Norway's largest paper: iPhone 4 Antennagate is a US problem

Posted:
in iPhone edited January 2014
After testing Apple's iPhone 4 against competing HTC and Nokia models in a remote area on the edge of Norwegian carrier Telenor's mobile coverage, the county's largest paper has concluded that its antenna design is "just as good and bad as competitors," rather than suffering any defect.



A report by Oslo's Verdens Gang, the country's largest online and printed newspaper, forwarded to AppleInsider by reader Torje Øivand Olsen, noted that the brouhaha surrounding "alleged antenna problems" of iPhone 4 was not evident in its own testing conducted in a remote part of the country.



The paper compared iPhone 4 against the HTC Wildfire, Nokia E71, and Apple's previous iPhone 3GS. It stated that all of the phones reacted similarly when gripped tightly (losing signal bars due to attenuation), but that all of the phones were able to sustain a conversation.



Both Nokia and HTC have responded to Antennagate with bold claims that signal drops experienced when a phone is held in a particular way are a problem unique to Apple, while at the same time warning users not to hold their own Nokia or HTC phones in such a way as to cause signal attenuation.



Worse in call quality, better in data service



VG reported that the sound quality on the two iPhone models was not as good, but that all the calls 'went smoothly.' However, when using the phones' data service to pull up a web page, the reporters said only the iPhone 4 'was close to having a stable connection,' successfully pulling up a page while the other models reported no service.







The paper suggested poor mobile networks may be the cause of the US reports of iPhone 4 antenna problems. It cited Amobil, a Norwegian mobile phone news site, as having 'tested the iPhone 4 thoroughly, without finding any evidence that it is improperly constructed. All modern mobile phones have integrated antennas, and it is normal that they are affected by how the phone is held,' VG said.



Amobil writer Finn Jarle Kvalheim added, 'Consumer Reports goes far in asserting that the problems do not have anything to with the mobile network. But it is a fact that mobile networks in Norway are much more robust than AT&T's network in the US.'



Olsen, who helped translate the story for AppleInsider, adds "I have myself tested the iPhone 4 and tried to replicate the signal loss close to one of Norway's major towns without being able to get even one less bar."



Apple will launch the new iPhone 4 in Norway tomorrow, along with Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, New Zealand, Singapore, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 74
    apple///apple/// Posts: 90member
    Take that Gizmodo and the rest of you android freaks.
  • Reply 2 of 74
    interesting. could this be true? It's not the phone and not the network per-se? So now it's that just America's network sucks.
  • Reply 3 of 74
    daffyducdaffyduc Posts: 26member
    Who actually holds their phone in a tight grip while talking on the phone??? I don't even hold it like that while surfing the web, using email, or playing games. Get over it!
  • Reply 4 of 74
    mactelmactel Posts: 1,275member
    Silly Norwegians. What do they know? Apple probably paid-off that paper.
  • Reply 5 of 74
    daharderdaharder Posts: 1,580member
    It stands to reason that when unfettered of such a substandard mobile carrier, the issue is less apparent.



    No Surprise There -
  • Reply 6 of 74
    prof. peabodyprof. peabody Posts: 2,860member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by AppleInsider View Post


    After testing Apple's iPhone 4 against competing HTC and Nokia models in a remote area on the edge of Norwegian carrier Telenor's mobile coverage, the county's largest paper has concluded that its antenna design is "just as good and bad as competitors," rather than suffering any defect. ...



    For what it's worth I haven't heard of anyone in Canada experiencing the problem either.



    Before the bar software upgrade I got five or four bars everywhere, all over town, and I've never had a dropped call ever.
  • Reply 7 of 74
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by MacTel View Post


    Silly Norwegians. What do they know? Apple probably paid-off that paper.



    I trust them more than Mossberg, for sure...
  • Reply 8 of 74
    walshbjwalshbj Posts: 864member
    Weirdest headline ever.
  • Reply 9 of 74
    shadashshadash Posts: 470member
    That's the point. Its not that America's network sucks. Its that AT&T sucks. The evidence that Apple needs to move to other carriers in addition to AT&T keeps piling up.



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by spliff monkey View Post


    interesting. could this be true? It's not the phone and not the network per-se? So now it's that just America's network sucks.



  • Reply 10 of 74
    0yvind0yvind Posts: 55member
    I just saw the article in my home town newspaper in Norway, and there are a couple of points to mention: The place they tested it is a remote woodland area outside of Oslo, with barely any reception. The bars fell from 2 to 0 when holding the phones in a tight "death grip". Then they took the phones in a boat out on a lake, and there they tested the data reception, where only the iP4 could get any signal.

    What a surprise (for me) to see that page rendered in an article by the number one tech writer Eran Dilger, whose articles are the first ones I look for...

    Tonight, one minute after 12, they start selling the phone here, so the queues should start lining up. Only it's a heavy rain here tonight, one of the worst so far this summer...



    > Silly Norwegians. What do they know? Apple probably paid-off that paper.

    Yeah, right. Apple would be more successful buying an article in the Washington Post. Actually the Norwegian papers are usually quite Android-friendly. But the 'droids haven't caught on so much here - Nokia is what everybody has (before they go and buy a iPhone of course).
  • Reply 11 of 74
    povilaspovilas Posts: 473member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by MacTel View Post


    Silly Norwegians. What do they know? Apple probably paid-off that paper.



    Silly or not, but they have better mobile networks
  • Reply 12 of 74
    marokeromarokero Posts: 99member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by DaffyDuc View Post


    Who actually holds their phone in a tight grip while talking on the phone???



    Probably angry people who are yelling back on speakerphone



    The other day I was at a wedding reception where the hall had a micro cell or something like that. My LG Shine that usually dropped 2-3 bars at home (when completely enveloped by my hands) could not lose any bars however I wrapped and covered the phone. Same with my friend's IPhone 3Gs. Seems it's partially AT&T's infrastructure that is not up to par.
  • Reply 13 of 74
    jimdreamworxjimdreamworx Posts: 1,095member
    Indeed! In Canada and in Europe, the iPhone 4 has no issues.



    In the USA, it drops. And since it was received in Canada without carrier lock, using local SIMs and the thing still drops. It's the network.



    Might it have anything to do with it being designed more so for the HSDPA networks?

    (I'm just asking, as I have no idea how the iPhone was designed...)
  • Reply 14 of 74
    allblueallblue Posts: 393member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by 0yvind View Post


    What a surprise (for me) to see that page rendered in an article by the number one tech writer Eran Dilger,



    The plot thickens...
  • Reply 15 of 74
    Just what i have been saying all along.



    Quote:

    Silly Norwegians. What do they know? Apple probably paid-off that paper.



    Very advanced nation Norway. As are all our Scandinavian brethren.



    With the exception of Ireland no single country contributed a larger percentage of its population to the United States than Norway.



    Marilyn Monroe one of the more famous names which springs to mind.
  • Reply 16 of 74
    htoellehtoelle Posts: 89member
    Boy O Boy I can hear them now The iPhone competitors that is .



    Everyone in most countries outside the United States knows the model of hands which are used there are of a different model than the one used in the US. Hence the screwy results. Since we in the US make the best hands Going--- then they will have to be wrong. I think !!!!!. Beside the Norway Hands are Colder.
  • Reply 17 of 74
    nkalunkalu Posts: 315member
    The fact is we are whiners in this country. No matter how good it is we will always whine. It is either the antenna, or the color, or the shape, or no physical keyboard, or the speed, or the connection, or AT&T, or something else. It's one brouhaha or another.
  • Reply 18 of 74
    lkrupplkrupp Posts: 10,557member
    Looks like the latest crusade to take Apple down is suffering from credibility issues. I guess all they have left is the "proximity sensor" issue now. Or will that turn out to be a "proximitygate" too.



    Instead of "silly Norwegians" maybe it should be "silly Apple hating trolls".
  • Reply 19 of 74
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Prof. Peabody View Post


    For what it's worth I haven't heard of anyone in Canada experiencing the problem either.



    Before the bar software upgrade I got five or four bars everywhere, all over town, and I've never had a dropped call ever.





    The iPhone 4 doesn't release until tomorrow here in Canada so it's not a fair bar to measure against. Not many to complain when not many have access to the phone.
  • Reply 20 of 74
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Prof. Peabody View Post


    For what it's worth I haven't heard of anyone in Canada experiencing the problem either.



    Before the bar software upgrade I got five or four bars everywhere, all over town, and I've never had a dropped call ever.



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by JimDreamworx View Post


    Indeed! In Canada and in Europe, the iPhone 4 has no issues.



    In the USA, it drops. And since it was received in Canada without carrier lock, using local SIMs and the thing still drops. It's the network.



    Might it have anything to do with it being designed more so for the HSDPA networks?

    (I'm just asking, as I have no idea how the iPhone was designed...)



    Does someone want to clarify this for me? Are you roaming from the US or another country and testing Canada's network? Because the iPhone 4 hasn't officially been released in Canada yet.
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