By Was it not widely accepted that the infamous “iPhone 4 reception press conference” was the unofficial end to all of this Antennagate madness? Did Steve Jobs not walk away satisfied after attempt to body slam every smartphone competitor that has ever posed a threat as they brought some of their latest devices up on stage to showcase widespread reception issues outside of the iPhone 4?
An Apple a day keeps the doctor away, they say, but it doesn’t keep Steve Jobs away from Motorola as he conveniently forgot to attack them throughout it all. Could they have been waiting on a device from Motorola that actually posed the problem? Or were they just waiting to pounce on Motorola’s latest innovation to attempt to thwart sales? Or are they just being douche bags that can’t seem to properly own up to the problem and admit that their design and engineering team screwed up?
Any of those scenarios are quite likely, but nevertheless, you’ve seen the video in question. Make your own opinion about it. Some have tried the “Death Grip” test on the very same device and could not reproduce the issue – leading others to believe that Apple’s applying some sort of Jedi-force-tricks-voodoo-trickery. (is it obvious that I’m not the hugest of Star Wars fans yet?)
Apple is an arrogant, it will be fun to watch it fall down. Most of Apple’s arrogance is down to Steve Jobs.
Number one try holding the phone the way they did didn’t loose single. Number two who would hold there phone that way.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but doesn’t the Dx have TWO antennas on opposite sides of the phone?
I’m getting seriously fed up with Apple’s shenanigans and my already boiling hatred of Apple is going to turn into outright hostility.
I hope Motorola punches back to this bullcrap.
I really think this point needs to be made – because it is overlooked by almost the entire media.
The problem with the iPhone is that the WiFi/GPS/Bluetooth antenna and the GSM (phone) antenna are both exposed, and separated by only a small gap on the lower-left of the phone (with WiFi being above, and GSM being below). If something conductive (like skin) shorts these two antennas it can cause severe interference. This is a DESIGN FLAW.
What Apple is consistently and dishonestly demonstrating in these videos is a COMPLETELY different problem (if it can even be called that). If you hold a phone (any phone) so that your entire hand is over the antenna you can block some of the signal. This has always been the case, and there is no way to fix it. Even the iPhone (WITH a bumper) will have this issue. However, no one has ever complained about it because you have to intentionally TRY to do it under most circumstances.
A simple proof that this is a totally different problem is the Apple suggested solution. If insulating the antenna with a bumper solves the problem, then how could phones with already-insulated antennas have the same issue?
The practical difference here is that the iPhone’s problems can be caused by a single touch. The tip of your finger can result in massive signal loss under the right circumstances (active WiFi, GPS, etc. + moist or otherwise conductive skin).
What Apple is doing is nothing less than a dishonest attempt to confuse people and muddy the waters.
The problem with what Apple are doing here, is that they’re not using a natural grip. They’re just wrapping their hand around the phone as much as possible and squeezing it to death.
The problem with the iPhone 4 is a NATURAL grip, and it doesn’t even have to be a grip. Just slightly bridge the antenna gap.
Apple do themselves no favours with this BS campaign.
The DX does have two antennas… which is why this Apple hand-model has to basically swallow the bottom of the phone with the palm of his hand and also hold the top antenna with his index finger in a very unnatural manner.
I’m sure if you look hard enough you can find an area where the coverage isn’t strong and can duplicate this with about any phone if you try enough. The whole thing screams of despiration on Apple’s part, instead of owning up to a “brilliant engineering” of an antenna design that flopped, they try to shift attention instead. This isn’t the end of Apple, but it’s not far down the road if they don’t change their business practice.
So i just took my Driod X, took the case off and applied my death grip……the signal increased…so I repositioned my hand and tried a little harder but the camera button is in way. The experiment was a total failure guess I’m not qualified to use apple technology! :p
…lol wow.
“Geez that italian family at the table next to us sure is quiet…”
This is pure damage control. If you cant’ beat them, make every attempt to go out of your way and smear them. Even if its ridiculous. Has anyone even thought about WHERE this pic was shot? Jobs probably had it taken in a concrete and steel bunker with lead lined walls. Oh wait… this is AT&T service we’re talking about it. It was probably take 10 feet away from the bas of the cell tower.
Just come out and admit that the iPhone has a design flaw. Take responsibility for your work, and don’t start finger pointing when someone calls your work out. The short of it is the device is flawed on flawed service. If Verizon knows what’s good for it, they will have an iron-clad contract the fine the heck out of Apple when they point to the “service provider” as the problem. What’s next Apple, are you going to hold “How to hold your device classes” now?
