Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Consumer Reports: Apple’s free Bumper case does not earn iPhone 4 our recommendation
Mac Daily News ^ | Friday, July 16, 2010 - 07:09 PM EDT<

Posted on 07/16/2010 5:18:32 PM PDT by Swordmaker

click here to read article


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 61-8081-100101-120 ... 141-151 next last
To: PugetSoundSoldier
And note that Apple was careful to mention calls to “AppleCare”, NOT to AT&T. Most people who have dropped calls tend to call the carrier, not the hardware manufacturer (when your call drops, do you immediately think of your carrier or the phone maker?).

You are misquoting what was reported:

The calls to AppleCare were referencing the attenuation issue, not "dropped calls." Per their contract, AT&T will refer all support issues with the iPhone itself to Apple. Dropped calls AT&T will handle and the stats about that were specified about them came from AT&T not AppleCare.

81 posted on 07/17/2010 1:29:16 AM PDT by Swordmaker (Remember, the proper pronunciation of IE is AAAAIIIIIEEEEEEE!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 14 | View Replies]

To: PugetSoundSoldier

Can’t get a Verizon signal out here on the rugged Oregon Central Coast.

But the buy minutes wal mart cell phone work wonderfully.

I just dropped my Verizon contract and the blackberry.

No signal at our place and being homebound for the most part it is a useless tool.

Went back to using calling card and landline.

But honestly I don’t need a cell phone/blackberry.

And the places we drive around to here on the coast are not cell phone signal friendly.
Radio signal is nill too out here.
When we do go to the Willamette Valley listening to Rush/Lars ect...is a real treat.

And those long late nite drives back to the coast Coast to Coast is fun entertainment.


82 posted on 07/17/2010 1:39:08 AM PDT by Global2010
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 79 | View Replies]

To: Global2010

Really? I get pretty good reception all the way from Seaside down to Yachats. Not screaming fast, but enough to check e-mail and the like...

Love me some C2C as well; best part about being in China right now is that I don’t have to stay up late to listen; it’s on from 1 PM to 5 PM!


83 posted on 07/17/2010 1:50:11 AM PDT by PugetSoundSoldier (Indignation over the Sting of Truth is the defense of the indefensible)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 82 | View Replies]

To: PugetSoundSoldier

You lucked out.

The cell phones drop in the area just after Yachets in areas all the way to Florence.

Then in areas from Newport over to Toledo and after Toledo over the Mtn. Range.

Also some areas from Newport up North to Lincoln City.

Allot of my vendors/contract guys drop off when calling to tell me their ETA’s.

Also if when I have them here at the house and they try to call out they get frustrated and I just point to the edge of the property (west) and tell them that is where the signal picks up.

China? Sounds like fun. : )


84 posted on 07/17/2010 2:02:29 AM PDT by Global2010
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 83 | View Replies]

To: PugetSoundSoldier; RachelFaith
Puget, I read a report last year that stated that the iPhone's dropped call rate on AT&T was actually about average among all phones on that network, showing that the fault most likely was inherent in the network's overloaded status than in any inherent weakness in the iphone's abilities to send or receive signals.

"...ChangeWave Research surveying 4,040 smartphone subscribers claims that AT&T's voice network metrics are actually getting worse.  From March 2009 to March 2010, the study claims AT&T dropped calls rose from 3.3 percent to 4.5 percent."

Combining these two data, along with the fact that the iPhone 3Gs was reported to have a better connectivity rate and a lower dropped call rate than did the previous iPhone 3 and 2G models, one must assume that the iPhone 3Gs had a dropped call rate somewhat less than 4.5%!

During this same period, Verizon's dropped call rate, according to then ChangeWave survey, was a mere 1.7%.

However, adding to the factors that should have been mentioned in considering why the iPhone 4 would have an increase of "less than one additional dropped call out of every 100 calls," on March 26th, when ChangeWave found the AT&T dropped call rates were highest, the Apple iPad 3G had yet to add 2 million new data consumers onto AT&T's already over loaded network... but by late April iPad 3G owners were swiftly becoming the largest mobile content consumers in the US, surpassing both the iPod touch and Android OS phones Web usage combined in just one month!

