Apple today announced that Verizon’s existing 94 million customers will get an exclusive opportunity to pre-order the iPhone 4 on February 03 at 3 AM. You will be able to pre-order Verizon iPhone 4 through Apple’s online store and from Verizon’s website.

Apple and Verizon Wireless expect huge demand and will fulfill the orders on a first come, first served basis. There is no doubt that there will be many Verizon customers who have waited for this day since the original iPhone and now they can finally buy Apple’s new CDMA smartphone. On February 10th AT&T’s iPhone exclusivity deal will finally come to an end and it would be interesting to see if the sales figures encourage Apple to make iPhone available on other networks too (Sprint?).

The general sales for qualified customers will begin at 7 AM on February 10th, but you will also be able to order an iPhone 4 on Verizon for delivery or reserve for in-store pick up beginning February 09. In addition to the online stores iPhone 4 will be available at Apple’s retail stores and Verizon Wireless Communication Stores.

iPhone 4 on Verizon is priced at $199 for 16GB model and $299 for 32GB model with a new two year contract. We highly recommend that you pre-order or reserve your iPhone as these may soon be out of stock due to high demand.

Press Release

iPhone 4 on Verizon Wireless Available for Pre-Order Tomorrow

CUPERTINO, California-February 2, 2011-Apple® today announced an exclusive opportunity for Verizon Wireless’ 94 million customers to pre-order iPhone® 4 online beginning on Thursday, February 3 through the Apple Store® (www.apple.com) and at www.verizonwireless.com/iphone. Due to high demand, customer orders will be fulfilled on a first come, first served basis.

Beginning on Wednesday, February 9, all qualified customers will be able to order an iPhone 4 on Verizon through the Apple Store (www.apple.com) for delivery or reserve for in-store pick up beginning February 10.

Beginning at 7 a.m. local time on Thursday, February 10, iPhone 4 on Verizon will be available to all qualified customers at Apple’s retail stores. iPhone 4 will also be available at more than 2,000 Verizon Wireless Communication Stores nationwide.

iPhone 4 is the most innovative phone in the world, featuring Apple’s stunning Retina™ display, the highest resolution display ever built into a phone resulting in super crisp text, images and video, and FaceTime®, which makes video calling a reality. iPhone 4 also features a 5 megapixel camera with LED flash, HD video recording, Apple’s A4 chip and a beautiful glass and stainless steel design like no other mobile phone. Verizon Wireless customers will also enjoy new Personal Hotspot capabilities allowing them to use iPhone 4 to connect up to five Wi-Fi enabled devices.

Pricing & Availability
iPhone 4 on the Verizon Wireless network will be available for a suggested retail price of $199 for the 16GB model and $299 for the 32GB model with a new two year agreement. iPhone 4 will be available through the Apple Store (www.apple.com), at Apple’s retail stores and Apple Authorized Resellers. iPhone 4 will also be available at more than 2,000 Verizon Wireless Communication Stores nationwide, online at www.verizonwireless.com/iphone, select retail partners, and by calling 1-800-2 JOIN IN.

Apple designs Macs, the best personal computers in the world, along with OS X, iLife, iWork, and professional software. Apple leads the digital music revolution with its iPods and iTunes online store. Apple is reinventing the mobile phone with its revolutionary iPhone and App Store, and has recently introduced its magical iPad which is defining the future of mobile media and computing devices.

Cult of Mac have picked up on an interesting tidbit about a possible second use for the NFC capabilities expected to be included in the iPhone 5. And that would be an ability to function as a virtual key to your Mac user account, so that you can hijack any Mac and make it behave just like your Mac at home. Presumably with the owners permission, of course!

It’s expected that the communications field that a Near Field Communications (NFC) chip, rumored to be included in the iPhone 5 due out next year, will be used to authenticate financial and electronic ticket transactions in stores, at airports and so forth. But this second use is something that could really turn the way we use computers on its head.

Basically the idea is that when your iPhone is in range of any Mac it will be able to provide data related to your Address Book, Keychains, Email Accounts, Apps, and even your desktop background and layout to that Mac so that you can use it as if you were on your own Macintosh at home. When the iPhone is taken away the Mac will then forget all about the iPhone that “hijacked” it, presumably (hopefully) also forget all of your personal data too, and then revert to whatever settings it had before.

It is very likely that this feature will be closely tied to MobileMe. Making that service all the more important to Apple’s customers. If you are anything like me you probably only keep MobileMe around because you are too lazy to find another way to sync years of browser data, passwords you no longer remember, and in the vain hope that you might get 5 minutes of fame one day tracking down an iPhone thief!

