iPhone 4 owners begin receiving ‘antennagate’ settlement checks

By Cody Lee on Apr 23, 2013

Ah, who could forget the infamous iPhone 4 ‘Antennagate‘ debacle? It had barely been a month since Apple had introduced its newly-redesigned handset, when users began to complain of severe signal attenuation when holding the device a certain way.

Steve Jobs and company held a press conference to defend their product, but it wasn’t enough to keep the lawsuits at bay. Apple was forced to offer free bumpers, or $15 in cash, to iPhone 4 owners. And now, 3 years later, the checks are finally on their way… Read More

 

Don’t want your free bumper case? Claim your $15 Antennagate settlement now

By Christian Zibreg on Mar 29, 2012

Remember Antennagate? As you know, a settlement was reached in the class-action lawsuit concerning the signal attenuation issue stemming from the iPhone 4 antenna design. The settlement includes Apple issuing a free iPhone bumper case or $15 to eligible iPhone 4 owners in the United States.

In case you don’t want a free bumper case for your device, you can now register for a $15 cash payment at the official Antennagate class action settlement website which has just gone live. As always, there are some caveats worth pointing out… Read More

 

Apple settles ‘Antennagate’ lawsuit: free iPhone bumper or $15 for iPhone 4 owners

By Jake Smith on Feb 18, 2012

After the iPhone 4 was first launched, many users began to notice 3G reception issues when placing their palm over the antenna part of their iPhone 4. The issue was quickly dubbed the “antennagate” by bloggers.

While also receiving many complaints from customers and a few lawsuits, Apple quickly made free iPhone bumper cases available to everyone, which they said remedied the issue. The issue was fixed in iPhone 4s manufactured later.

One of those US class-action lawsuits is finally seeing a settlement, reports Cnet… Read More

 

Consumer Reports Recommends the iPhone 4S, We Do Not Recommend Consumer Reports

By Oliver Haslam on Nov 8, 2011

Remember how Consumer Reports refused to recommend the iPhone 4 because of its infamous reception problems? Now, the influential magazine has given the iPhone 4S a different diagnosis, coming to a rather different conclusion.

Consumer Reports is being considerably nicer to Apple’s latest iPhone, saying that it does not suffer from any of the antenna-related reception issues that plagued its predecessor.

As a result of the improved antenna found in the iPhone 4S, Consumer Reports is now willing to let bygones be bygones, and is happy to list the handset as a “recommended device.” But that’s not all… Read More

 

iPhone 4S Death Grip Test

By Kickstar13 on Oct 15, 2011

Remember the iPhone 4 antennagate debacle? For those of you who don’t, when Apple released the GSM iPhone 4 last year, users began to notice that when the handset was held with the left hand, connecting the two antennas, cell reception dropped significantly (this was dubbed the “death grip”), often resulting in complete signal loss.

Although Apple tried to fix the antenna problem with a software update, the update did not completely rid the iPhone 4 of the issue. Apple then decided to give out free bumper cases, which seemed to prevent the antenna problem from occurring.

Last week, Apple announced the new iPhone 4S, in addition to an improved 8MP camera, Siri, and new A5 processor, included a redesigned antenna… Read More

 

What’s Different About the iPhone 4S Antenna?

By Oliver Haslam on Oct 6, 2011

One part of Apple’s iPhone 4S announcement that perhaps isn’t getting all that much talk time (see what I did there?) is the new, redesigned antenna system. That’s particularly interesting considering how eager everyone was so talk about it, back when the iPhone 4 was suffering from the good ol’ AntennaGate debacle!

So, what’s so new about Apple’s latest redesign of something that most phone manufacturers never even talk about at all? Read More

 

Cydle i30: The digital TV Receiver for Your iPhone

By Cody Lee on May 28, 2011

Forget about streaming services like Hulu Plus and Netflix, what about if you want live TV? Apps like SlingPlayer do a pretty good job of broadcasting your TV content, but it requires some sort of internet connection.

