IPhone 4 Antenna Ping!
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Posted on 07/03/2010 1:34:14 PM PDT by Swordmaker
Apple on Friday issued a carefully worded statement admitting that, yes, there's something wrong with the iPhone 4; but, no, it's not the alleged problem you've heard about.
While Apple fessed up to using a flawed formula to calculate the number of bars of signal strength displayed on the iPhone, it also defended the iPhone 4's much-maligned antenna design, calling the handset's wireless performance "the best we have ever shipped."
Corporate denial at its worst? Not so, says Spencer Webb, president of AntennaSys, an antenna design, integration, and consulting firm. Webb on Friday ran preliminary tests on the iPhone 4's antenna and reached the same conclusion as Apple: Everything's (mostly) okay.
"My conclusion is that all the hype has been just hype," Webb says. "It's not any more sensitive to hand position that was the first-generation iPhone--and probably many other phones on the market."
Some users report that when they hold the iPhone 4 tightly and cover the black strip in the lower left corner of the metal band, signal strength can drop 4 or even 5 bars. That, they claim, is evidence of the phone's flawed antenna design.
Webb and a colleague decided to run their own tests, which he admits were brief and subjective. "This was a non-scientific test, but it was done by two engineers who deal with RF devices for a living," he says.
(Excerpt) Read more at pcworld.com ...
RF is RF. There is little that can be done to improve it.
It is what it is.
The exploitation of natural phenomena is limited.
I assume what they are discussing is a rake receiver with four prongs. What I gleaned from the article is that by squeezing the device you can somehow trip something on the PCB to indicate a smaller signal than is actually present.
It is a real bug, but why would you squeeze a phone while using it?
Just proves that nothing is fool proof.
Because fools are so ingenious.
Not SW but and RF ping
The other is Apple's SW that shows an optimistic signal strength. Apple can fix the SW, but as for the antenna...just don't hold it that way.
My biggest problem with the iPhone 4 is that I can't get any. I have probably 100 customers who want one and I can't get any.
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I agree, reception in a cell phone is way overrated. Steve “Just don’t hold it in that way” Jobs should just rename the iPhone 4 it to the “Touch 4” and be done with it.
On a side note, I love it when someone with an iPhone 4 is actually able to get reception for a hot minute, calls me, only to accidently hangs up when the proximity sensor fails and their cheek presses against the end-call button.
I wonder how long until a recall?
The South Park cartoon actually did a skit on this where a character opens a theme park and then tells everyone they can't come in. In turn, according to the skit, this generated a public panic to get into the park.
It is reverse logic. But it has been demonstrated that by limiting supply you can (two fold) increase the price and increase the ‘zeal’ to get one.
But for the antenna, there must be a physical reason. There is no way you can ‘block’ reception by putting your hand on an antenna unless there is a grounding issue. But then, more than likely, you would increase reception.
I don't know. But it is definitely a physical problem.
Yes, this issue about the antenna is just a small bump in the road. I don't have an iPhone, but I saw someone using one on a FaceTime video call. It was really amazing. Clear video and voice.
That was Cartman (natch) who, when he inherited a load of money from his grandmother, buys an amusement park so he doesn’t have to wait in line ever again.
Then he has to hire a guard to keep everyone else out, which means he has to let in a few people every day to fund that paycheckan and ao on.
Pretty soon, the park is overrun with people again.
But for the antenna, there must be a physical reason. There is no way you can ‘block’ reception by putting your hand on an antenna unless there is a grounding issue. But then, more than likely, you would increase reception.
I can only speak from experience, but I know on my old phones with pop up antennas that covering the antenna with my hand dropped signal strength. I experimented with it a few times and signal strength dropped when I covered the antenna and picked back up when I took my hand away.
Did you bother to read the article? The engineers say that Apple is right. It's the problem that is over hyped.
As for your concern for the proximity sensor issue, that affects such a small number of iPhone users that it doesn't rise to the level of a problem. We are talking about what is probably a bad batch of sensors, if that. Percentage wise, it's apparently less than 1/10th of one percent of iPhone 4s sold. Recalls simply are not initiated for percentages that small.
That is odd. With light transmissions I can see it. There is no way Iphone is using analog, with analog maybe. But if you are up on 4 sites? And with a digital transmission? Digital doesn't care what is in the way. It will go through concrete.
Wonder why that would be? You simply cannot block a transmission with your hand unless something is wrong.
I wish the government would give me a million dollars to figure out ‘specifically’ with technical details why this is happening.
Which makes him so mad he sells the park back to the original owner, who is excited now that his park is popular, so he pays him back his million dollars.
And then Cartman loses all his money because the government steps in and collects taxes from his operation.
The new Futurama did a show about the “eyephone”, in which they kept telling customers they were “running out”, and then the customer would come to the counter and say “any left”, and they’d say “there might be one left”, and reach into the back room where there where millions being made and delivered to baskets.
They also mounted the eyephone IN the eye. But it didn’t have reception problems.
You’re right. I heard that if you put it in a hard case, that insulates the antenna and provides a small dielectric gap between your skin and the antenna. Supposedly eliminates the sensitivity to how it is held. And hey, anyone that spends that kind of coin on a phone should protect it with a case.
Having done cave rescue, I'll argue with that. Nothing transmits through rock or earth. That's why antennas are on roofs and satellites bounce signals.
If the government gives you a million, I'll help for half.
Cabbage Patch dolls...
The digital transmissions had a much higher penetration measurement.
If you want to go into a cave? I could fix you up. It would take some work but yes, I could make you transmit from a cave.
What would I need? Well there are two ways. Could rig a series of repeaters to the entrance and then go out. Or I could drill a hole to the top (or close to the top). Like I said I don't know.
Yes, if you go into the bowels of the Earth you might lose coverage. I was speaking about the city. In an office building.
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