That photo is showing 4 bars out of 5. What’s the problem? (You can’t see the last one because it is grayed out.)
any feeble minded animal will lash out at everything around it as a defence mechanism.
Rather then Solving Problem they are poiting Finger to other
Its like you did a Murder and Pointing at other Murder who are in Jail saing they to did the same
Grip or no grip… We all know that you can take any phone, hold it a certain way and kill the reception. And Someone explain to me where and when all these other phone manufacturers went after Apple and attacked them. Because it seems that Apple is being nothing more than just a big bully (something they accused Microsoft of being in the past). I don’t think any of these other companies ever said anything about them before they did. But yet Apple feels compelled to talk Sh*t instead of owning up to a mistake. If I spent the money on the iPhone 4 I think I would rather have Apple fix the issue with the phone instead of spending the money, I gave them, to run a smear campaign against other phone manufactures. Steve Jobs is not the man he used to be. He bought in the iconic legend that the tech media made him out to be and now he thinks he is invincible. And to stay on point… I agree with everyone else… Who in the hell would “white knuckle” hold their phone that way? What’s the next thing Apple will accuse other phone makers of: “Look. If you stick the EVO up your butt, you get no bars at all”. I liked it better when Apple just made overpriced computers and iPods.
I’ve have an iPhone 4 and it works just fine. I’m having trouble understanding all the noise about antenna problems. People really love to hate Apple …for their success I guess.
i can’t replicate this on my droid x. maybe because my human hands aren’t the size of dinner plates like the person in the video. even still, pt21’s right, the grip in the video just isn’t natural.
unfortunately the blind loyalty of apple superfans is forcing apple to do this – “no guys, trust me, it’s everyone. your iphone is still the greatest thing ever.”
and it’s alright, motorola already made a preliminary strike on antennagate through an ad in the new york times: http://blog.tusharnene.com/2010/07/24-iphones-antenna-issues-motorola-with.html
the text at the bottom of the ad is pretty funny.
Man I hate eating Apple of all colors. That shows my hate to this company and their policies (also please don’t squeeze the phone more than that it’s already enough).
Yes…. everybody holds their cell phone like that. It provides a buffer from your face, so no skin oils or smudges for you to wipe off after making a phone call. I’m certain that’s why they’re holding it that way… why else would they have him holding it like that when they could easily edit the bars out of the soft copy of the video, or just hold up a lead shield behind giant hands guy to block the signal out…
Have not been able to duplicate this with my Droid X. The average person does not have mitt shown in the video. Also why do they not show the back of the unit they are using hmmmm…..
I am still waiting for an iPhone fanboy to get on here an defend their precious Apple with mindless dribble.
I tried multiple times to make my DX drop signal like the video and nothing happened to my signal! I EVEN TRIED COMPLETELY COVERING BOTH SIDES OF THE ENTIRE BOTTOM HALF OF MY DX BY SANDWICHING IT BETWEEN BOTH MY PALMS, and NOTHING happened! STILL FULL SIGNAL!!! Apple is just trying to make people think every handset has this problem and without testing themselves, i would assume many will believe their lies and false claims. If apple doesn’t get their shit straight they are in for a rude awakening! iOS is not the only usable smartphone operating system on the block any more!
haha… Apple is pathetic in my opinion. They can’t “man-up” to the mistake which they KNOW they have done, so instead they try to push the attention off of them and onto the other smart phones which put the iPhone 4 to shame. Ridiculous… If only all of the fan-boys/girls would open their eyes and exit the cult that is AppleJobs… what’s next?
The misses and myself been using this phone for a week now with NO problems.
@Clayton got it right.
All phones can/will lose signal depending on certain circumstances.
However, the iPhone 4 is the only phone in history (that I’m aware of) to lose signal because you happen to touch one little spot.
I would like to see a video of an iPhone 4 suspended in mid air with full signal, then a finger comes in and bridges the gap between the two antennae, there by reducing the signal. That would be a great response to this ridiculousness that the iHoles at apple came up with.
Steve Jobs modern day Nero, fiddling and pointing his thumbs at others, while the iOS empire is crumbling down fast
and tried to hold the phone in many ways and could not block the signal as it must be that he made, put a magnetic field in that room or a trick to fake i don´t believe
@Clayton:
You are exactly right, I’ve been saying this to people for ages now! Apple are trying to make it seem like every phone has this problem and that iPhone 4 is no way the fault here. I’m sorry, if you call the antenna being on the outside of the phone an ‘engineering revolution’ then you’re just completely batshit insane! Sure normal phones will have signal blocked, but it happens slowly and marginally as opposed to instantly severing the antenna altogether in the case of the iPhone.