Then, on top of that, AT&T added 3 million iPhone 4s, most of them in urban areas, all demanding large amounts of bandwidth that is shared with the voice phone calls! AT&T literally is attempting to handle an influx of 7-8% more demand in just two short months on a network that was demonstrating it wasn't growing bandwidth fast enough to meet its needs as shown in the ChangeWave study. Yet you persist in blaming the iPhone?!?!?!

85 posted on 07/17/2010 3:25:10 AM PDT by Swordmaker (Remember, the proper pronunciation of IE is AAAAIIIIIEEEEEEE!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 73 | View Replies]

To: PugetSoundSoldier

The iPhone 3GS was a resounding success! You, and others who have not used the iPhone are the ONLY ones complaining.

I posted a link to a vidro of the press conference which was not televised. You have Quicktime on your MacBook Pro.

Yes, I would say in your case, ignorance is bliss.

It was a kick azz press conference. Steve Jobs put everything in perspective very handily. I just wish the GOP{ would do the same.


86 posted on 07/17/2010 3:46:56 AM PDT by BunnySlippers (I love BULL MARKETS . . .)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 57 | View Replies]

To: RachelFaith; Swordmaker; PugetSoundSoldier; driftdiver

Apple just put up a very nifty section about the antenna replete with circles and arrows for those who are still having problems with the iPhone 4 [even though they don’t own one].

No Quicktime required. Be sure and check out the area for the cool anechoic chambers!

http://www.apple.com/antenna/


87 posted on 07/17/2010 4:20:19 AM PDT by BunnySlippers (I love BULL MARKETS . . .)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 52 | View Replies]

To: BunnySlippers

ya know I’d like to see a “golly Houston there is a problem” and possibly an apology from the macbots who’ve attacked me on this issue.

I’d find that more interesting than some anechoic chamber.


88 posted on 07/17/2010 4:33:26 AM PDT by driftdiver (I could eat it raw, but why do that when I have a fire.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 87 | View Replies]

To: driftdiver
Was your phone one of those whose video is on the antenna page? LOL! My favorite was the Droid.

Maybe if you watched the video I posted, you'd know the answer to your request.

Still loving my iPhone 4

SING IT!

If you don't want an iPhone 4,
Don't buy it!

If you have one and don't like it,
Bring it back.

89 posted on 07/17/2010 4:56:52 AM PDT by BunnySlippers (I love BULL MARKETS . . .)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 88 | View Replies]

To: PugetSoundSoldier

“Steve Jobs admitted the iPhone 4 has worse call connection than the iPhone 3 GS (it drops 1 out of 100 more calls than the iPhone 3GS).”

That was WITHOUT the case. With the case, the iPhone 4 is better in just about every regard. Even CR rated it higher than the 3GS.

Much ado about nothing...


90 posted on 07/17/2010 9:37:51 AM PDT by PreciousLiberty (In theory, theory and practice are the same. In practice, they're not.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: PugetSoundSoldier

Listen, AT&T has been dropping calls FOREVER. This ain’t a new problem.

10+ years ago, we had AT&T as our cellular carrier before Alltel had a cell site in central Nevada. AT&T purported to have US-50 and I-80 ‘covered’ with their cell sites throughout Nevada.

After that 2 year period when we had AT&T, we will never have AT&T as a carrier again. To say that AT&T “sucked” would require re-defining suck as “pulling large hoofed mammals through a bent drinking straw with negative air pressure.”

The #1 reason why I won’t get an iPhone is that it would require going back to doing business with AT&T. Been there, done that, won’t do it again. They’re a horrible carrier, and their response to customer issues is even worse.

We had dropped calls a-zillion in those days - with a Nokia analog/TDMA phone that had an extendable antenna. After the third call-back per month where we reported a dropped call for credit (which our contract specifically stated we could do), they’d fight us tooth and nail before giving us credit for a dropped call. After two years of this BS, when they upped the expense and changed the plan, we jumped on another carrier ASAP.

