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Apple’s Smartphone Antenna Performance page, which aims to show that other phones besides iPhone 4 suffer from signal loss when held in a certain way, originally didn’t
href="http://mashable.com/2010/07/16/apple-antenna-press-event/">mention Nokia.
However, that didn’t stop Nokia from issuing a statement, claiming that antenna performance has always been a high priority for them. As Nokia put it, “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.”
Now, Apple silently answered Nokia by adding a video which shows that Nokia N97 mini, when held a certain way, also shows significant signal loss. Grip the phone in a weak signal area, Apple claims, and it can drop from 7 to 2 bars. Check out the video below.
I think all this does is one thing, exposes how generally EVERYONE has to deal with low signal areas and how well their devices deal with it.
If anything, I think this is a issue a long time coming (to hit the forefront of the public mind)
I don't really care wether the iPhone 4 has an antenna issue (even though I own one) because EVERY cell phone I've owned has had this issue in “low signal areas” which is in far more places than aren't. We need a new cell site infrastructure that's NOT tied to any one carrier. Just as we have Power Grids, we should have a Cell Grid.
Btw, I'm not having anymore or less problems with my iPhone 4 reception than I did with my 3G or before that my Treo. AT&T still sucks…..
Boys and girls, products aren't perfect and nobody is forcing you to buy them. But you should still make a *choice*, and not necessarily get what everyone else has, just “because it's cool”. Make your own choice after reviewing the products and their specs. Long story short, Apple was accused of bad design and they “replied” by saying other phones have this issue as well. That is quite immature.
The People: – hey, Apple, our iPhones drop calls and lose signal.. Apple: – it's not a problem, you're holding it wrong The People: – hey, Apple, our iPhones really drop calls.. Apple: – yes, I guess you're right, we'll adjust the software to show less signal bars The People: – hey, Apple!!! Apple: – alright, alright, we'll throw you some bumpers, shut up already
Not really nice of them, in my opinion. I had quite a lot of mobile phones so far, and also the iPhone 3G; it is a nice product, but the many things they do push me towards other devices.
This issue has been so overblown that Apple has the right to do whatever they want.
People hate Apple for its success, so it wasnt too hard for a popular tech blog (jizzmodo) to rally up an uprising.
I have tried to reproducethe issue many times and to no avail. A dozen thousand or so people are in bad coverage areas. That minority should gave never overshadowed 3 million of satisfied customers and another 20 million waiting for production to start keeping up with demand.
It's not that big of a deal people. I can replicate the same thing with my iPhone 3Gs and I never would have known were it not for Apple demonstrating it on their website.
I have three friends with iPhone 4's and they tell me that they have had zero dropped calls. I'll be receiving mine on August 3rd and can't wait. Need that HD video recording – NOW! I do a lot of video recording so I've never really used the SD video camera on the 3Gs.
I think this was the perfect response from Apple. Nokia wanted to get in on the action of bashing a company who truly does make a great product (I've had no problems with my iPhone 4, not to say that others don't). Still, the videos that Apple came out with do show that this is an issue with many smartphones. I think Nokia is trying to make a last-ditch effort in light of the fact that they are falling behind in the smatphone industry. The fact that they are essentially terminating their CEO lends credence to that.
my old N95 had this problem, mate's N96 had this problem… not surprising N97 has this problem but… … its actually a problem common to any phone – put s slab of meat between the phone and the base station it happens to be using, and the signal strength will weaken – if in a poor reception area to start with the call will be dropped
10 years ago, when the first concern about mobile phone radiation arose, I was working on BBC Watchdog Healthcheck and commissioned some experiments with NPL (the National Physical Laboratory) to see how the phones' output varied when its' signal was blocked to varying degrees… … their lab kit was v. cool, putting the phones next to a plastic head, filled with a liquid with the exact microwave attenuating properties of the human brain…
… basically, mobile phones try to use the minimum transmitting power possible, to conserve battery… so the device itself cranks up the transmitting power when signal is weak… and boy does the signal go weak when you put a human head between the phone and the base station (ie when you're on a call and not facing the right way!)