Steve needs to wake up – the iPhone is NOT the king of the mobile world, and the 4th (5th??) iteration is a completely and utter failure.
Maybe with the deathgrip, but try that with ONE FINGER Steve. Apple and the iPhone – ONE FINGER can destroy your phone!
i have to say….i’ve had the DX since launch day and not ONE DROPPED CALL!!! which makes me very happy coming from the 1st Droid….i had dropped calls all the time!!!
The problem isn’t that the iPhone 4 has a death grip. Its that it is worse than the death grip on otther phones and how Apple handled it.
I thought Bill Gates was bad, WOW!…Steve Jobs is worse. What an idiot!!
He is making me dislike Apple more.
Well, I hate to give Apple any credit for the video, but the real answer to this is going to be Droid X users and/or independent testers recreating the problem on Droid X phones.
I’ve watched in joy as Apple writhed through this whole ordeal (which has been excruciating for them, believe me), but one thing I never liked was how up-in-arms Apple fan-boys got over the whole thing. Their brains literally fell right out of their heads as they beat them against the wall in the face of irrefutable proof that their beloved Apple could produce a device with flaws. I really don’t want to see Android fans go the same route. If there’s legitimate problems with Android-based devices, or smartphones in general, our response has to be intelligent. I hate to say this is war, but Apple is obviously on the war path (clearing their name of their own mistakes, I should point out… not too admirable) and it’s only fair that phone manufacturers and everyone else targeted by Apple here (media as well as users) should stand their own ground and shouldn’t take any crap off this company.
A couple of things to note are:
1. This is an attempt to save face.
2. Apple is getting desperate and need to prove everyone wrong.
3. The community and the press have been together throughout the iPhone 4 “antenna-gate” fiasco. If Apple has published something here that’s even pushing the boundaries of a so-called “weak spot”, they’ve really dug their own grave. They haven’t just attacked Android fans, but also Motorola (fans and company) as well as HTC, Nokia, RIM and Samsung. Combined, those are a lot of people Apple stands to piss off with this video response.
I’m personally waiting for people to begin disproving Apple, starting with the users themselves and working it’s way to the corporations and finally the media outlets. I have a suspicion that Apple is being deceptive as well, but can’t prove it myself (no Droid X yet :(). All I can say is that Apple really had better have done their homework here. If not, they stand to lose even more face for posting damaging videos like they have (maybe even a lawsuit :)).
Droid fans, keep it classy and don’t be like those iPhone fan-boys.
for real you couldn’t use the phone to do anything with that kind of grip. was there any phone left exposed minus the signal display? It would have been nice to also have a call or data transfer going on to see if you got a dropped call / data issue. Still though really a funny video also would have been nice to see where this video was taken from. And since people are around other than just the tester, and it wasn’t done in a clean room, it doesn’t prove much. Unlike the other tests done with proper controls. Man apple needs to be careful, before they get a lawsuit for slander.
can’t get out to do out on my x. But I can do it on my iphone 4.
I tried this can cant reporduce it. PLus the guys hand must be huge, I an hardly position the phone the same way and I have a size 13 ring finger and large hand.
Has anyone noticed how red his finger tips and thumb gets when he grips any other phone. I wonder how many of his blood vessels reported abuse after he made these videos.
In the next commercial the Apple tech will put the Droid in a Faraday cage showing that if you happen to live inside a shielded mesh cage you will loose your signal… After that they will actually compare an apple to an orange.
I’ve been trying this exact grip, and multiple variations on it, and my signal actually goes up. I borrowed my bosses iPhone4 and tried the 1 finger and multiple grips, his signal tanked.
Look I am no fanboy, I just think for the price the phone should operate correctly.
My boss constantly claims dropped calls and is returning his phone this week.
You know I see a lot of people who are going in to heavy detail about how that hand of Apple is doing this but yet this is the first time I have seen and heard about this…on the X. Infact I have seen big time reviews showing Droid does not have this problem as iPhone 4 does. So in closing I ask is there anyone out there who owns a Droid X that has this issue? For some reason I’m ready to call BS on Apple…I’m mean all you have to do is look up iphones antina vs Droid X and I’m sure you will see a video showing ifell over Droids perfect signal. ..hummmmmmmm
I kind of like gripping my DroidX because I’m getting more bars instead. Unlike when I grip my friends iPhone4 it looses all the bars.
