In my basement, I normally see 5 bars, and the death grip is very effective in many repeated trials. At a downtown location (indoors but above ground) with 5 bars seen, the death grip worked very effectively as well. Outdoors away from home or upstairs in my home, 5 bars were seen and the death grip reduced the number of bars but did not kill reception.
The 850 MHz band penetrates building walls best and is the band on which AT&T often/typically provides 3G service. I've read some user reports of service dropping to EDGE with the death grip invoked. EDGE service is often/typically provided by AT&T on a higher frequency band which does not penetrate walls as well. This suggests the death grip kills 850 MHz reception and that in many locations--such as some indoor locations but not all--850 MHz is the only signal available. Sometimes the iPhone 4 might be able to latch onto the higher frequency but it simply fails to make the switch. Part of this process would involve the iPhone 4 switching its own transmissions to the higher frequency. If the iPhone doesn't send a strong enough signal to penetrate the building walls and reach a cell tower, then a switch to the higher frequency would fail.
Unfortunately Apple removed the field test mode from iOS4.
"However, on at least six occasions during my tests, the new iPhone was either reporting ?no service? or searching for a network while the old one, held in my other hand, was showing at least a couple of bars. Neither Apple nor AT&T could explain this. The iPhone 4 quickly recovered in these situations, showing service after a few seconds, but it was still troubling."
What you are implying is that Apple is very stupid - too stupid to anticipate a simple facet of antenna design. I refer back to Occam's razor - I think by the success of them as a company, we can throw that assumption right out the window. The affects of body mass on an antenna is one of the very first things focused on by cell phone producers.
We have blog postings from people like Spencer Webb who is an expert in his field stating he doesn't see an issue with the design, and yet keyboard jockeys such as yourself continue to cling to the notion it's a big cover up?
What do you call a poster who continually refuses to acknowledge their errors?
When you can't defend Apple for its lapse in the design of the antenna or software, you can only resort to personal attacks. This is not surprising, because Apple's lapse is truly indefensible. It should never, ever have been made in a shipping product. This is an embarrassment to the company.
Even Walt Mossberg has the same problems with reception. I suppose you are going to call him an idiot, troll, and delusional as well.
The science of this is fairly easy to understand. When you touch a naked antenna you change its impedance (its natural resistance to the flow of electrons) and resonant frequency (think tuning fork). This can have unpredictable results. This is why almost all consumer electronics have insulated antennas. The insulation protects the tuning of the antenna. In some radio systems, under specific conditions touching the antenna can cause the radio to stop working completely and can even eventually damage the receiver.
Apple just made things a little difficult for themselves by designing an antenna that you normally touch.
In the case of the iPhone 4, the gradual drop in signal can be explained by the digital tuners inability, (through reasons of hardware or software) to correctly adjust to the change caused by making physical contact with a particular part of the antenna.
When you touch an antenna, you create a shift in impedance at the point of contact. This creates standing waves. Think of a river rapid where the river changes in shape. large, permanent waves can form around boulders or anything else that resists the flow of water. Your finger has a different resistance than the antenna on the iPhone, therefore it creates a point of electrical resistance where standing waves can form, and this can seriously mess with the iPhones tuning.
Basically, these standing waves cause electrical energy to be reflected back into the transmitter, and prevent electrical energy from reaching the receiver. This also changes the resonant frequency of the antenna and causes a slight shift in tuning.
Radios tune by filtering out all other frequencies. iPhones are designed to work on several frequencies (850, 900, 1800, 1900, 2100) MHz. Touching the antenna will affect it differently at different frequencies which explains why some people see the problem go away when disabling 3g or when they can't replicate the problem at all.
Different people will have different electrical properties so the problem may affect some more than others. Another factor is the iPhone itself. No two objects are the same. A slight difference in the antenna's natural resonance and impedance could explain why some phones are affected more than others.
Bingo! Give the man a cigar.
With the change in impedance comes a change in the efficiency of the antenna, which is already a compromise to deal with the different frequencies which the phone utilizes. When some portion of the hand bridges the two separate portions of the metal frame/antennas an additional complication is thrown in.
Then, of course, there is also the phenomena of the hand blocking the signal.
Here's an update. I was able to somewhat resolve my issues by purchasing a Griffin case from Best Buy (looks a little like the Apple Bumper case, except that it has a clear piece that covers the back).
My download speeds still take a bit of a hit, and the upload speeds take a MAJOR hit, but it's not nearly as bad as using it naked with the death grip. This will have to do until Apple fixes this problem.
My new results with the case using the Death Grip:
For comparison, holding it with an open palm (no case):
if that is so, then why is Steve telling everyone they are holding it wrong?
1) He wasn't telling "everyone", he sent an email to one person, and it's more than likely he was being sarcastic.
2) The email may not even be from Steve, and even if it was, we are not privy to the entire exchange. Who knows if it was taken out of context?
3) And even if it is a real email from Steve and it is the sum of the total exchange between him and the person who re-posted it, it's far from an official Apple technical support position. It was an email to a single person. To construe that "Steve is telling everyone" is simply ridiculous.
Steve standing on a stage in front of the media and everyone else is "Steve telling everyone"
Unfortunately all this will probably do is get Steve to once again stop responding to people's email, electing a further chorus of complaints about Apple being "secretive"
I guess you didn't really read his blog post, because he does see an issue with the design, even if he did choose to buy an iPhone 4.
I guess you didn't read his blog post because there are issues with any design.
There is no such thing as a perfect design - they are all a sum of compromises. From his post:
Quote:
So, what's an iPhone lover to do? Well, I voted with my dollars. I ordered my iPhone 4 to replace my Original. I already know how to do the Vulcan Antenna Grip on the iPhone, and I am wearing out my current model.
And sometimes an antenna that's not great, but good enough, is good enough.
If it was this "fatal flaw" that the chicken littles were running around in hysterics about I doubt he would have ordered one, esp. with his level of knowledge. If anyone was going to hold off buying because of a concern in the antenna design it would be him!
This is very similar to what Walt Mossberg said in his review where he basically blamed AT&T and threw them under the bus. Apple however did tell Mossberg that there is a known software bug that would be released soon to correct the issue so I believe them.
I guess you didn't read his blog post because there are issues with any design.
You seem to be reading only the parts that support a pro-Apple bias.
"The iPhone 4, however, moved the antenna action from the back of the phone to the sides. This probably improves the isotropy of the radiation pattern, but only when the phone is suspended magically in air. Not too helpful. Putting this iPhone 4 in your pocket will likely couple more energy into your body (you bag of salt water, you) than did the first generation model. Yep, I predict it will be worse."
Quote:
Is basic logic really this hard?
LOL! Are the facts so difficult to accept that you're not using logic? "Issues" have different characteristics and different degrees. Spencer Webb doesn't even discuss the death grip. As his post is dated June 24th, I'd hazard to guess he wrote it before the issue became well publicized.
"However, on at least six occasions during my tests, the new iPhone was either reporting ?no service? or searching for a network while the old one, held in my other hand, was showing at least a couple of bars. Neither Apple nor AT&T could explain this. The iPhone 4 quickly recovered in these situations, showing service after a few seconds, but it was still troubling."
Yeah I've seen that, he was using it naked but didn't know about the corner so he couldn't pin-point it. The fact that that was one of the only 5 review units Apple gave to the world is very troubling.
When you can't defend Apple for its lapse in the design of the antenna or software, you can only resort to personal attacks. This is not surprising, because Apple's lapse is truly indefensible. It should never, ever have been made in a shipping product. This is an embarrassment to the company.
Even Walt Mossberg has the same problems with reception. I suppose you are going to call him an idiot, troll, and delusional as well.
Why is it all the seasoned well-respected members of this forum have a similar view point to this, and all the people who defended the issue are registered either a week or barely a year?
1) He wasn't telling "everyone", he sent an email to one person, and it's more than likely he was being sarcastic.
Steve is Mr. sarcasm now. Well that that case it all makes sense. Bullshit.
Quote:
Originally Posted by DocNo42
2) The email may not even be from Steve, and even if it was, we are not privy to the entire exchange. Who knows if it was taken out of context?
Open your eyes. You are making excuses.
Quote:
Originally Posted by DocNo42
3) And even if it is a real email from Steve and it is the sum of the total exchange between him and the person who re-posted it, it's far from an official Apple technical support position. It was an email to a single person. To construe that "Steve is telling everyone" is simply ridiculous.
Steve standing on a stage in front of the media and everyone else is "Steve telling everyone"
Comments
The 850 MHz band penetrates building walls best and is the band on which AT&T often/typically provides 3G service. I've read some user reports of service dropping to EDGE with the death grip invoked. EDGE service is often/typically provided by AT&T on a higher frequency band which does not penetrate walls as well. This suggests the death grip kills 850 MHz reception and that in many locations--such as some indoor locations but not all--850 MHz is the only signal available. Sometimes the iPhone 4 might be able to latch onto the higher frequency but it simply fails to make the switch. Part of this process would involve the iPhone 4 switching its own transmissions to the higher frequency. If the iPhone doesn't send a strong enough signal to penetrate the building walls and reach a cell tower, then a switch to the higher frequency would fail.
Unfortunately Apple removed the field test mode from iOS4.
"However, on at least six occasions during my tests, the new iPhone was either reporting ?no service? or searching for a network while the old one, held in my other hand, was showing at least a couple of bars. Neither Apple nor AT&T could explain this. The iPhone 4 quickly recovered in these situations, showing service after a few seconds, but it was still troubling."
What do you call a phone that can't make phone calls? The answer is self-explanatory.
What do you call a poster who continually refuses to acknowledge their errors?
A: An idiot
B: A troll
C: Delusional
E: All of the above
What you are implying is that Apple is very stupid - too stupid to anticipate a simple facet of antenna design. I refer back to Occam's razor - I think by the success of them as a company, we can throw that assumption right out the window. The affects of body mass on an antenna is one of the very first things focused on by cell phone producers.
We have blog postings from people like Spencer Webb who is an expert in his field stating he doesn't see an issue with the design, and yet keyboard jockeys such as yourself continue to cling to the notion it's a big cover up?
Please! A little perspective here. As was posted earlier, you really need to read this article and breathe a little: http://www.thomas-fitzgerald.net/201...gy-journalism/
if that is so, then why is Steve telling everyone they are holding it wrong?
We have blog postings from people like Spencer Webb who is an expert in his field stating he doesn't see an issue with the design
I guess you didn't really read his blog post, because he does see an issue with the design, even if he did choose to buy an iPhone 4.
What do you call a poster who continually refuses to acknowledge their errors?
When you can't defend Apple for its lapse in the design of the antenna or software, you can only resort to personal attacks. This is not surprising, because Apple's lapse is truly indefensible. It should never, ever have been made in a shipping product. This is an embarrassment to the company.
Even Walt Mossberg has the same problems with reception. I suppose you are going to call him an idiot, troll, and delusional as well.
The science of this is fairly easy to understand. When you touch a naked antenna you change its impedance (its natural resistance to the flow of electrons) and resonant frequency (think tuning fork). This can have unpredictable results. This is why almost all consumer electronics have insulated antennas. The insulation protects the tuning of the antenna. In some radio systems, under specific conditions touching the antenna can cause the radio to stop working completely and can even eventually damage the receiver.
Apple just made things a little difficult for themselves by designing an antenna that you normally touch.
In the case of the iPhone 4, the gradual drop in signal can be explained by the digital tuners inability, (through reasons of hardware or software) to correctly adjust to the change caused by making physical contact with a particular part of the antenna.
When you touch an antenna, you create a shift in impedance at the point of contact. This creates standing waves. Think of a river rapid where the river changes in shape. large, permanent waves can form around boulders or anything else that resists the flow of water. Your finger has a different resistance than the antenna on the iPhone, therefore it creates a point of electrical resistance where standing waves can form, and this can seriously mess with the iPhones tuning.
Basically, these standing waves cause electrical energy to be reflected back into the transmitter, and prevent electrical energy from reaching the receiver. This also changes the resonant frequency of the antenna and causes a slight shift in tuning.
Radios tune by filtering out all other frequencies. iPhones are designed to work on several frequencies (850, 900, 1800, 1900, 2100) MHz. Touching the antenna will affect it differently at different frequencies which explains why some people see the problem go away when disabling 3g or when they can't replicate the problem at all.
Different people will have different electrical properties so the problem may affect some more than others. Another factor is the iPhone itself. No two objects are the same. A slight difference in the antenna's natural resonance and impedance could explain why some phones are affected more than others.
Bingo! Give the man a cigar.
With the change in impedance comes a change in the efficiency of the antenna, which is already a compromise to deal with the different frequencies which the phone utilizes. When some portion of the hand bridges the two separate portions of the metal frame/antennas an additional complication is thrown in.
Then, of course, there is also the phenomena of the hand blocking the signal.
Well, if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck?
Bingo...
My download speeds still take a bit of a hit, and the upload speeds take a MAJOR hit, but it's not nearly as bad as using it naked with the death grip. This will have to do until Apple fixes this problem.
My new results with the case using the Death Grip:
For comparison, holding it with an open palm (no case):
Death Grip (no case):
if that is so, then why is Steve telling everyone they are holding it wrong?