so its no surprise that ALL cell phones will get reduced signal when more things are put between them and the base station… … its unfortunate for Apple that their “bars display” makes this effect more easy for the erstwhile blissfully-ignorant layman to see…
… still, its been worth the drudgery of this v sticky story, for the amusement of seeing supposedly intelligent people verbally attack each other over which phone they're fan of… makes you proud
Very nice attitude from Apple. Fingerpoint to another company to distract the attention from their own problems. I appreciate Apple's product, but this is not the way that they will make me buy an Iphone 4
Whiny Apple fanboys flail back. Our phone isn't the only one that has antenna problems. (wheezed in a high-pitched and irritating nasal drone). So, rather than accept the fact that you produced a phone that a large majority of users 'hold wrong' you would rather point your fingers at the other guys who may (or may not) have similar issues. I say may not because the whole 'study' was conducted by Apple itself.
Don't get me wrong I'm not bashing Apple or praising Nokia; I'm just saying that if you put your hand over the antenna of course if will interfere with it, no matter what make or model it is. I've had three Nokia phones and they all drop calls but so does my Samsung so I blame the network personally haha.
For such a “big” company like Apple to start mud slinging in order to distract from the fact that the iphone4 has a major design problem is just pathetic… It's something a kid does when they get caught doing something they shouldn't… “yeah but xxxxx was doing it too…”
All phone antenna's suffer from environmental factors (buildings, people etc) but we have all seen video's of the iphone going from full signal strength to zero – this isn't “dropping a couple of bars” it's totally dropping calls!
I wonder why no other phone on the market currently has the antenna on the outside of the case – oh yeah… It doesn't work!!!!
Nobody can deny that the iphone4 is a great device, the display has seriously raised the bar for other manufacturers but for Apple to hide behind “yeah but Nokia's loose some signal strength too” videos is garbage – I don't know about Apple promoting FaceTime – maybe they should be looking to change the name to facepalm?
How low can Apple go? That Nokia has a low battery and you grip it in a way that nobady dose. Maybe they even adjust it the way that it saves battery life in the expense of the reseption. I'm not saying that Iphone4 is all bad, i was goin to by that one too. But they have a big proplem in that phone and they just should fix it. Not to start complaining of competitors products. I haven't see Nokia whining when they have hard time. If the phone is shit then it is. Don't blame anyone else about it! By the way i can't get my old Nokia N95 to drob even a single bar. No mather how i hold it.
I did the same test with my Nexus….guess what: drops from 3 bars to zero. Now I finally understand why I loose reception when biking and calling at the same time. Unbelievable this, anybody else has the same thing?
It looks to me like the problem with the iPhone comes up when people use it normally. That the antennae can be bridged by holding it in a normal way is a bad design decision.
The fact that gripping other phones in an unnatural way also causes signal loss doesn't excuse Apple's bad design decision.
The point is, other companies seem to have designed their phones to ensure a normal grip doesn't cause call drops. Seeing as this whole issue was brought up by the iPhone 4, it obviously wasn't a problem with other handsets in normal use. My 3GS hasn't had any signal problems (I'm in Australia and not with AT&T), their whole response just muddies the waters for the non-technical – their biggest market.
Is this really news? The 'death grip' isn't new, most of the phones I have owned tell you not to place your hand over the antenna as this may reduce signal strength. It's common sense more than anything and a poor choice of antenna positioning on Apples part.
I am going to repost a great comment from Talk.Maemo.org – a forum for N900 & Nokia Maemo users & developers:
“Originally Posted by naabi Just found out that N97 mini reduces antenna power when battery charge gets low. As you can see from the video, battery indicator has only one bar… Nice work. stickymick responds Ah, you found the hidden feature of Nokia phones.
Nokia have a trick whereby if you have a less than favourable signal, it will use some power from the battery to boost the reception, if there's enough battery power to do that.