I am laughing SO hard at you Droid Fanbutts.
At first you nerds could not get enough of the Apple antenna problem, and like a pitbull would not let go. Now that we see the Droid X is NOT a magical gadget of perfection from heaven, the hot air is running fast out of your ballon heads.
Fact it, the iPhone beats the Droid X in the field. Don’t believe me. Find a friend with an iPhone, that is if you have friends, and do the SpeedTest app standing in the same spot holding you phone in the same way. iPhone wins, and at most spots with twice the data rate of the Droid X.
The Droid X is all overhype BS and Verizon’s awesome network is a myth.
I know this make you Droid Fanbutts really mad, but it’s your sad truth. You lose.
@Harold Burnley:
I dont think its that everyone is complaining about the phone itself, its more that apple are being arrogant by not admiting there was a problem in the first place, doing a fairly bodge job fix for it, then going out to attack other phone maufacturers to say they have problems to draw the attention away from themselves… which annoys a lot of people and is a very dirty business tactic, just like sueing everyone for useless patents which doesnt do much to credit them either
Apple is so pathetic. They don’t have the integrity to admit they have a bad design. It looks nice, but obviously looks and functionality aren’t necessarily the same. Has anyone noticed how AT&T hasn’t muttered a word ? I ordered a Droid X, and when I get it, I’m going to hold it in a NATURAL position. Don’t know why the dude in the video is holding it that way. Maybe Steve Jobs asked him to. Apple fans don’t have a life. An Apple Store opened Saturday at the local mall, and people started getting in line Friday at 6:30. GET A LIFE, YOU APPLEHEADS !
@jeremey
keep on driveling
@happiphone
obvious. troll is incredibly obvious.
whats a fanbutt?
This video is entirely different from Apple’s blunder and they are just looking like fools to someone who understands what is going on with an Electrical Engineering degree.
We have POOR ANTENNA DESIGN on the apple phone, versus using a LARGE HAND to act as a FARADAY CAGE. Wrapping a conductive material around any cellphone will cause the signal to drop. Why do you think elevators always do this?!?
You can’t fool all the people all the time, Mr. handJobs! The few iHole in here will just not get it. It is not even about the technology mistake it is the technique (or lack there of) in handJob’s actions around it.
FYI to all iPhone fanboys. There is no such thing as an Android Fanboy (“Fanbutt”). Anyone who is dedicated to Android is a user. Android is provided on several phones and on several carriers. While iPhone is sole is provided on one phone and one carrier (as of now). And when you sacrifice yourself to one specific product you are a fanboy. Android is provided on several platforms and carriers. So you see if anyone chooses an Android phone there is a multitude of choices that makes them more of a “user” than a dedicated fanboy.
I agree with the author in general. Motorola’s engineering is hard to beat. Most of you need help with your grammar if you want to be taken seriously.
Attenuation is normal and unavoidable. All this video shows is (a most likely staged and deceptive) example of attenuation. The iphone would not have gotten any flack if their problem was attenuation.
Iphone4 has only minor problems with attenuation. It has a HUGE problem with short circuiting. When you bridge two antennas together, you are shorting out your device. Because this is impossible to do on the Dx without disassembling it, it’s pretty clear that the video in question is unrelated.
This video makes as much sense here as a video of someone stomping on a Dx would. Yes, if you do something stupid, you will have a problem, and yes, if you do the same thing to the iphone, you will have the same problem. However, stomping on your phone is not what this is about in the first place. Attenuation isn’t either. Short-circuiting is.
I purchased a droid X on july 15th and have never had a probem. I am also unable to recreate the problem.
Holy banana hands Batman! This guys hands are huge! I can’t pull that grip off on my original Droid, let alone the .6 inch larger Droid x.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2fup7fb1qIM&feature=player_embedded#!
I wonder why apple disabled adding comments on that video….
I was going to flag this video as inappropriate because of hateful or abusive content and it promotes hatred or violence, but its against google/youtubes agreement. So I refrained!! Apple Sucks!
Steve jobs is full of shit and all his William Tell apple queers can give me a blumkin!!!!!!!! I got an att n1 and don’t have this problem what I love about my phone is if it can’t get 3g signal then it moves to the next best signal and when I’m on the web if I’m not getting 3g it will go to edge.or the nearest best thing.
Speaking of William Tell I think we can compare all the isheep to this character after all he did have an apple over his head while the other man(Steve Jobs) was using him as target practice.
@zack do you have the kgb moscow office number I can’t seem to remember it and I need to urgently reach them
Unable to create this problem with my droid x.