As far as the iPhone 4 goes - I think their antenna design is bleeding edge. Every now and then, mistakes are going to happen, but Apple clearly “has a better idea” on the type of antenna system they’re using. Remember, there’s much more than just the voice call going on for the antenna today: there’s the GPS reception, there’s WiFi, there’s Bluetooth.... they all have to have an antenna.

The old “pull out the whip” cell phones had it *easy* compared to today’s phones. Today, the regulatory environment is limiting any gain you could design into the antenna, they’re limiting field strength measured X so many centimeters from the handset (ie, where your brain would be), consumers no longer want pull-out whips anyway, yadda, yadda. A very challenging environment for any antenna designer. And the GSM frequency band is getting to the point in the spectrum where wet tissues (like flesh and brains) start absorbing quite a bit of the signal. From a radiation standpoint, we (the users and the phone designers) were better off on the old cellular frequencies in the 850 to 920Mhz range. Today’s freq’s up in the 1.8GHz range are getting closer to the “water hole” where wet tissue will absorb radiation quite nicely.

As I’ve mentioned elsewhere, I think now that AT&T is breathing down our necks here in Wyoming (AT&T got the rural areas of the Alltel network in MT, WY and CO), I think Verizon and a Droid are in our future.


91 posted on 07/17/2010 11:28:51 AM PDT by NVDave
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 79 | View Replies]

To: PreciousLiberty

Hmmm... Seems when the iPhone 4 was introduced Steve Jobs waxed poetic about the elegance, the beauty, the magical nature of this antenna.

Of course now we find out you have to cover it to make it work...;)


92 posted on 07/17/2010 6:47:15 PM PDT by PugetSoundSoldier (Indignation over the Sting of Truth is the defense of the indefensible)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 90 | View Replies]

To: PugetSoundSoldier; PreciousLiberty; RachelFaith
Of course now we find out you have to cover it to make it work...;)

Except that is not that way and you know it. All of us have told you that the phone works ... not one of us has said we have to cover it.

You deal in lies and always have. You are utterly disgusting.

93 posted on 07/17/2010 8:26:15 PM PDT by BunnySlippers (I love BULL MARKETS . . .)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 92 | View Replies]

To: BunnySlippers; PreciousLiberty; RachelFaith

Then why is Apple giving free bumpers away, if not to let people who have a problem actually use the phone?

You act like there is zero problem, which - per Steve Jobs himself - we know is NOT the case (or bumper...;).


94 posted on 07/17/2010 8:43:55 PM PDT by PugetSoundSoldier (Indignation over the Sting of Truth is the defense of the indefensible)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 93 | View Replies]

To: PugetSoundSoldier; BunnySlippers; PreciousLiberty

NO!

We do not “act” like there is “Zero” problem.

YOU... “ACT” like an “ASS” saying this TINY INSIGNIFICANT issue is a “FATAL FLAW”.

To you, this is an ACT.

To you, this is a GAME.

Nothing you post has any meaning other than it is an established fact that a measurable event occurs.

Here are some links to EVERY OTHER PHONE SHOWING THE SAME TYPE OF EVENT.

Go over to those posts and tell THEM the sky is falling!

* Samsung I9000 Galaxy S: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LROTHrTR92k

* HTC Evo Signal Attenuation: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2pj2YBYTbag

* Samsung Galaxy 1:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=

* Samsung Galaxy 2:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oPCQdYtPihg

* Droid Incredible: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eaDE941PzQk

* Droid Incredible (With Network Extender in Room): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VpEQH...eature=related

* Nexus One: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qEIA_lMwqJA

* Nexus One vs. iPhone (start at 1:29): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NvMoV4_C4aA

* Nexus One: http://posterous.com/getfile/files.p...n_-_iPhone.m4v

* Nexus One (after Google’s update to correct): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x2g5J4qPp54

* Nexus One: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=deCkjeHYT-g

* Android G1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3CDaxhjUs9M


95 posted on 07/17/2010 9:41:32 PM PDT by RachelFaith (2010 is going to be a 100 seat Tsunami - Unless the GOP Senate ruins it all...)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 94 | View Replies]

To: RachelFaith
But, what if they bought a Droid Incredible ????