It's this bit of technology that Nokia filed a lawsuit against apple for, I believe. Allegedly they used it in the 3GS without Nokia's permission.” http://talk.maemo.org/showpost.php?p=758905&pos...
More Problems for Nokia N97 – Purchase it with care.
Yes, I am an owner of the Nokia N97. Apparently the one I bought is the “China” edition – fact I didn't know at the time of purchase.
All was well until I went to MTN Rwanda to enable Internet browsing on the phone. The MTN Customer advisor, great guy, told me that after he enabled the Net Services I wouldn't be able to visit: http://www.hotmail.com http://www.facebook.com http://www.gmail.com
or any java, javascript enabled websites – is that like ALL websites these days.
For me that's like saying – No internet browsing available here.
So are there any plugins available to solve this problem ????
The problem with having a company with so much fanboy base, is the anti-fan boy base it comes along with. I love how people are making such a Greek tragedy out of this.
@Mauro Martins “Apple created a new low standard in the industry that we never saw.”
That sentence is funny more more than just terrible grammar. It's incorrect and simply ignorant, there have been much worse performing cell phones and even the Droid's range reporting is comparable to the IP4. However the Droid is being on a less used (and therefore stronger) network that doesn't show the issues of low signal strength as prevalent.
Apple needs to STFU about other people antenna problems (no one gives two shits about the Nokia Mini), man up and move on.
I think all this does is one thing, exposes how generally EVERYONE has to deal with low signal areas and how well their devices deal with it.
If anything, I think this is a issue a long time coming (to hit the forefront of the public mind)
I don't really care wether the iPhone 4 has an antenna issue (even though I own one) because EVERY cell phone I've owned has had this issue in “low signal areas” which is in far more places than aren't. We need a new cell site infrastructure that's NOT tied to any one carrier. Just as we have Power Grids, we should have a Cell Grid.
Btw, I'm not having anymore or less problems with my iPhone 4 reception than I did with my 3G or before that my Treo.
AT&T still sucks…..
Boys and girls, products aren't perfect and nobody is forcing you to buy them. But you should still make a *choice*, and not necessarily get what everyone else has, just “because it's cool”. Make your own choice after reviewing the products and their specs. Long story short, Apple was accused of bad design and they “replied” by saying other phones have this issue as well. That is quite immature.
The People: – hey, Apple, our iPhones drop calls and lose signal..
Apple: – it's not a problem, you're holding it wrong
The People: – hey, Apple, our iPhones really drop calls..
Apple: – yes, I guess you're right, we'll adjust the software to show less signal bars
The People: – hey, Apple!!!
Apple: – alright, alright, we'll throw you some bumpers, shut up already
Not really nice of them, in my opinion. I had quite a lot of mobile phones so far, and also the iPhone 3G; it is a nice product, but the many things they do push me towards other devices.
This issue has been so overblown that Apple has the right to do whatever they want.
People hate Apple for its success, so it wasnt too hard for a popular tech blog (jizzmodo) to rally up an uprising.
I have tried to reproducethe issue many times and to no avail. A dozen thousand or so people are in bad coverage areas. That minority should gave never overshadowed 3 million of satisfied customers and another 20 million waiting for production to start keeping up with demand.
It's not that big of a deal people. I can replicate the same thing with my iPhone 3Gs and I never would have known were it not for Apple demonstrating it on their website.
I have three friends with iPhone 4's and they tell me that they have had zero dropped calls. I'll be receiving mine on August 3rd and can't wait. Need that HD video recording – NOW! I do a lot of video recording so I've never really used the SD video camera on the 3Gs.
That's precisely what you should say.
And no, don't get an iPhone.
It can be “okay” and you can still refrain from buying one, you're aware of it aren't you?