For folks who just have to catch the local news at 9 on the go, comes the Cydle i30. The slide-on accessory will enable users to receive local OTA (over the air) digital broadcasts, right on the iPhone… Read More

 

White iPhone 4 Antenna and Proximity Sensor Tested

By Jeff Benjamin on Apr 27, 2011

Italian tech blog iSpazio has already posted one of the web’s first unboxing videos, and now they’ve followed that up with another video showcasing the white iPhone 4′s potential issues, if any.

Among the many rumored reasons why the white iPhone 4 was ever delayed in the first place was due to the fact that the material used caused proximity sensor issues. This understandably wasn’t up to snuff with Apple’s notorious quality assurance standards.

Eventually all of those issues got straightened out. Was it the white paint after all? We still may never know the true reasons behind the delay, but it’s good to know that whatever was holding the white version of Apple’s top selling smartphone back, has been fixed… Read More

 

First Lawsuit Filed For iPhone Location-Tracking Debacle

By Kickstar13 on Apr 26, 2011

I had a feeling this was coming. The very first lawsuit has been filed against Apple for the highly controversial tracking of location data from the iPhone and iPad.

According to Bloomberg, a lawsuit was filed against Apple on April 22nd in Tampa, Florida, at a federal court by iPhone user, Vikram Ajjampur, and iPad user, William Devito. The two iDevice users claim that Apple has been surreptitiously tracking the location of iPhone and iPad owners.

They claim to have filed the lawsuit in an effort to stop the alleged data collection by Apple.  Read More

 

Weird Way To Improve Your iPhone 4′s Reception

By Alex Heath on Mar 20, 2011

Still suffering from the antennagate problem with the iPhone 4? How about spotty coverage on AT&T?

A strange and inventive method will supposedly help your reception strength. Next time you find yourself with crummy coverage, put your iPhone in a glass. You probably want to make sure it’s empty first…

Read More

 

iPhone 5 to Have Aluminum Back and New Antenna Design?

By Alex Heath on Mar 7, 2011

Apple originally used a plastic back for the iPhone, then they switched to a glass backing for the iPhone 4. The glass back coupled with the antenna issues in the iPhone 4 did not bear well for the device, and it appears that Apple is considering using an aluminum back for the iPhone 5.

A report from the Taiwanese Economic Daily News claims that Apple is abandoning the glass backing from the iPhone 5 in favor of a stronger aluminum covering. The source also suggests that Apple’s new antenna will be inside the device’s rear Apple logo…

Read More

 

Don’t Hold Your iPhone Too Close to Your Head, Apple Says So

By Cody Lee on Mar 7, 2011

I’m sure we have all, at some point, heard about the possible dangers of extensive cell phone use. But if you’re like me, you have continuously brushed off the claims, with an I’ll-believe-it-when-I-see-it mentality. Well, maybe it’s time we paid attention.

In your iPhone 4 booklet, about 5 pages in, is a warning about Exposure to Radio Frequency Energy. Well, it’s just your standard legal disclaimer in case a freak accident happens, right? Wrong. If you continue to read on, the user manual actually requests you hold your iPhone 5/8 inch away from your body… Read More

 

Consumer Reports Doesn’t Recommend the Verizon iPhone Due to Antenna Issues

By Alex Heath on Feb 25, 2011

Proving that they do have something against Apple, the fine folks at Consumer Reports have refused to give the Verizon iPhone their official recommendation. After testing the Verizon iPhone for antenna issues, Consumer Reports determined that the same “antennagate” issue that plagued the original iPhone 4 on AT&T also plagues the CDMA version of the iPhone.

Despite the Verizon iPhone being generally well received by the public and press, the stubbornness of Consumer Reports prevails with their verdict of judgement.

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Apple to Customers: “You Don’t Have to Hold it Wrong Anymore”

By Sebastien Page on Feb 15, 2011

If you’re in the US and go to Apple’s website right now, you’ll probably going to be greeted by the image of 2 iPhones: the AT&T one, and the newly released Verizon iPhone. If you have a closer look at this image, you can see that the position of the hand is different from one phone to the other.