I'm glad for the link. It looks like many smart phones drop signal strength, depending on how they are held. After doing a search, I discovered that people have been complaining about some of the Android phones for many months, including the Nexus One. Why didn't those complaints make the front page of the New York Times months ago?

96 posted on 07/17/2010 10:06:22 PM PDT by stripes1776
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 66 | View Replies]

To: stripes1776

Why?

Simple.

Apple is hated.

There are a number of reasons.

And an unholy alliance of haters.

Haters who may never agree on anything else, other than their hatred of Apple.

One such thing, is this thread.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2554108/posts

Apple took a very public stand that no Porn or Porn apps would be on the iphone, itouch or ipad.

Anytime you take even the slightest moral high ground, the prince of this world will bring you hell in spades for it.

There are other unrelated reasons, but all of them, in the end, share one thing in common: They are UNREASONABLE reasons.


97 posted on 07/17/2010 10:29:00 PM PDT by RachelFaith (2010 is going to be a 100 seat Tsunami - Unless the GOP Senate ruins it all...)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 96 | View Replies]

To: RachelFaith
There are other unrelated reasons, but all of them, in the end, share one thing in common: They are UNREASONABLE reasons.

Yes, I agree--they are unreasonable reasons. I can think of two other unreasonable reasons:
1. Success. Some people simply hate the success of Apple.
2. Unfamiliarity. Some people are afraid to look beyond a world full of PCs.

But I think the intensity of the hatred of Apple is the most unreasonable thing of all.

98 posted on 07/18/2010 12:55:37 AM PDT by stripes1776
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 97 | View Replies]

To: RachelFaith; BunnySlippers; PreciousLiberty; for-q-clinton; driftdiver

Dear, dear misguided Rachel...

If it’s an tiny insignificant issue, then why the emergency PR meeting? Why the promise of free bumpers, and refunds, and new phones coming out?

There’s a reason zealots like you are called fanbois or fangurls!

Look, Steve Jobs said that the new phone drops MORE calls than the old phones. That’s a fact. And if that’s your concept of progress, well, you have a lot more to worry about than phones.

As far as those links go, no one EVER denied signal could be degraded by holding the phone. However, how many of those phones lose signal altogether when you hold them? None - the iPhone 4 has much more signal degradation by simply touching the phone. Drops calls, drops all signal strength.

You lack any context or mental ability to scale the issue; your logic skills are woefully lacking here!


99 posted on 07/18/2010 2:02:16 AM PDT by PugetSoundSoldier (Indignation over the Sting of Truth is the defense of the indefensible)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 95 | View Replies]

To: PugetSoundSoldier; BunnySlippers; PreciousLiberty
If it’s an tiny insignificant issue, then why the emergency PR meeting?

LOL

If other phones drop calls why the hand wringing over Apple?

Simple, because Apple has enemies. For all the reasons we have repeatedly expressed. Why do you spend your precious few minutes of life on this Earth bashing this one group of people? Why the hate? Why the rage? What is the motivation and gain? I am here to REFUTE the hate. If the hate stops, I will just share some fun comments with some friends on a mutual topic of interest. Coffee chat.

But you create threads, search out for any conceivable flaw, and then ride it to absurdity, with wild predictions of doom and "FATAL FLAWS" and predicting billions of dollars in losses. You are never right. It is always either NOTHING, or much ado ABOUT nothing, or the splinter in Apple's eye while you ignore the planks in your eye.

Why?

Only one thing makes sense. You gain personal emotional satisfaction on the alienation, harassment, intimidation, and general bullying of others. You found some kids on the play ground who will cry when you act out, so for the attention, you act out in this over the top, aggressive and relentlessly obsessive hatred.

Which is why I scorn you so and call you a sick dog. There is no other purpose for you heavy handed vitriol.

100 posted on 07/18/2010 2:14:13 AM PDT by RachelFaith (2010 is going to be a 100 seat Tsunami - Unless the GOP Senate ruins it all...)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 99 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 61-8081-100101-120 ... 141-151 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson