Found on the interwebs:
Consumer Reports poll
Author
iPhone 4 antenna song guy makes Jobs love song
The now famous Jonathan Mann, the iPhone 4 antenna song guy, is known to post a new song each day from a range of topics. Today’s special? A love song for Steve Jobs.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_qWXTuzVxE&w=640&h=385]
I’m sure that won’t get made fun of.
Also, if this guy looks familiar he won the Bing jingle contest last year with this:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h9DBynJUCS4&w=640&h=385]
We talked to the Mann behind the videos (had to) and this is what he had to say:
“As for asking permission, I got a call pretty soon after I woke up yesterday. It was pretty simple, they called and asked and I said, um, yes!
So, I talked to Apple a little after the show, they thanked me and I thanked them. I forget the name of the guy…I think he was in PR. He probably called yesterday around 3 or so. As for compensation, the increased interest in my music, etc, seems like a lot to me… I don’t really feel the need to ask for anything more! If that makes any sense.”
iPhone 4 production issues causing sales to taper off?
Steve Jobs yesterday announced that Apple had shipped 3,000,000 iPhone 4s since launch, 22 days prior. That seems like a pretty impressive number. But looking a little deeper might reveal some issues. Apple had announced sales of 1.7 million in the first three days of iPhones sales. That is an insane amount of phones, especially considering that the release was only in five countries.
But that also means that Apple has “only” sold 1.3 million iPhones in the following 19 days of sales, including international launches in Germany, the UK, France and Japan. While Apple is saying there is a three week delay in getting iPhones, a quick check to AT&T this morning (below) shows they have stock. Also, my local Best Buy has them available.
1.3 million iPhones in 19 days is almost 70,000/day. That is a very solid number but not even half of what Android claims to be doing every day.
What happened? Was the original demand so much higher than Apple anticipated that Apple can’t keep up with production? The AT&T/Apple inventory discrepancy clouds that call. Also, shouldn’t Apple be making more iPhones/day than Android activates?
A scary thought, but perhaps the “Antenna-gate” has slowed sales somewhat? Or maybe Apple is tweaking production to help signal strength, but slowing down output?
Or maybe that White iPhone that comes out at the end of the month will get people buying again.
Whatever the case, it will be good to hear what Apple has to say about sales at the earnings call on Tuesday.
HTC chimes in on Jobs' antenna assertions
While there is no official statement from HTC, their Belgium/Netherlands/Luxembourg Manager, Mark Moons responded over Twitter (thanks @jimmycappaert):
1) http://twitter.com/markmoons/status/18702074270
“Loopt Jobs nou te mauwen over de ontvangst van concurrenten om zijn eigen designfout goed te praten? Ik zal het wel verkeerd zien…”
“Is Jobs really commenting on other manufacturers’ reception to make up for his own design flaw? I’m surely seeing this wrong …”
2) http://twitter.com/markmoons/status/18702370046
“….ok, Ben gestopt met het volgen van dat huilverhaal van dat vruchtje…. heb betere dingen te doen… Hij maakt de industrie zwart…”
“… okay, I’ve stopped following the cry story of the ‘litte fruit’ … got better things to do … He’s making the whole industry look bad …”
3) http://twitter.com/markmoons/status/18705314374
“LOL… Ik krijg veel reply-tweets van mensen die willen weten hoe ze hun HTC moeten vasthouden om de ontvangst te laten verdwijnen…”
“LOL … I’m getting a lot of tweets from people who want to know how to hold their HTC in the wrong way, to lose reception …”
4) http://twitter.com/markmoons/status/18705540497 (already in English)
“I don’t know, guys, I don’t know how to hold an HTC device to make it lose a perfectly good reception…. ;-)”
5) http://twitter.com/markmoons/status/18757311072 (already in English)
“Looking at the responses by the industry, yesterday’s press conference might make a nice marketing case for students in 2020.”
Nokia responds to Apple's antenna claims as well
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=amPG52DVQuk&w=640&h=385]
Apple BFF Nokia is also responding to Apple’s claims that its phones suffer from the same issues as the iPhone 4.
In general, antenna performance of a mobile device/phone may be affected with a tight grip, depending on how the device is held. That
RIM responds to Apple's antenna press conference
The co-CEO’s of Research in Motion, those behind Blackberry, issued an official statement in response to Apple’s latest attempts at covering up the iPhone’s antenna issues. The statement ranges from anger about Apple using the Blackberry and its antennas in order to make the iPhone 4’s not look as bad, to RIM bashing Apple by stating their smartphones don’t require a case for full usability.
Full Statement:
“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
via CrackBerry.
TechCrunch talks to John Gruber about today's iPhone announcements
All of your favorites in one room:
http://c.brightcove.com/services/viewer/federated_f9/63890987001?isVid=1&isUI=1
Consumer Reports hears Steve Jobs' case, still can't recommend the iPhone
Did Steve Jobs convince you that the iPhone 4 antenna thing is a non-issue? He likely did. Unfortunately he wasn’t able to convince Consumer Reports that their highest rated Smartphone should be reccomended:
Consumer Reports believes Apple’s offer of free cases is a good first step. However, Apple has indicated that this is not a long-term solution, it has guaranteed the offer only through September 30th, and has not extended it unequivocally to customers who bought cases from third-party vendors. We look forward to a long-term fix from Apple. As things currently stand, the iPhone 4 is still not one of our Recommended models.
That’s cool. So if they don’t recommend their highest rated smartphone, I guess maybe a feature phone is the way to go?
Apple posts Antenna Conference and launches Antenna Site
Here’s the full show. The Q&A has been edited out for clarity.
Also, Apple has created a special page for showing other manufacturers with a similar ‘death grip’ problems. That finger spot you can touch on your iPhone 4 also exists on other smarphones including those from Samsung, HTC, and Blackberry. We suspect those manufacturers will not be too pleased about the publicity.
Apple shipping redesigned iPhone in October?
Another interesting comment from the Q&A.
Connie at Bloomberg (The very same with the “Bullshit story about the antenna”): “Why Sept. 30 for case limit?” Answer from Jobs: “We just are going to wait and see, maybe we’ll have a better idea. It’s just a chance to say we’ll reevaluate it in September.”
The free bumpers w/ iPhone deal lasts until September 30th.
That sounds like they are going to make an effort to change the design by October to us. It might be subtle – something as small as a non-conductive acrylic laminant over the ‘spot’ but it seems Apple is working on something and for whatever reason, they’ve given themselves a September 30th deadline.
Interesting!
Apple has 'Verizon cell sites on campus,' Heavily testing Verizon iPhone?
During this morning’s iPhone 4 antenna press conference, an answer from Jobs during the Question and Answer sessions struck us hard. When asked specifically about the death grip on Apple’s iPhones, Jobs responded: “We’ve got a strong signal here. We have AT&T and Verizon cell sites on campus”.
It isn’t so much that Jobs said that they had a Verizon tower on their campus. That isn’t surprising. It is that he said it in respnse to an iPhone death grip reproduction problem. Was this a intentional or unintentional slip on Jobs’ part? Dunno.
Media antenna on the iPhone 4 event: Free Cases for all, more…
To the refrain of this morning
iPhone and iPad mean Apple shines in the enterprise
Eight out of ten enterprise technology managers say they are more likely to allow more users to switch to the Mac within their businesses, as Apple’s iPod, iPad and iPhone-driven sales explosion means Macs now account for one-in-ten PC sales in the US.
Apple Special Event coverage
This thing starts in an hour. We’ll be watching what happens and reporting what we hear. We’ll be hitting Twitter for our play by play. Stay tuned!
Song of the day: iPhone Antenna Song
As we wait to hear what Mr. Jobs conjures up for journalists today, have a look at how one iPhone owner was moved to song.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VKIcaejkpD4&w=640&h=385]
Apple IS NOT paying worker subsidies, says Foxconn
Apple is not paying Foxconn an additional subsidy toward improved wages for workers on the iPhone, iPad and Mac production lines, an executive has said.
There have been claims that Apple has been paying a 2 per cent subsidy on Foxconn
Apple's MacBook sales climb fast, iPad sales exploding
Apple
Mac Pro update looms, USB 3.0 and faster FireWire promised…
As the iPhone 4 antenna story heads to its cathartic release at Apple
iOS 4.1 Game Center gets a nice new look
These images compare the old and latest version of Apple
Video: Squeeze share the iPad habit
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BwJf_0xuMFw&w=700&h=555]
UK pop legends, Squeeze, appeared on Jimmy Fallon
NYTimes: There still might be a software fix yet for the iPhone 4's antenna non-issue
In about 14 hours, Steve Jobs will presumably reveal what Apple’s plan is for the iPhone 4’s antena issues. Until now, it has seemed to be a hardware problem that would need some sort of hardware fix. However, the NYTimes says that there may yet be a software fix.
One person with direct knowledge of the phone
Reminder: Apple Q3 earnings call this Tuesday July 20th
We just wanted to remind everyone that Apple’s Q3 earnings call will be taking place this Tuesday, and that’s July 20th. The call’s taking place at 2 PM Pacific so no “I’m to tired to listen” excuses, West coasters. That means right at the end of the work day on the East, at 5 PM. We’ll be listening in via Quicktime and we’ll be sure to have a post going with the major details.
We probably won’t get anything ground-breaking as that usually never happens during earnings calls, and because Apple’s supposedly spilling all the iPhone 4 beans tomorrow at 10 AM.
Apple won't recall iPhone 4's -WSJ
Apple doesn’t plan to recall the phone tomorrow, a person familar with the matter told the Wall St. Journal.
Snap!
Apple iPhone 'antenna-gate' gets political as senator enters the fray
You know things are getting silly when some politician begins getting involved, particularly as the mid-term elections shuffle slowly toward us. Now