The hand barely touches the AT&T iPhone, whereas it is fully gripping the Verizon iPhone. So, is Apple trying to tell us something? Read More

 

New Verizon iPhone Has Antenna Issues Too

By Sebastien Page on Feb 8, 2011

Just when you thought we were done with the antennagate, a new video from iLounge surfaced, showing that the Verizon iPhone is also affected by an antenna issue. When held in the prior “death grip” position, the Verizon iPhone loses substantial cellular signal, just like we previously saw with GSM iPhone 4.

Additionally, the CDMA iPhone 4 seems to be affected by a loss of wifi signal when held snugly in landscape mode. Both issues seem to be taken care of with the use of a case… Read More

 

A Closer Look at The Verizon iPhone’s ‘Personal Hotspot’

By Alex Heath on Jan 12, 2011

Yesterday, the Verizon iPhone was announced. Not much is different; there is a new CDMA antenna and mobile hotspot feature coined as “Personal Hotspot.” This new (currently) Verizon-specific iPhone feature mimics popular jailbreak utilities like MyWi.

Personal Hotspot will be a new, pre-installed software feature for the Verizon brand of iOS. This mobile hotspot feature has been available on most Android phones for quite some time. Some more details have surfaced about Personal Hotspot…

Read More

 

Has Apple Finally Solved the iPhone 4 Antenna Woes?

By Jeff Benjamin on Jan 12, 2011

Now that the Verizon iPhone 4 has been officially unveiled, it was only a matter of time before someone tried to replicate the infamous “death grip” which causes signal degradation to the point of dropped calls. Those issues stemmed from the way the iPhone 4′s antenna was designed, which resulted in attenuation issues when holding the device a certain way.

After a few flat out denials and a misguided PR campaign, the situation was dubbed antennagate, after the famous Watergate political scandal of the 70′s. Now that Apple has released a revised version of the iPhone 4 in order to meet the compatibility standards of Verizon’s CDMA network, were they able to address the antenna issues along the way?
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The Verizon iPhone Has a Different Antenna

By Sebastien Page on Jan 11, 2011

You might remember that the iPhone 4 was hit by a pretty big controversy about its antenna design shortly after it was released. Known as the antennagate, this issue could easily be replicated simply by wrapping your hand around the bottom of the phone, which is how 90% of people actually hold their phones.

It seems that Apple went back to the drawing board and came up with a slightly different antenna design for the Verizon iPhone. If you look at the 2 images below, you will see that the tiny black breaks between the different parts of the antenna are at different spots… Read More

 

It Looks Like HTC Has Their Own Antenna Issues to Worry About

By Jeff Benjamin on Dec 31, 2010

Apple took loads of heat earlier this year due to the issues surrounding the iPhone 4 so-called ‘Death Grip’ which causes the signal strength to plummet when the phone is held a certain way. Apple replied by saying that all smartphones suffer from this issue to a certain degree, a point that HTC notably took issue with.

Unfortunately for Apple, the popularity of their products put a huge red target on their backs, and the fact that they didn’t properly own up to the issues didn’t help them much either.

But that’s not the end of this story. Now, another popular phone manufacturer, HTC, is caught in the middle of a similar controversy with their flagship Windows Phone 7, the HTC HD7…

Read More

 

The iPhone 4 Antenna and Ping Make CNN’s List of Biggest 2010 Tech Fails

By Sebastien Page on Dec 28, 2010

CNN just published a list of the 10 biggest tech fails of 2010. At the top of the list, somewhat of a surprise, is the iPhone 4 antenna, also known as the antennagate, which we widely covered a few months ago.

I guess the fail in this case is not the antenna problem itself, but rather the way Apple handled the whole situation by pretty much saying there was no issue, then saying there was an issue that would be fixed with a software update, then saying there was actually no issue, but since there was no issue, they were going to give free cases to everyone. Confused? Read More

 
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