I think this was the perfect response from Apple. Nokia wanted to get in on the action of bashing a company who truly does make a great product (I've had no problems with my iPhone 4, not to say that others don't). Still, the videos that Apple came out with do show that this is an issue with many smartphones. I think Nokia is trying to make a last-ditch effort in light of the fact that they are falling behind in the smatphone industry. The fact that they are essentially terminating their CEO lends credence to that.
Here's a logical thought…. Don't hold your phone like a Neanderthal!!! End of story. This is getting way to much publicity.
This is too low even for Apple. Are we suppose to say “Oh, okay! I guess it's ok then. I'll go and buy an iPhone 4 now!” ?
it's not a natural way to grip it when on a call. So it doesn't really matter.
my old N95 had this problem, mate's N96 had this problem… not surprising N97 has this problem but…
… its actually a problem common to any phone – put s slab of meat between the phone and the base station it happens to be using, and the signal strength will weaken – if in a poor reception area to start with the call will be dropped
10 years ago, when the first concern about mobile phone radiation arose, I was working on BBC Watchdog Healthcheck and commissioned some experiments with NPL (the National Physical Laboratory) to see how the phones' output varied when its' signal was blocked to varying degrees…
… their lab kit was v. cool, putting the phones next to a plastic head, filled with a liquid with the exact microwave attenuating properties of the human brain…
… basically, mobile phones try to use the minimum transmitting power possible, to conserve battery… so the device itself cranks up the transmitting power when signal is weak… and boy does the signal go weak when you put a human head between the phone and the base station (ie when you're on a call and not facing the right way!)
so its no surprise that ALL cell phones will get reduced signal when more things are put between them and the base station…
… its unfortunate for Apple that their “bars display” makes this effect more easy for the erstwhile blissfully-ignorant layman to see…
… still, its been worth the drudgery of this v sticky story, for the amusement of seeing supposedly intelligent people verbally attack each other over which phone they're fan of… makes you proud
I've had my IPhone 4 for 2 weeks now and I have no complaints at all.
http://www.privacy-tools.be.tc
I've had my IPhone 4 for 2 weeks now and I have no complaints at all.
THIS IS STUPID.
So what I'm getting is… Apple's product is just as shitty as other products (debatable), so I should just shut up and take it?
Very nice attitude from Apple. Fingerpoint to another company to distract the attention from their own problems. I appreciate Apple's product, but this is not the way that they will make me buy an Iphone 4
Yep, iPhone sells millions and millions and millions and millions because people are stupid.
Keep saying it over and over…eventually, it'll be true.
Keep saying that the fact that it is incredibly popular doesn't at all attest to the reality of which features people find important.
Keep saying people are buying the wrong things. Keep telling people what you think the 'proper' important features of a phone are.
Meanwhile apple will keep selling products people want to people who want them, people who think the features apple concentrate on are important.
Wait…. Apple has a YouTube channel?
Whiny Apple fanboys flail back. Our phone isn't the only one that has antenna problems. (wheezed in a high-pitched and irritating nasal drone). So, rather than accept the fact that you produced a phone that a large majority of users 'hold wrong' you would rather point your fingers at the other guys who may (or may not) have similar issues. I say may not because the whole 'study' was conducted by Apple itself.
Don't get me wrong I'm not bashing Apple or praising Nokia; I'm just saying that if you put your hand over the antenna of course if will interfere with it, no matter what make or model it is. I've had three Nokia phones and they all drop calls but so does my Samsung so I blame the network personally haha.
For such a “big” company like Apple to start mud slinging in order to distract from the fact that the iphone4 has a major design problem is just pathetic… It's something a kid does when they get caught doing something they shouldn't… “yeah but xxxxx was doing it too…”
All phone antenna's suffer from environmental factors (buildings, people etc) but we have all seen video's of the iphone going from full signal strength to zero – this isn't “dropping a couple of bars” it's totally dropping calls!
I wonder why no other phone on the market currently has the antenna on the outside of the case – oh yeah… It doesn't work!!!!