NFC “mobile computing” could well end up being the must have feature of 2011!Whatever the truth of this rumor is, it is clear that NFC and using your iPhone as a virtual key for authenticating your life is high on Apple’s agenda for next year.

Does this kind of feature make you worry about security? Or resign you to renewing MobileMe for yet another year? Have your say in the comments…

With just Nokia, Samsung and LG further up the rankings, Apple has now ousted RIM from fourth place, with the Canadian business phone specialist slipping to fifth. Another loser in all this is Sony Ericsson who fell out of the top 5 for the first time since IDC started the Mobile Phone Tracker report in 2004.

Smartphones are the current business drivers according to Kevin Restivo, senior research analyst at IDC – “The entrance of Apple to the top 5 vendor ranking underscores the increased importance of smartphones to the overall market. Moreover, the mobile phone makers that are delivering popular smartphone models are among the fastest growing firms,”

All this shows Apple CEO and co-founder Steve Jobs wasn’t lying during his rant on the company’s recent quarterly conference call. Jobs was quotes as saying “we’ve passed RIM’ – something these results from IDC confirm.

With Apple’s recent push to bolster the iPhone’s business credentials it may not be easy for RIM to bounce back and with Apple shipping a record 14.1m iPhones in the 3rd quarter against RIM’s 12.4m Blackberrys Research In Motion will need to up its game.

Interesting times ahead in the smartphone market.

Now Fortune has shared its voice concerning the long-awaited Verizon iPhone 4 in a profile of Verizon CEO Ivan Seidenberg published today, in which it looks at the relationship between Apple and the wireless carrier.

The next step, the iPhone, remains shrouded in secrecy, and neither company will discuss it. But people familiar with its development say it is a fait accompli. Verizon, sources say, will sell its own version of the iPhone 4, which will work on Verizon’s CDMA-based 3G network. Unfortunately for globe trotters, the first version of the phone likely won’t be built to work outside the U.S. — it probably won’t carry a special chip that can turn it into a “world phone.”

The article describes how Verizon declined the opportunity to be the exclusive carrier of the iPhone in the United States back in 2005. The level of control insisted upon by Apple, and the demands for revenue sharing from customer’s monthly fees, influenced Verizon to turn down a partnership with Apple.

The Cupertino giant then joined forces with AT&T and negotiations with Verizon ceased until early 2007, after the iPhone was announced but before it had been released.

Seidenberg broke the silence. In the spring of 2007, months before the iPhone launch, he secured an audience with Jobs at Apple headquarters in Cupertino, Calif., and asked, “Why are we in your doghouse here?” It turns out that for all of Verizon’s concerns about ceding control and sharing fees, Apple was wary of building a device for Verizon’s CDMA network because it didn’t use technology that allowed a phone to seamlessly operate around the world, as AT&T’s network does.

Seidenberg and Jobs continued to hold meetings in the following months, and Apple began to see things from a Verizon perspective in late 2007, just as AT&T began receiving criticism for its poor network performance and its struggle to cope with excessive data consumption of the iPhone on its network.

Three years on the two companies have finally made a deal on another Apple device – the iPad – and as Verizon offer the touchscreen tablet through its retail stores, it looks promising that the hugely popular iPhone will follow suit.

Tuesday was the big day for iPhone lovers in China who wanted to order the new iPhone 4 online to avoid the queues at retail stores.

Things aren’t all rainbows and unicorns though – the reported reason for the quick sellout is scalpers – people who buy products to sell on for profit. It’s not the first time Apple fans in China have fallen victim to such tactics after the same practice caused the Sanlitun Apple Store to close temporarily when shoppers confronted scalpers.

Unfortunately Apple has not yet said when they expect to be able to get more stock into the stores, but even when they do it’s far from certain the same scalpers won’t be waiting for them too.

The home button and the sleep/wake button remain unusable once you bypass the lock screen with this method however, you can browse the contacts, access visual voicemail or make a call using the keypad.

Apple will most probably fix this bug with the final release of iOS 4.2. Check out the video below to see the software glitch.

(via engadget)

I know I appear to have a White iPhone 4 obsession. But really I am actually very happily married to my black iPhone 4, and these stories just keep on arriving on my desk, while other members of the Touch Reviews team hide in the corner and snigger!

Yesterday we reported that the White iPhone 4 will probably not show up until at least years end. Overnight it was further rumored that in actual fact the mythical other color iPhone 4 would not show up anytime before March 2011.

Today Boy Genius Report is claiming it has a source that says that this is all a cunning ruse by Apple to silently cancel the White iPhone 4 for this generation. The plan apparently is to announce a further delay in March of 2011, which would lead almost seamlessly into the launch of the iPhone 5 in June or July.

