Verizon mocks Apple's iPhone 4 antenna issue with full-page NYT ad - Page 2

Might have something to do with the phone working great.
It's fair to call them on their mistakes, and there definitely is a 'two steps forward, one step back' sort of thing going on with the antenna in the iPhone 4, but those two steps forward are great and the one step back isn't going to be a big deal for a lot of people. So should this have been considered before releasing the phone? Yep! Is it anything near as big a deal as the media has been representing? Absolutely not.


Well, what Apple said isn't really important here. First, while all phones can be smothered to a degree, bridging the antennae on the iPhone 4 causes a greater loss than smothering on most other phones (~-20 dB as opposed to ~-10). Second, if Motorola devoted extra space in the device to a more reliable antenna system then that could actually result in this product outperforming other phones in this regard by a fair degree (we'll have to see once it circulates a while in the masses). Third, in an advertisement, what is true isn't so important as what people perceive.

What you conveniently don't mention is that, by having an exposed uninsulated antenna, they also IMPROVE the reception of the antenna. So for those with enough brain cells to move their fingers so they don't touch both antennas at the same time, their signal increases.

In addition, just to make everyone happy (those who like the improved reception and those who hate having to move their fingers), they've made available a cover for the antenna, even though it will degrade the signal somewhat.

Finally, they've offered people their money back if they don't like the phone.

Time to quit the whining and move on.

6. Verizon chose not to lead in innovation when choosing to rely on CDMA.
7. Verizon was stupid and blew their opportunity at the iPhone
8. Verizon can't advertise Android into anything other that a crappy knock-off.
9. Verizon stores will never have to deal with long lines.
10. Verizon knows that even with big balls, their main equipment still lacks.

It works beautifully for where you currently are. If you are in a heavily covered AT&T phone area, chances are you could take a tin snips and cut the antenna clean off your phone and never drop a call.

But, if you travel to an area with poor coverage - you too will experience the 'Grip of Death' phenomina. It's inherent in the design.

On a similar note - if you turn off 3G and 'suffer' with using only Edge; your frequency of dropped calls will mysteriously dimminish. Just something to keep in mind, should you find yourself travelling into a poor coverage area and are unable to call for help and are continuously gettting dropped.

A case is a big step forward, and when you disable 3G - things work better.

That ad won't last long...

With their past history of being fast and Lois with the facts, I wonder if this could be construed as willfull.

Congrats for publishing this article Sam, Dilger must be having a fit

The issue is real and needs to be addressed by Apple. Till then, there is no point us wasting each other's time on AI forums lamenting/criticizing other companies' guts to mock Apple.

As far as Im concerned Verizon is still kicking themselves for not taking a chance with Apple and the iPhone.
I have been shopping around for a new phone and Looking at the Droid X and iPhone 4.
Droid X is to big to use as a Phone, and the Game's just arent available to make use of the bigger screen.

Who would you trust more with your information Apple or Google?
Think I will be staying with Apple.

I recently switched to a Mac, Purchased an Airport Extreme and had the iPhone, iPhone 3G and currently use the iphone 3GS. I was ready to purchase the iPhone 4 but am holding back.

I am not sure what pisses me off more, the actual antenna issue or Apples handling of it.

If Microsoft did something like this, all the Apple defenders would be all over them. If Android did something like this, All the Apple defenders would be seriously all over them.

That being said, a fan-boy is a fan-boy. I think Apple products are great, their attitude is a disgrace.

I will check out the Droid X next week.

Also, I believe Apple needs Verizon more than Verizon needs Apple. I also believe Verizon will not bend over for Apple like AT&T did.

I had the same thought. You can just bet that its antenna's characteristics are going to be gone over with a fine toothed comb, and the results posted on YouTube. People who live in glass houses . . .

Also, Steve has been known to carry a grudge. As others have pointed out, this stick in the eye may or may not mean anything beyond business as usual. But if I were Verizon, I would have checked with Apple first. Say "Droid is forcing us to do this," say anything, but don't assume Mr. Jobs will not remember this.

Perhaps but Apple was not looking (or others speculating they were trying) to jump in the sack with them at that time.

