We are never going to get Apple to admit that some things went wrong with iPhone 4′s design/development process. The issue of death grip threatened to become a major disaster for Apple early on. Apple bounced back from it by throwing together a conference and blaming everything but its design team. Apple may have not admitted iPhone 4′s design flaw, but it did get rid of one of the top people behind iPhone 4 team. It seems the company is ready to start shipping new iPhone 4 models with better antennas. According to multiple sources, iPhone 4.1 will start shipping right after September 30th. That’s the last date of eligibility for those free bumper cases for iPhone 4.0 owners.

Telcel’s director of value-added services, Marco Quatorze discussed this news just recently. While Apple has spent a lot of money giving away free cases to its customers, it seems to have found a way to solve its antenna issue just before the start of the holiday shopping season. This is a rumor at this point, but all signs points to an upgrade being in the works as far as iPhone 4 is concerned. Read the rest of this entry »

Poor Mark Papermaster. He was a big part of the team that developed iPhone 4 but now finds himself out of a job due to all the issues that were raised about the phone’s antenna. It was very obvious that heads would roll once Steve Jobs were forced to do a press conference addressing iPhone 4′s awesomeness while bashing Apple’s rivals for their death grip issues. It turned out Mark Papermaster had to go for making Apple look bad and not doing his homework about the potential issues of the new antenna design used in iPhone 4. There is always more than one side to a story.

According to multiple sources, Mark Papermaster may have been “incompatible” with Apple’s culture and Steve Jobs. The people familiar with the matter told WSJ that the writing was on the wall for Mark Papermaster:

Mr. Papermaster had lost the confidence of Mr. Jobs months ago and hasn’t been part of the decision-making process for some time

Even people not familiar with the issue can see that something went very wrong with iPhone 4 launch. It’s very un-Apple like to have a phone that has a major design flaw and release it to the market anyway. For what it’s worth, the antenna-gate issue just refuses to die. iPhone’s death grip issue not only affects your connection, it also increases the radiation your body is exposed to: Read the rest of this entry »

Apple customers are generally happy with their iPhones (even with iPhone 4). The device may not be perfect, but it offers a lot to Apple fans. That has not stopped Apple fans from dreaming about a Verizon iPhone. Many iPhone owners still blame AT&T for everything that has gone with the device. To be fair, AT&T has probably handled its quality of service problems the best it could. Its network was simply not ready to handle iPhones and all their loads.While it’s not clear how Verizon will fare, it does seem a Verizon iPhone is in the cards.

According to TechCrunch, Apple has ordered millions of CDMA chipsets and is gearing up towards releasing Verizon iPhone in early 2010:

Sources with knowledge of this entire situation have assured me that Apple has submitted orders for millions of units of Qualcomm CDMA chipsets for a Verizon iPhone run due in December. This production run would likely be for a January launch, and I’d bet the phone is nearly 100% consistent with the current iPhone 4

Read the rest of this entry »

Apple seems to be finally ready to fight back against all the criticism that iPhone 4 has received in the past few weeks. The company is going to break its silence on iPhone 4 issues at a press conference on its Cupertino, Calif., campus tomorrow (at least that’s what we all hope). Details are still sketchy about this event. The event could cover iOS 4.1 and any other software solution that Apple may have come up with.

Will Apple finally accept that iPhone 4 may be flawed in design? Don’t count on it. Unless Apple’s policy in regards to discussing its products in public has changed, Apple executives will defend iPhone 4′s design and blame everything on software and possibly consumers (maybe ConsumerReports too). The purpose of Friday’s press conference is to change the conversation and put Apple in control of the news coverage. There are people who truly believe iPhone 4 and Apple are being treated unfairly here. This event will most likely be for them. Read the rest of this entry »

Apple has had a tough year when it comes to dealing with some of the top bloggers in the tech world. We all know about the Gizmodo story by now. Apple went out of its way to get its lost prototype back. Gizmodo getting cold shoulders from Apple right after the debacle (for iPhone launch) showed that Apple may be running out of patience with bloggers. Many companies have tried to control bloggers in the past by giving them access and all kinds of privileges. Not all bloggers can be controlled however. Every mistake that Apple has made is scrutinized heavily by top bloggers. The latest is the company’s efforts to discard support threads that cover ConsumerReports’ findings in Apple’s support forums. It’s a PR nightmare that is chipping way at Apple’s reputation and credibility with customers.

Apple removing discussion threads is a very bad move. It does nothing for Apple while people can find other ways to get the information they need and make their decision. Apple may not be happy with ConsumerReports and all other blogs that keep covering iPhone 4′s antenna issue. Unfortunately for the company, this issue is not going to go away by itself. In the age of social media, people do not need Apple’s support forums to find out about iPhone 4′s issues and the less than favorable reviews the device may have received.

Read the rest of this entry »