Nobody can deny that the iphone4 is a great device, the display has seriously raised the bar for other manufacturers but for Apple to hide behind “yeah but Nokia's loose some signal strength too” videos is garbage – I don't know about Apple promoting FaceTime – maybe they should be looking to change the name to facepalm?
How low can Apple go? That Nokia has a low battery and you grip it in a way that nobady dose. Maybe they even adjust it the way that it saves battery life in the expense of the reseption. I'm not saying that Iphone4 is all bad, i was goin to by that one too. But they have a big proplem in that phone and they just should fix it. Not to start complaining of competitors products. I haven't see Nokia whining when they have hard time. If the phone is shit then it is. Don't blame anyone else about it! By the way i can't get my old Nokia N95 to drob even a single bar. No mather how i hold it.
Two bars are sufficient for successful calls. So according to Apple, the N97 mini passed the test, right?
I did the same test with my Nexus….guess what: drops from 3 bars to zero. Now I finally understand why I loose reception when biking and calling at the same time. Unbelievable this, anybody else has the same thing?
this is getting annoying…
i'm disappointed in Apple ..
Have a closer look while you are at it:)
http://mytelecomideas.blogspot.com/2010/07/n97-...
It looks to me like the problem with the iPhone comes up when people use it normally. That the antennae can be bridged by holding it in a normal way is a bad design decision.
The fact that gripping other phones in an unnatural way also causes signal loss doesn't excuse Apple's bad design decision.
The point is, other companies seem to have designed their phones to ensure a normal grip doesn't cause call drops. Seeing as this whole issue was brought up by the iPhone 4, it obviously wasn't a problem with other handsets in normal use. My 3GS hasn't had any signal problems (I'm in Australia and not with AT&T), their whole response just muddies the waters for the non-technical – their biggest market.
Is this really news? The 'death grip' isn't new, most of the phones I have owned tell you not to place your hand over the antenna as this may reduce signal strength. It's common sense more than anything and a poor choice of antenna positioning on Apples part.
I am going to repost a great comment from Talk.Maemo.org – a forum for N900 & Nokia Maemo users & developers:
“Originally Posted by naabi
Just found out that N97 mini reduces antenna power when battery charge gets low. As you can see from the video, battery indicator has only one bar… Nice work.
stickymick responds
Ah, you found the hidden feature of Nokia phones.
Nokia have a trick whereby if you have a less than favourable signal, it will use some power from the battery to boost the reception, if there's enough battery power to do that.
It's this bit of technology that Nokia filed a lawsuit against apple for, I believe. Allegedly they used it in the 3GS without Nokia's permission.”
http://talk.maemo.org/showpost.php?p=758905&pos...
More Problems for Nokia N97 – Purchase it with care.
Yes, I am an owner of the Nokia N97. Apparently the one I bought is the “China” edition – fact I didn't know at the time of purchase.
All was well until I went to MTN Rwanda to enable Internet browsing on the phone. The MTN Customer advisor, great guy, told me that after he enabled the Net Services I wouldn't be able to visit:
http://www.hotmail.com
http://www.facebook.com
http://www.gmail.com
or any java, javascript enabled websites – is that like ALL websites these days.
For me that's like saying – No internet browsing available here.
So are there any plugins available to solve this problem ????
Did Nokia, RIM or HTC post things about Apple's poor products? If not, what gives Apple the right to do that to them? Dishonourable, in my opinion.
Does the Nokia actually drop the call?
The problem with having a company with so much fanboy base, is the anti-fan boy base it comes along with. I love how people are making such a Greek tragedy out of this.
@Mauro Martins “Apple created a new low standard in the industry that we never saw.”
That sentence is funny more more than just terrible grammar. It's incorrect and simply ignorant, there have been much worse performing cell phones and even the Droid's range reporting is comparable to the IP4. However the Droid is being on a less used (and therefore stronger) network that doesn't show the issues of low signal strength as prevalent.
Apple needs to STFU about other people antenna problems (no one gives two shits about the Nokia Mini), man up and move on.