I spend most of my time in areas of good reception. Since I've had the i4, I've had wayyyyyyy less dropped calls than with my previous 3GS. This was previously most likely due to congestion and AT&T completed upgrades to my area this past summer. Anyway, where I am, I don't drop calls when I touch the "death spot." It will however, slow down data. It's not a big deal though, I just avoid touching the spot when I'm browsing or downloading.
The proximity sensor thing has never been a problem for me. I noticed though, that the location of the proximity sensor has moved from previous iPhones. It used to be on the left of the ear speaker, but now it's directly above. Perhaps if you hold the phone very high, and the sensor isn't blocked by your ear, it can cause problems. Holding the phone a little lower will probably fix it. If that doesn't fix it, it's probably a hardware problem and the phone should be exchanged.