Bizarrely the manufacturing problems related to the White iPhone are no longer being cited as a reason for the delay, and there are no further whispers from manufacturing sources. Which could simply mean, as BGR has theorized, that the White iPhone 4 is now a non-product.

Or perhaps this is all just rumor on rumor confusing the issue, and the mythical Verizon / CDMA iPhone 4 will be made available in White. If so there might be a lot of wailing and screaming from AT&T iPhone users.

So, place your bets again‚ will we ever see a White iPhone 4 in Apple Stores? Have your say in the comments…

Last month we reported that a Facebook thread from SaudiMac noted that all reference to FaceTime had been removed from Apple’s regional sites which lead to speculation in the blogosphere which suggested that FaceTime would not be available in some countries. This rumor turned out to be true when Apple updated a support document on its site which clearly outlined that FaceTime will not be available in Jordan, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Saudi Arabia. It wasn’t clear if this was Apple who decided to pull these features or if it was due to carrier restrictions.

Today, 9 to 5 Mac reported that according to iRamadah FaceTime works in the Middle East, but only with the new iPod touch 4. This certainly implies that the absence of FaceTime on iPhone 4 is due to carrier restrictions. This is very interesting to note as FaceTime does not use carrier’s network and only works over WiFi.

Around the time of the iPhone 4 launch, quite a few celebrities, who are well known to senior management at Apple *cough* Steve Jobs *cough* were given White iPhone 4’s.

One well known example is English comedian Stephen Fry, who was seen carrying the White iPhone 4 at various events in the UK around fourth gen iPhone launch time.

I remember mystery appearances of White iPhone 4s causing much consternation during the UK iPhone 4 launch day. Videos of people casually holding white iPhone 4s in Apple’s UK stores were beamed around the world by Sky News, and subsequently YouTube. So they are out there, like magical Unicorns!

The reason for the White iPhone 4 not hitting the store shelves has been widely reported as being because of problems with both the Home button and the front panel. Apparently, the Home Button has not been matching the rest of the case color so well. A lot of light has been leaking from the display of the White iPhone 4 due to the coloring process for the front panel not ending up as opaque as Apple specified.

Apple are working to resolve these issues in manufacturing and it seems in the meantime that they are stockpiling a number of White iPhone 4s, perhaps in limited numbers, some of which they are giving out to “friends”. Presumably these are either test models, or those that were deemed acceptable to Apple for trusted people to use.

This last part of the White iPhone 4 story is all according to a gentleman that Pocket Lint photographed carrying a White iPhone 4, and then approached to talk to at an event in New York City today. Apparently he “knows people” at Apple, and was allowed to have one. So there you are…

The man did not want to be named. But confirmed that the fit and finish on the White iPhone 4 is not up to the standard that Apple feels comfortable selling to the public‚ yet.

Assuming you believe his account, don’t expect to see any White iPhones in stores until Apple are happy.

Would you want a White iPhone 4 with buttons that don’t match the case? Or would you return one like that? Are Apple correct to hold out for perfection? Have your say in the comments…

During the six months leading up to August of this year smartphone handset sales break down like this:

Android : 32%
iPhone : 25%
Blackberry : 26%

While Apple’s iPhone market share has held steady, Android’s has grown. Overall the iPhone’s install base has actually grown slightly to 29%, and RIM’s Blackberry share has dropped. But the real winner is Android. Who’s user base has grown to 19%.

Of course these figures are hugely subjective. Android is available on multiple carriers, and in multiple flavors of handsets. Not to mention in many flavors of bargain basement deals.

The iPhone is just one type of device. Perhaps two if you really want to push the definition and is only available on one carrier in the US .

Yes, these figures are US only. If you take a look at the European market, where the iPhone is available on multiple carriers, the figures are very very different.

Both Apple and the myriad of Android handset manufacturers have pushed out new models in this period. So have Blackberry, for that matter. Apple with it’s iPhone 4, and Samsung, HTC, RIM and Motorola with their various gizmos. So new device halo effects can be discounted to some degree on all formats.

Is the iPhone doomed? Or is the market just finding its natural level? Have your say in the comments…

Susquehanna Financial Group analyst Jeffrey Fidarco claims the recent release of the iPhone 4 in China will help push sales skywards, and as a result wins a prize for stating the blindingly obvious.

What would this mean for Apple’s currently exclusive US carrier, AT&T? According to its CEO Randall Stephenson, not a lot. He doesn’t believe a high percentage of existing customers will jump ship when their exclusivity deal ends, presumably due to the 2 year contract they all signed to get their iPhone 4’s!

If you are a tennis fan and you want to play a realistic game of it on your iPhone 4 then Gyro Tennis by PersonalApplets is a game to try.

