Just two days after Apple posted a video showing antenna issue on Nokia N97 mini, the company has updated the Smartphone Antenna Performance page with a video showing the Motorola Droid X dropping from three to zero signal bars when held in the “death grip.”

The Droid X, Read more…

So, you have an iPhone 4, but you’re missing all of that Cydia love? Well, in a recent interview with Make It Work, Jay Freeman (known to the jailbreak world as Saurik) talked about the iPhone 4 jailbreak.

But wait, there’s more Read more…

Waiting for a white iPhone 4? Stop holding your breath and start making chalk marks on the wall, because it’s going to be a while longer.

Just one week ago, the white iPhone 4 delay was mentioned at the Apple press event, with an ETA for the end of July. This morning, however, Apple put out a very brief press release citing manufacturing challenges and a new delivery estimate for the white model: “later this year.”

Modders, put on your thinking caps — your window of opportunity has been extended.

Read more…

Apple hasn’t traditionally been a company that calls out its competition by name, but that’s not the case with this Antennagate campaign — it’s posted a video and added information to its page calling out the Nokia N97 mini for suffering from the same issues the iPhone 4 is getting complaints about. In the video above, you can clearly see that yes, holding the Nokia phone by its antenna will cause the signal bars to drop.

Read more…

Earlier today, the guy behind Spirit jailbreak tool came out with a series of tweets which hints towards the possibility of the “next version” of Spirit jailbreak tool coming very soon.

We don’t know for sure if it will be called Spirit or Spirit v2, but what we know is that it is based on userland exploit, and that it will work with all iOS based devices including iPhone 4 on iOS 4.0.1 / 4.1 and iPad on iOS 3.2.1.

Read more…

We all know why Geohot left the whole jailbreak scene. He has already deleted his Twitter account, and his blog is set to invite-only viewing only.

However before deleting his Twitter account, Geohot said to follow his friend Mike Cohen for all the future updates on jailbreak.

He also said that “perhaps one of these days i’ll do a more formal goodbye”.  And now it looks like he is probably going to make a comeback (perhaps for the last time?) with a new tool to jailbreak all iOS devices once and for all. This is what his friend mikecohenn wrote today:

Read more…

Apple reported all-time record revenue of $15.7 billion and net quarterly profit of $3.25 billion, or $3.51 per diluted share for its fiscal 2010 third quarter ended May 27, 2010 at Apple’s Q3 earning call.

During the Q&A session at the end of the earning call, not surprisingly Apple’s COO Tim Cook was asked some questions about iPhone 4’s antenna issues.

When he was asked whether the iPhone 4 antenna issues had impacted sales, he responded:

Let me be very clear: We are selling every unit we can make.

When he was asked to further clarify on the effect of antenna issues and if there were more complaints and returns, he reiterated:

My phone is ringing off the hook with people asking for more demand. So hard to say. Returns are less than for iPhone 3GS, and the ones for this specific issue are extremely small.

He also said that Apple doesn’t purposefully creates a shortage of their products for buzz:

“We do not purposefully create a shortage for buzz. I’m not sure where that comes from. Demand for iPhone 4 is absolutely stunning.”

When we had looked at smartphone antenna performance and Read more…

The iPhone hacker behind sn0wbreeze, f0recast and BlackBreeze today has announced Sn0wbreeze V2.0 which promises to jailbreak iOS 3.1.x, 4.0, 4.0.1 and 4.1 Beta.

Sn0wbreeze 2.0 will support: iPhone 3GS (old bootrom pwned on iOS 4.x, and new bootrom pwned on 3.1.2 or with 3.1.2 SHSH blobs), iPhone 3G, iPod touch 2G (non-MC model, and already jailbroken on iOS 4.x), and iPod touch 3G and 2G (MC model) pwned on 3.1.2 or with 3.1.2 SHSH blobs.

Read more…

Wired has just published a lengthy article that outlines the often uncomfortable partnership between Apple and AT&T.

The overall thread of the article isn’t anything new. Apple isn’t happy with AT&T’s flimsy network infrastructure; meanwhile, AT&T, though certainly happy with the increased profits it’s gained thanks to the iPhone, feels as though Apple hasn’t held up its end of the whole “partnership” angle, since Apple is insisting that AT&T solve its network problems on its own.

What’s most interesting and entertaining about the article are some of the anecdotes. Within a few months of the iPhone’s introduction in 2007, AT&T, finding itself pummelled by unprecedented demands on its network, met with Apple and tried to get the company to put some data-sipping restrictions on the device.

AT&T wanted YouTube to run only over Wi-Fi, Read more…

After shelling out top dollar, the customers felt betrayed and angry. The shine on the company’s new flagship product was tarnished. The remedy wasn’t cheap… and the CEO stepped up and spoke to those irate early adopters. “We want to do the right thing for our valued customers.

We apologize for disappointing some of you, and we are doing our best to live up to your high expectations of us,” he said, responding quickly after the first complaints came in. Within a few weeks, the PR hiccup was calmed, and the new product went on to glory and success.

No, it’s not a crystal ball reading for tomorrow’s press conference agenda — it’s history, and relatively recent history at that. In 2007, after the original iPhone pricecut that drove owners batty, Apple jumped all over the situation with an alacrity that’s almost stunning to contemplate now. Within hours, the Apple site featured a new Stevenote musing on the pace of innovation and cost savings in the technology sector; even though the $200 price cut was the right thing to do for the company and for the product, Apple was still going to soothe ruffled feathers by offering a $100 store credit to all iPhone owners who paid the original price.

With an estimated 600,000 iPhones sold, the Read more…

What a roller-coaster day! The Wall Street Journal is now quoting Apple throwing cold water directly on today’s Bloomberg story.

Bloomberg had reported that an Apple engineer had warned company execs about the problems with the new iPhone 4 antenna design early in the development process for the phone.

The Journal quotes an Apple spokesperson as saying:

“We challenge Bloomberg BusinessWeek to produce anything beyond rumors to back this up. It’s simply not true.”

The Journal also cites sources as saying there will be no recall of the iPhone 4 announced at the press event tomorrow.

Read more…

I upgraded my iPhone 4 to iOS 4.0.1 and, big surprise (not), it still can’t make phone calls if I’m holding the thing in my left hand using the kung fu grip of doom (i.e. the normal way I hold a phone).

And, unsurprisingly, my 3GS still can make phone calls with the same grip in the same location.

I ran the Strength App, which we’ve discussed in previous posts about the iPhone 4 antenna issue. It is now showing a more nuanced level of how bad my home reception really is, but the bottom line remains the same. If I put on the Bumper, the thing can just barely make calls. Without, it can’t.

The iPhone 4 just isn’t a Read more…

I suppose it’s also interesting that you Read more…

Apple’s antenna woes continue with unabated fury today. Bloomberg news is reporting that Apple’s senior antenna guru raised concerns about the antenna design planned for the iPhone, and allegedly told Steve Jobs that design could lead to dropped calls.

The engineer, says Bloomberg, is Ruben Caballero according to a source cited tin the article. It’s also reported one of Apple’s carrier partners also questioned the performance of the antenna design.

Apple has declined to comment on the report, and Read more…