You can hold it any way you like, but you won't be able to see the screen if it's up your butt. Would you be mad at Jobs if he pointed this out? Recall devices because it doesn't work in every way 'you' want it to. I'm sure you've never considered it, but in reality a lot of the things that you want to do are probably really stupid and nobody is required to help you.

Come on, do you think Verizon gives a shit. Remember, they turned down the original iphone and are doing just fine.

You're assuming he hasn't. I live in a region where there is wide variability in signal strength, from full on to full off with everything in between, and we regularly move through all of them. I can't wait for my iP4 to arrive so I can test your assertion. Hope you're wrong. But I will scream as loud as anyone here if I perceive significant problems that I don't have with my iP3G.

Your kidding right? What a ridiculous response!

Who sees full-page ads in the New York Times anymore?

No one who's in the market for a smartphone, probably...

Doesn't mean much. Apple has been making phones that dont make phone calls for years

Except all the blogs picked it up and I am sure other media outlets.

Hey, My mother's name is Lois!

.

Really? Did you read the post I responded to?
Go back and read the first post I responded to (it was in my post) then read my response.

But if you want that item, you do not bash them. Apple did not bash MS Office but they did bash Windows. Verizon is bashing the iPhone 4 because either they were turned down for it or they have not again been approached.

Apple does not want to sell Dell hardware.

You really think they don't care one way or the other whether or not they become the only other carrier of the most successful handset in history? The road is littered with carriers who are no longer with us. Things change and successful companies plan ahead and don't rest on present success.

Isn't this week old news?

There will be a reduction in signal. This is true of every phone. Your hand provides interference to the antenna and there is no way to engineer around that. What may certainly be true of the Droid X is that two antennas may reduce the extent to which signal is lost. In any case, bars are going to be an unreliable way to test this, so you'll have to turn to tests which actually measure the signal strength without relying on visual cues.


Specifically in cases of a very poor signal. I've got the perfect example of this through my own iPhone 4. I work from home and sometimes it is my pleasure to work from the couch in my living room on my laptop. Unfortunately, I get a relatively poor AT&T signal here. If I hold my iPhone 'wrong' long enough, it can sometimes be enough to jeopardize my signal, and I believe the antenna issue has actually resulted in me dropping one or two calls since I purchased my iPhone 4 in this specific circumstance. A more important truth is that the iPhone 4 holds a low-strength signal much more reliably than nearly all other phones and this has resulted in less dropped calls from this area than I experienced with the 3GS, and a drastically reduced amount of dropped calls when on the go.

I could solve this problem in my 'office' with some kind of case or the Bumper, but it isn't a big deal. The only annoyance is having to pay a little bit of attention to the way I hold the device in this particular area, but that's fine given the alternative is my slightly less reliable 3GS.


So can the iPhone 4 and every other phone in production.
I do see what you are implying, but it just amounts to useless hyperbole.


The iPhone antenna issues are greatly exaggerated and Apple's position is generally accurate, although a little obtuse. There are good studies to base your buying decision on. In practice, unless you must have a dead-reliable signal in a poor AT&T reception area, you're fine with an iPhone 4. If not, I'd say go with whatever network gets you phone service where you need it, and statistically speaking, that'll probably be Verizon.

That's funny considering Vzn used to put stickers on a phone they sold which reads, "Internal antenna area-- for best performance, do not touch this area when using your phone".

It was a Casio ruggedized phone. Just met with a customer today that showed this to me.

This is exactly why Verizon will never get the iPhone. This isnt the first time this has happened and Jobs has shunned other companies for less. The iPhone will go to T-Mobile and Sprint but never Verizon...and I pet it'll be just in time for Christmas...

Close. Intel had been courting Apple for almost 20 years, they considered them their missing 'crown jewel'. Paul Otellini and Steve Jobs had been also been friends for a long time.

But the reality is:
Apple is now an Intel customer.
AT&T is an Apple partner.

I'm sure the distinction is lost on many of the whining trolls, but for those with real knowledge of business, they realize the implications of mocking a potential partner vs. a customer.

I'm sure that after reading this some nitwit is going to try to find a way to weasel the point... but you should stop, you've already lost, go surf some porn or eat a twinkee or do something else to feel better about yourself.

Give up the Verizon crap, Apple is 'exclusive' with AT&T until 2012. Further, Verizon is the carrier for people who want price over features, Apple will never chase that nonsense. They will open their own retail stores rather than try to compete with the bottom feeder price points in the market.

The language is playful. The message is totally serious.

You should reread and take some time to really think it over.

It's official. iPhone will NEVER be on Verizon. But especially not within a year. Rumors have stated thus fall or early 2011. They would gave to sell the phone they just spent a million bucks saying is terrible.

Plus, Apple would gave to redesign it just to get around their criticism. Jobs will want to put a effin hurting on VZ now.

This is the only pic I could find with such a sticker. After seeing it on this type of phone I realize that Ive had plenty of phones with these stickers.

He's been trolling about the topic for weeks. He doesn't own an iPhone 4 but continues to preach doom. I guess I could go back to Verizon where I live and I'd be bouncing between Analog and other carriers.


Oh I do remember that! Back before Core and when Intel used more power than an oven on broil and pumped out about the same heat.

All's fair in love, war/business.

-Chris

Best summary I've seen on the topic. I tell friends to talk to people that own the iPhone 4 and who live areas they frequent before buying. I tell them the same things with picking a carrier - find out what works best before making the purchase.

Apple’s claiming that it’s wrong compared to AT&T’s current bar-display guidelines, which they will now follow—which would be a stupid lie to tell if it’s not true. And it’s also wrong in an observable way: Anandtech has been noting this software issue ever since the first iPhone came out. (See their iPhone 4 review—they mention that fact.)

The fact that Google went for a similar formula suggests that the “wrong” formula had its merits too. But other phones use different formulas. No need to seek for a dark conspiracy.


Certainly—but you’re failing to note that the Apple’s unique antenna design also BENEFITS reception. The RESULT of the benefit minus the attenuation is what matters. Daring Fireball called it three steps forward, one step back. That’s still moving forward. Now, cell reception is highly complex, and ANY new design (even internal) that gets overall better reception will, in some situations, get worse reception. If the iPhone 4 gets unacceptable coverage where you live, then the refund policy is your friend. Same goes for any phone—try before you trust.

As Anantech notes, even when showing just one measly bar, the iPhone 4 can hold a voice call AND transfer data simultaneously, in areas where the 3GS was useless. So there are really six different things going on:

* The bars as displayed (which previously failed to show a weak signal sometimes—and this is being fixed); one result of this: sudden drops of many bars in a short time when hold the phone a certain way; scary even if you didn’t lose a call over it

* The grip-related attenuation due to your body water (as affects all phones); usually insignificant, but can be a killer in borderline locations

* The additional grip-related degradation if you bridge the two external antennas; usually insignificant, but can be a killer in borderline locations

* The signal strength available from AT&T in a given specific location

* The resulting signal experienced by the phone due to the combination of the above factors

* The performance experienced by the user (such as an iPhone 4 doing great with 1 bar where a 3GS fails)

bingo!

Yes, it has been done, there are plenty of pre-release units around that have already been reviewed.

Okay. Again, Apple was not courting Intel so Apple had no reason to NOT take shots at Intel.

Can't tell if this was a jab at me or not? What should I stop and what did I lose? I wasn't sticking up for anything.
If you follow the thread you will see I was simply responding to a poorly thought out post then someone else jumped in without reading the first post.

I don' t have Verizon crap. I don't believe Apple is gonna do anything with them, at least in the next year or two, and this ad from Verizon is preety telling of that fact. If they were even close to getting the iPhone, Verizon certainly would would not be slamming it.
"Hey look, we're now selling the crappy iPhone too!"
Yeah, right...

A few hundred youtube videos and thousands of angry users would beg to differ, pengyou.

Yea keep smoking that stuff. Your brain is only half messed up. Imagine wanting a phone that can make a phone call while its being held? You sure that's oxygen in that there hose of yours?

Lol. here's the one I saw. Funny because now we've confirmed they did that on more than one phone.

Bingo on both points! Plus, I think Stevo wants to use their first rejection of Apple's iPhone to gain the upperhand in future negotiations. Verizon has more foreskin than foresight! And have paid dearly already for not going with the iPhone first. How can u have faith on senior management when they missed the biggest thing in tech since the transistor? Sheez Verizon!

I take further attacks on the iPhone to be a positive sign. It just means they are still the category leader.