Using the built in gyroscope within the iPhone 4 you can control your racket and ball just like the real thing. The game is designed to make you feel like you are actually there playing, with the applauding and cheering audience down to the actual game play.

There is a section for help on how to play the game which I suggest you read first. If you know the game play for tennis it will seem slightly clearer but if you are new to the game then going through the hep section is recommended.

To play the game, you use your finger to control the racket by moving it along the bottom of the screen. The racket lines itself up as well making it slightly better to control and less for you to do! You are in control of the direction and height it will go in. The gyroscope will of course detect where you are trying to aim.

To use the gyroscope controls you use it the same as any other game with gyroscope controls by moving from left to right and also backward and forward. You will be able to see where the ball is going to go as it shows a line for you.
There are four difficulty levels within the game and this gives you the option to move the racket faster.

There is also the option to play two player via Bluetooth. To do this you simply change it in the settings mode and then tap a game to play with another player and the device will then search for a player. There are lots of settings available to change things like grunting noises and just how much the audience cheers and if you want any background music. There is also an option to change the court type from clay, hard, grass and carpet.

The game play took a bit to get used to. After reading the instructions I still couldn’t keep an actual game going for a long period of time. There are lots of confusing settings to change and buttons to tap and that at times was a little too much and difficult to master. After many attempts though and getting used to the controls it did work very well and was lots of fun. It is worth sticking with it and figuring it out.

It is probably one of the most realistic tennis games I have played on my iPhone. It is a must for all tennis fans and anyone who wants to try a real tennis experience on their gyroscope enabled iPhone 4.

Pros

• Great gyroscope controls.
• Realistic game play

Cons

• Too many options at the beginning make the gameplay seem a little hard to figure out at first.

Price: $0.99 (App Store)
Category: Games
Released:Sep 07, 2010
Reviewed Version:1.00
Size: 16.3 MB
Language:English
Seller:Personal Applets Corporation
© Copyright 2010 Personal Applets Corporation
Requirements:Compatible with iPhone 4 and iPod touch (4th generation). Requires iOS 4.0 or later.

These new models are said to be without the “reception problems” that “plagued” the iPhone 4. According to Quatorze Apple will have redesigned the aerial slightly in their flagship device to remove or reduce the problem.

Whether this is a foreign company director picking up second hand messages and misinterpreting them (you may remember that Steve Jobs said they would “revaluate things” at the end of September), or an actual edict from The Mothership, we do not know.

I am guessing the former. But we’ll soon know either way. Do you think Apple are prepping an iPhone 4 revision? Or is this just tech whispers? Have your say in the comments.

Here is the message they sent out…

We wanted to let you know that there won’t be any white iPhone 4’s in the UK until the end of the year.

If you’re happy to wait another few months we’ll let you know as soon as they’re back in stock. want an iPhone 4 now?

Alternatively, if you want it now, click here or visit your local Orange shop to get the iPhone 4 Black 16GB or 32GB today. Best wishes

Orange

This could just be a ploy by Orange to get those wavering about their purchase to buy what is available now. But that seems unlikely. What is not known is if this is simply an estimate by Orange, or a message that has come to them from Apple.

The UK is typically one of the first markets outside the US to get any new Apple gear. So if supplies there are not coming online until 2011, then that probably means that the US is unlikely to see white iPhone 4s in any considerable number before then either. And most other countries have an even longer wait ahead of them.

Are you still holding out for a White iPhone 4? How are you doing? Thinking that perhaps black is not so bad now?
Do let us know in the comments…

The iPhone 4 uses a vibrational gyroscope, called a microelectromechanical system (MEMS) gyroscope. This in addition to the existing accelerometer allows the Gyro Air Drums to detect three dimensional (roll, yaw, and pitch) rotation as well as device tilt. Gyro Air Drums transforms all the sensor data into an enhanced, fun drumming experience for the user.

Using Gyro Air Drums, a multitude of drums are arranged at two vertical levels in a 300 degree setup around the user. Tilting the iPhone 4 upward allows users to hit the upper level instruments, the hi-hat, crash, and cowbell. Holding the device level allows users to hit the snare and toms. Pointing the device in any horizontal direction around the player brings differing drums into view as if the drum set were actually set up around them.

Features:

• Gyroscope Control
• Close-able hi-hat
• Snare Drum
• Finger controlled bass pedal
• High and Low Toms
• Cowbell
• Crash
• Taiko Drum
• Orientation Reset
• In app instructions and video

Device Requirements:

• Compatible with iPhone 4
• Requires iOS 4.0 or later
• 5.1 MB

Pricing and Availability:

Gyro Air Drums 1.0 is available worldwide exclusively through the App Store in the Music category and is currently at an introductory price of $2.99 USD (or equivalent amount in other currencies).

