for cosmetic protection. I expected to have peeled it off by now, but the rep did a nice job of positioning them. I already have several small scratches on my metal band, so Im gonna leave it.