1) He wasn't telling "everyone", he sent an email to one person, and it's more than likely he was being sarcastic.
2) The email may not even be from Steve, and even if it was, we are not privy to the entire exchange. Who knows if it was taken out of context?
3) And even if it is a real email from Steve and it is the sum of the total exchange between him and the person who re-posted it, it's far from an official Apple technical support position. It was an email to a single person. To construe that "Steve is telling everyone" is simply ridiculous.
Steve standing on a stage in front of the media and everyone else is "Steve telling everyone"
Unfortunately all this will probably do is get Steve to once again stop responding to people's email, electing a further chorus of complaints about Apple being "secretive"
I guess you didn't really read his blog post, because he does see an issue with the design, even if he did choose to buy an iPhone 4.
I guess you didn't read his blog post because there are issues with any design.
There is no such thing as a perfect design - they are all a sum of compromises. From his post:
So, what's an iPhone lover to do? Well, I voted with my dollars. I ordered my iPhone 4 to replace my Original. I already know how to do the Vulcan Antenna Grip on the iPhone, and I am wearing out my current model.
And sometimes an antenna that's not great, but good enough, is good enough.
If it was this "fatal flaw" that the chicken littles were running around in hysterics about I doubt he would have ordered one, esp. with his level of knowledge. If anyone was going to hold off buying because of a concern in the antenna design it would be him!
Is basic logic really this hard?
OK. Glad to see you've put the single Malt to bed and are back with a sense of humor.
Oh, and me Mum says she can still kick your arse.
I had your Mum, she wasn't that good.
This is very similar to what Walt Mossberg said in his review where he basically blamed AT&T and threw them under the bus. Apple however did tell Mossberg that there is a known software bug that would be released soon to correct the issue so I believe them.
That's the cosmetic bug.
I guess you didn't read his blog post because there are issues with any design.
You seem to be reading only the parts that support a pro-Apple bias.
"The iPhone 4, however, moved the antenna action from the back of the phone to the sides. This probably improves the isotropy of the radiation pattern, but only when the phone is suspended magically in air. Not too helpful. Putting this iPhone 4 in your pocket will likely couple more energy into your body (you bag of salt water, you) than did the first generation model. Yep, I predict it will be worse."
Is basic logic really this hard?
LOL! Are the facts so difficult to accept that you're not using logic? "Issues" have different characteristics and different degrees. Spencer Webb doesn't even discuss the death grip. As his post is dated June 24th, I'd hazard to guess he wrote it before the issue became well publicized.
What do you call a phone that can't make phone calls? The answer is self-explanatory.
A touch gamer.
Walt's review right before the storm!
"However, on at least six occasions during my tests, the new iPhone was either reporting ?no service? or searching for a network while the old one, held in my other hand, was showing at least a couple of bars. Neither Apple nor AT&T could explain this. The iPhone 4 quickly recovered in these situations, showing service after a few seconds, but it was still troubling."
Yeah I've seen that, he was using it naked but didn't know about the corner so he couldn't pin-point it. The fact that that was one of the only 5 review units Apple gave to the world is very troubling.
if that is so, then why is Steve telling everyone they are holding it wrong?
Forget about it, you won't penetrate their Kool Aid ears.
When you can't defend Apple for its lapse in the design of the antenna or software, you can only resort to personal attacks. This is not surprising, because Apple's lapse is truly indefensible. It should never, ever have been made in a shipping product. This is an embarrassment to the company.
Even Walt Mossberg has the same problems with reception. I suppose you are going to call him an idiot, troll, and delusional as well.
Why is it all the seasoned well-respected members of this forum have a similar view point to this, and all the people who defended the issue are registered either a week or barely a year?
Bingo...
You know nothing about it, Sonny. I like Apple's stuff, I ain't no troll.
1) He wasn't telling "everyone", he sent an email to one person, and it's more than likely he was being sarcastic.
Steve is Mr. sarcasm now. Well that that case it all makes sense. Bullshit.
2) The email may not even be from Steve, and even if it was, we are not privy to the entire exchange. Who knows if it was taken out of context?
Open your eyes. You are making excuses.
3) And even if it is a real email from Steve and it is the sum of the total exchange between him and the person who re-posted it, it's far from an official Apple technical support position. It was an email to a single person. To construe that "Steve is telling everyone" is simply ridiculous.
Steve standing on a stage in front of the media and everyone else is "Steve telling everyone"
You are too funny.