Logic Consulting
Gyro Air Drums 1.0
Purchase and Download

Located near Tacoma, WA, USA, Logic Consulting LLC was founded in 2010 with the vision of providing fun, realistic physics based apps and games to the world. All Material and Software (C) 2010 Logic Consulting LLC / All Rights Reserved. Apple, the Apple logo, iPhone, iPod and iPad are registered trademarks of Apple Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries.

Apparently Lens Technology, the company that makes the White iPhone 4’s front panel, has machines which are only capable of producing 3 units per hour. Getting the balance of white paint levels to opacity for the panel is something that is quite tricky to get right when producing components to Apple’s high standards.

The report does not detail how many actual machines the company has for producing this component. But at 3 units per machine per hour, unless they have thousands of machines it is hard to see how Apple can expect to produce sufficient quantities of White iPhone 4s to keep up with the kind of sales figures their new iPhone is currently experiencing.

Current estimates suggest that Apple can only produce half the volume of units it needs to satisfy expected demand.

If you remember, Steve Jobs did say on Friday at the “Antennagate” press conference that the White iPhone 4 remains on track for availability at the end of July. But he did also warn that supplies would be limited, at least initially.

This echoes an earlier statement from Apple where they admitted that manufacturing the Black iPhone4’s sibling has proved more challenging than they expected.

Apparently Stephen Fry, the British comedian and all round Apple geek, was seen proudly waving a White iPhone 4 around last night at an entertainment event. So it seems if you have friends in the right places they are available right now…

Are you still holing out for a White iPhone 4? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.

Some pundits went into the event secure in their own personal mind bubble that Steve knew about the issue with the iPhone 4, it wasn’t fixable, and he was a liar. Others went in equally sure that he didn’t know about it, and it could perhaps be fixed by software, but Apple were struggling with that task. Overall though, a very large percentage of all of them went in assuming that Apple would have to grovel their way out of this situation, offer some kind of mea culpa, recall the iPhone 4 (at least with some kind of voluntary return scheme) and then crawl away licking their wounds.
Unfortunately what a lot of the pundits, who themselves contributed to creating this 22 day circus forgot was that “Pride always comes before a fall”. They also forgot that Apple has said all along that if you don’t like the iPhone 4 you can return it within 30 days for a full refund.

Apple’s senior management wasn’t even on the same planet as most industry pundits when they entered the Press Conference. By that I mean that their perception of the issue was one based in reality, 22 days of hard work and investigation and several years of hard work prior to that. What it was certainly not based on was self-aggrandisation, a grubby search for page-views, or a self inflicted forced feedback loop of rumor and speculation feeding on itself in a piranha pool like frenzy.

The first bullet that Apple dodged was the amount of mileage that other manufacturers were planning to make out of “Antennagate”.

“Every Magic Trick consists of three parts, or acts.”

“The First part is called The Pledge. The Magician shows you something ordinary.”

So Steve started with the iPhone 4. He also softened us up with the now famous iPhone 4 Antenna song, and an admission that Apple makes mistakes.

Steve carefully orchestrated the way his monologue ran so that it led smoothly through a winding tail reenforcing just how good the iPhone 4 is at handling radio signals, and then arrived at a tantalising moment where he flirted with his own “pet theory” about why a minuscule number more calls have been recorded as dropped by AT&T on the iPhone 4 than on the iPhone 3GS.

With the dropped calls figure he gave us something which sounded like a negative, just briefly, before hinting at something a lot of people were salivating for – something free! And then he changed tack. That fleeting proposition seemed to be gone. So we listened all the more intently to what he had to say next…

In my own view the sampling for the iPhone 4 is so small by comparison to the 3GS it seems that comparing the two is irrelevant at this stage, whichever way you lean. But what it did do was put things in perspective and give Apple a really minor piece of bad “hard data” to take responsibility for, which it would later use as a reason to offer an appeasement to its customers.

As Steve continued to lecture us he dragged some of the iPhone 4’s main competitors into the room by the scruff of their necks, metaphorically; in the form of their handsets, and showed us their flaws also.

Now, in the UK it is illegal to produce adverts which criticise your competitors. At least it was the last time I checked. And I am pretty sure that although it used to go on in the US, it is now at least frowned upon, if not illegal in some states.

However, under the guise of a kind of public service announcement, or technical lecture, Steve Jobs spent about a third of his Press Conference showing us some of Apple’s leading competitors mobile devices dropping signals right in-front of our eyes. Just like the iPhone 4 has been reported as doing.

“The second act is called the turn. The Magician takes the ordinary something and makes it into something extraordinary.”

In one fell swoop he had created a global advert, sure to be replayed on news networks around the world, and streamed to people’s computers shortly after the Press Conference concluded. Levelling the playing field in Apple’s most important industry. Undoing harm, and putting previously falsely smug competitors on notice.

It is interesting to note that Apple got the video of the press conference up on its website in record time. And that there were clips from it playing on global news networks even before the Q&A immediately after the press conference had finished on the Apple campus.

This morning, instead of crowing about Apple’s troubles, as they were earlier in the week, Nokia and RIM are on the back foot and rushing to distribute their own Press Releases criticising Apple’s methods at the press conference. They’re in the offices emailing and faxing over the weekend! Apple is not. Apple’s competitors are now finding themselves doing their best to dispute the videos of their devices that Steve Jobs managed to get a global community looking at. But no-one, apart from tech. sites are picking any of this up. Because it’s not Apple, and it’s not interesting, and it’s the weekend now.

But back to the conference…

The second bullet that Apple dodged was the outcry that would come from third party iPhone 4 case manufacturers when they realised that Apple had just killed their business by giving away free Bumpers to a lot of their potential customers.

At the point where we all expected the “free Bumper” announcement I have already mentioned that Steve skilfully wheeled away and took us on another brief joy ride ride through how good the iPhone 4 is, just like that final twist on a roller coaster. And then he threw the free Bumper line out almost casually, as we were all looking the other way.

“But you wouldn’t clap yet because making something disappear isn’t enough. You have to bring it back.”

It was almost as if Jobs had watched “The Prestige” recently, and recalled perfectly how Michael Caine explained exactly the perfect steps a magicians trick should follow. (The quotes I am using are from that great movie, by the way.)
Now, something that had occurred to me a few days before the Press Conference, and one of the reasons I had my doubts about Apple giving out free Bumpers was that it could potentially alienate the entire third party product industry built up around the iPhone ecosystem.

Another reason that giving out Bumpers might be a bad idea is that I think it potentially opens a crack in Apple’s legal defence against the class action lawsuits that some initiated against Apple in the first few days that the iPhone 4 was on the market. But that is a subject for another article.

In any case Apple is giving out free Bumpers to all customers, and they have managed to make sure that there will be plenty on hand, and at the same time they won’t get more bad PR by gutting the relative cottage industry that iPhone third party accessories make up when compared to Apple’s corporate juggernaut.

Apple did that by “admitting”, or seeming to admit, that they couldn’t possibly manufacture enough Bumpers to satisfy all their customers themselves. And that they would get around that “problem” by enlisting the help of selected third party manufacturers, so that they could not only offer their customers a more diverse range of iPhone 4 Bumpers and covers to choose from. But also get them to them sooner rather than later. Whilst there may be some truth in the explanation that they could not produce enough Bumpers, it is certain that the thinking that went into that strategy ran deeper than simple supply issues.

To round the event out Steve confirmed that the white iPhone 4 would be available at the end of July. He assured us that Apple exists only to make its customers happy, and that they take all this very personally.

Finally in the Q&A he called both the New York Times and The Wall Street Journals liars.

“Now you’re looking for the secret. But you won’t find it because of course you’re not really looking. You don’t really want to work it out. You want to be… fooled.”

To be clear though, that last line I am quoting from “The Prestige” is not really where I am at personally. I never really saw there being a serious problem with the iPhone 4.

But that’s because I actually have one, and have been using it since a few days after launch, and have not had a single – not one – dropped call. And I use mine without a case in areas where both Nokia phones and previous iPhones had problems getting and keeping signals. So I don’t need to be convinced that the iPhone 4 is a great product.

Unfortunately Apple wasn’t trying to convince me. It was trying to convince an industry that exists on rumors and smoke and mirrors itself. Ironic when you consider that most rumor sites are the ones who feel they are drawing the curtain back on Apple’s “evil” PR machine. When in actual fact they are at best victims of their own forced feedback loop they create by stealing content from one another on the internet, and at worst vultures trolling for page views.

Overall I give Apple, and Steve Jobs 10 out of 10 for their handling of “antennagate”. So far…

I say so far, because it is not over yet. Those same sites, currently in some disarray as they work out their next move, already have their sights set on September the 30th. A deadline that Apple set for the end of free Bumpers. And one they are already assuming is the date that Apple will produce a hardware fix for the iPhone 4 that will change the laws of physics.

Woe betide Apple if they don’t come up with it. We might all be back at Cupertino in the first week of October otherwise.

Do let us know in the comments how you feel Apple has dealt with “Antennagate” so far…

Included for completeness below are the Press Releases from Nokia and RIM in response to Apple..

Nokia

Antenna design is a complex subject and has been a core competence at Nokia for decades, across hundreds of phone models. Nokia was the pioneer in internal antennas; the Nokia 8810, launched in 1998, was the first commercial phone with this feature.

Nokia has invested thousands of man hours in studying human behavior, including how people hold their phones for calls, music playing, web browsing and so on. As you would expect from a company focused on connecting people, we prioritize antenna performance over physical design if they are ever in conflict.
In general, antenna performance of a mobile device/phone may be affected with a tight grip, depending on how the device is held. That’s why Nokia designs our phones to ensure acceptable performance in all real life cases, for example when the phone is held in either hand. Nokia has invested thousands of man hours in studying how people hold their phones and allows for this in designs, for example by having antennas both at the top and bottom of the phone and by careful selection of materials and their use in the mechanical design.

RIM

Apple’s attempt to draw RIM into Apple’s self-made debacle is unacceptable. Apple’s claims about RIM products appear to be deliberate attempts to distort the public’s understanding of an antenna design issue and to deflect attention from Apple’s difficult situation. RIM is a global leader in antenna design and has been successfully designing industry-leading wireless data products with efficient and effective radio performance for over 20 years. During that time, RIM has avoided designs like the one Apple used in the iPhone 4 and instead has used innovative designs which reduce the risk for dropped calls, especially in areas of lower coverage. One thing is for certain, RIM’s customers don’t need to use a case for their BlackBerry smartphone to maintain proper connectivity. Apple clearly made certain design decisions and it should take responsibility for these decisions rather than trying to draw RIM and others into a situation that relates specifically to Apple. – Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie

It is widely believed that Apple will be talking about iPhone 4 reception issues and the antenna design. There have been various rumors and PR experts suggesting that the best strategy for Apple at this stage would be to do a recall and it will be interesting to see how Apple tackles this situation.

We will bring you the all-in-one live feed from all popular news sources and update you with the latest information. We will be updating you with the latest images, details from the iPhone 4 press conference and all other announcements. Live audio/video feed is unlikely to be available however, we will update this page if we find one.

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We recently reported that Apple might be releasing iOS 4.0.1 software update for iPhone 4 owners today and now Engadget has confirmed that the update is available for download.

The update “improves the formula to determine how many bars of signal strength to display.”

You can download the update by connecting your iPhone 4 to iTunes and clicking “check for updates”

iOS 4.0.1 is available for iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS and iPhone 3G.

Download Links:

iPhone 4 – 4.0.1

iPhone 3GS – 4.0.1

iPhone 3G – 4.0.1

Let us know if you notice any other changes.

Update:

Apple has also released a software update for iPad. iOS 3.2.1 software update for iPad appears to be contain bug fixes and improves overall performance.

Download Link for iPad – 3.2.1

Ruben Caballero, whose a senior engineer and an antenna expert, Informed Apple’s management that iPhone 4 design may cause reception issues. The same report also claims that a carrier partner also raised the same concerns about the device prior to the launch. All of these allegations are being made by people who claim that they were familiar with the situation but asked to remain anonymous.

The “death grip” issue, as it has become known, has become a PR nightmare for Apple. With many people calling for iPhone 4 recall and many others calling for Apple to provide bumper cases for free, Apple finally caved in and scheduled a press conference for Friday morning. This report will most certainly throw more fuel on the fire that is already burning. I must tell you that when this issue first surfaced, my first reaction was how could this happen considering the number of smart people working there?

Do you believe this report? What do you think Apple will say tomorrow at the press conference. Let us know your thoughts.

But now, I have a problem. I have an iPhone 4 and I don’t want to put it in a case.

The problem is not that there aren’t any cases for it. There are actually plenty of cases available even though many of the Apple stores that I visited do not carry any (in my area, there are four Apple Stores within a 10 mile radius and only one of them carries 3rd party iPhone 4 cases.) The problem is bigger than that. I just can’t bring myself to putting the phone in a case. And it is all Apple’s fault.

Apple designed such a beautiful device with such gorgeous curves and lines that any case you put it in, causes it to look like the old iPhone. I want to see the metal antenna surrounding the phone. I want to see the glass back with the Apple logo. I want to see the simple lock and volume buttons. Why hide all of these design elements with rubber or plastic? Forget the fact that these cases help with the “death grip” issue. Forget the fact that a device made out of glass can break easily. I sit in an office all day long and the rest of the time, the phone is in my pocket.

To many people, the updated look was definitely a reason to upgrade. Aside from the hardware improvements, for most people the iPhone 4 is not a necessary upgrade (the feature that Apple touted as being revolutionary – FaceTime – at its current incarnation is not all that useful due to its limitations on hardware and connectivity requirements). But that look is gone the moment you put a case on it.

So does this mean that I don’t own any iPhone 4 cases? Come on, didn’t you read the first paragraph? I own, so far, five cases. It is because of these cases that I don’t want to put another one on. The most minimalist of the them all is Apple’s Bumper case but it is nothing more than a way of getting around the death grip issue. The most protective is Case-Mate’s Tough case which increases the thickness of the new iPhone to be the same as the old iPhone. Everything in between is just a cover. Nothing more. What do I have on right now? Nothing. Do I feel a little vulnerable? Yes.

So what am I to do? The most promising case that I have seen so far is the Vapor Case by ElementCase. It looks like it will be both protective and minimalist at the same time while keeping the phone’s curves and design features. But that case seems to be at least a couple of months away and at a cost of $79, it will have to be an amazing case to justify its cost. For now, if I have to have a case on, it will be the Bumper case. It solves two problems (death grip and scratching) while still maintaining the phone’s design elements.

What case do you use on your iPhone 4? Let us know how you protect your phone and whether or not it is important for you.

However, according to iPhoneHellas.gr Apple plan to release a minor point upgrade to iOS 4 for everyone later today. It will be iOS 4.0.1. It is just possible it has come from a different team inside Apple. Developer OS updates, and consumer ones are not done from one build after all and developers have not seen iOS 4.0.1.

It seems unlikely though that this will do any more than change the cosmetic appearance of the signal bars on our devices. And implement the new signal strength algorithm that Apple announced they would be using in their Press Release about iPhone 4 reception issues.

But those who are affected can still hope.

Let us know in the comments how it goes for you when you get your copy of iOS 4.01.

Consumers and technology sites started covering the ‘Death Grip’ issue even before the new phone was officially made available but Consumer Reports pulling their recommendation came as a surprise and Apple has finally decided to address this issue.

Apple (AAPL) is holding an invitation-only press conference Friday July 16 at its Cupertino headquarters. In an e-mailed invitation the company offered few details beyond the event’s topic: the iPhone 4.

The Wall Street Journal’s All Things D blog today reported that Apple will be holding a press conference on Friday (July 16, 2010) and they will be talking about the iPhone 4.

We recently reported that some PR experets suggested that Apple should recall iPhone 4, while some suggested that they should offer free bumper case.

Holing a press conference and addressing the issue is certainly a great move by Apple and it would be interesting to see how they tackle this situation.

[AppleInsider, All Things Digital] ]]> https://touchreviews.net/iphone-4-press-conference-friday/feed/ 0 https://touchreviews.net/iphone-4-bumper-case-fix-antenna-issues/ https://touchreviews.net/iphone-4-bumper-case-fix-antenna-issues/#comments Thu, 15 Jul 2010 00:25:34 +0000 https://touchreviews.net/?p=7834 Read More]]> Consumer Reports today announced that the Apple Bumper Case helps in resolving the antenna issues with the new iPhone 4.

Consumer Reports tested an iPhone 4 with the bumper case and found that covering the lower left hand portion of the case did not affect the signal strength the same way that it did in an iPhone 4 without the case.

While the findings are positive and provide a solution for most users, Consumer Reports did not change their position on the iPhone 4. Noting that they do not feel that a user should have to purchase the bumper case to resolve this issue, they still can not recommend the iPhone 4. Consumer Reports only tested Apple’s bumper case, but from current use we can attest that almost every case that covers the lower left hand portion of the phone works.

While the Consumer Reports test did not report anything that was not already known to the majority of users, it will most definitely add weight to calls on Apple to provide the bumper cases for free to iPhone 4 users. Considering that the alternative is a redesign of the antenna and a massive recall of all iPhone 4, Apple should make the bumper cases available for free. Considering the low production cost of iPhone cases (simple plastic cases cost on average 97 cents to produce), the cost of providing a case to each customer will be minimal compared to every other option.

What Apple will do remains to be seen, but they must act fast. No matter what they choose to do, it is clear that they will not be able to satisfy everyone. Many users simply do not like the bumper case (due to its poor protection value) and there are many users who refuse to “ruin” the device’s beautiful curves and design with a case that hides its gorgeous features.

Would you use the bumper case if given for free? Do you use it right now? If not, which case do you use (if any)? Let us know your thoughts on this matter.

iPhone 4 Bumper Test from Consumer Reports

FaceTime for iPhone 4 allows you to make video calls to any iPhone 4 user over WiFi. Apple have always pioneered in simplifying technology and offering the most user friendly interface in their operating systems. Unlike other video calling solutions available, iPhone 4 does not require you to set up any buddy list or configure any settings.

The new iPhone 4 FaceTime ads posted by Apple today highlight the simplicity and use of FaceTime. All 4 ads evoke emotion and attempt to capture your imagination.

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