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iOS Update May Tackle iPhone 4's Antenna Problems
DJRumpy was one of several readers to point out rumors that Apple will soon be deploying an update to iOS 4 to combat the iPhone 4 antenna problems we discussed last week. This could be good news for users of the 1.7 million iPhone 4s purchased during the first three days of its release. (And no, Daily Mail, Steve didn't announce a recall, though there's speculation that this problem could be a boon for Android.) An anonymous reader notes an analysis of a teardown of the phone, which found that its parts collectively cost about $188, with the most expensive part — the LCD screen — costing $28.50 by itself. In other Apple news, Germany has demanded that the company "immediately make clear" what data it collects from customers, and what use it makes of that data (perhaps spurred by Google's Wi-Fi sniffing debacle).
How a software update will fix an human-caused short circuit.
"All of it," replies Steve.
"Good use," replies Steve.
SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
All phones have sensitive areas," Jobs wrote. "Just avoid holding it in this way."
Now the iPhone won't have a sensitive area? Huh?
This space for rent.
I know modern radio platforms have a lot of software flexibility, but the limited knowledge of antennas I've picked up from messing with long-range WiFi and my ham radio experiments tells me this is not something that can be patched out with an OS upgrade.
That is unless the OS upgrade comes with a coupon for a free rubber bumper thingy...
I used to get high on life, but I developed a tolerance. Now I need something stronger.
AppleInsider article by Daniel Eran Dilger.
Oh dear.
They'll probably argue that the lowercase i makes it seperable somehow. Perhaps you need to say "IOS" like "eye-oss" and iOS like "Eye-Oh-Ess" to distinguish in regular language.
Irrespective of the possibility of fixing the issue in software (on which subject I expect there will be no shortage of ill-informed opining here), Dilger's not what you'd call a trustworthy source.
if you notice, they are calling Apple's version iOS not IOS(note the lower case 'i' character, which is Apple's thing)...and of course, they did get permission.
The basic sleazeware produced in a drunken fury by a bunch of UCBerkeley grad students was still the core of BIND. --PV
Don't forget Nintendo's IOS microkernel operating system (from the Wii), of unknown expansion (possibly "I/O System", but it also does security), which is presumed to have been developed by RouteFree^WBroadOn^WiGware. TLA collisions suck.
It isn't IOS it's iOS.
See what I did there?
And if you think it matters that a networking hardware company named their firmware something 'first' you are seriously delusional. Like Cisco is going to get any traction against Apple and iPhone/iPad. You saw the part where Apple sold 1,700,000 of these things in 3 days, right?
Why not just go stand in front of a freight train and claim that you got there 'first'?
I call name collision. Please refer to the iPhone/iPad operating system as something other than IOS because Cisco used it first.
We are all glad that you noticed so quickly. However, the name of the iPhone and iPad operating system _is_ iOS and Apple is paying Cisco license fees for the use of the name. So since Cisco agrees with Apple's use of the name, I think that settles the matter. And all of this was known weeks ago :-(
They're clearly all fanbois over there.
The CB App. What's your 20?
With trademarks, it absolutely matters. However, others have provided references that Apple licensed the mark from Cisco, so I guess that's that.
Names for the fix may vary. I call the fix "Nexus One". You might call it "Evo 4G", or any number of other names. Regardless of what you call it, I'm sure it will work equally well!
BeauHD. Worst editor since kdawson.
You're in direct contact with the antenna (unless there's a clear plastic shield on it). Anybody feel a small "burning" sensation on their fingertips yet?
For justice, we must go to Don Corleone
Do these people still not know how cellphones are priced? A 8GB iPhone 3GS is about $530, and prices for the iPhone 4 are expected to be $600 to $700. The $199 price quoted in TFA is only after you agree to a ~$2000 contract.
Except that iOS 4 has caused similar issues with the 3GS models.
The fix is expected to address a issue in iOS 4 related to radio frequency calibration of the baseband. Readers who saw the original forum discussions say that the issue is believed to occur when switching frequencies; because the lag is allegedly not calibrated correctly, it results in the device reporting "no service" rather than switching to the frequency with the best signal to noise ratio.
iOS 4 introduced some enhancements to how the baseband selects which frequencies to use, so it makes sense that the error may have crept into those changes. Additionally, this explains why iOS 4 has also caused similar problems for iPhone 3GS users.
This is the same thing they said about the EDGE/3G wobble in the Nexus One.
The "update" didn't change a fucking thing.
Anything is possible with the Steve Jobs Reality Distortion Field!
Here, you seem to be not getting enough iAid. Here, drink this.
My blog
Yeah, how about they fix whatever they broke in iOS 4 for us 3G users. My phone has decresed in speed by at least half since I installed iOS 4...
MABASPLOOM!
I second this. This is really annoying. IOS has been Cisco's moniker of choice for their operating system since 1987, when they bought it from Bill Yeager. This is such typical Apple hubris, and only helps cement the dividing line between IT/Developers and Apple. Good luck getting any of us to help your users without a smirk or comment on their fannypack.....
-Malakai
A Dragon Lives in my Garage
Oh, so it's more like i OS, IBM's midrange OS.
Sig (appended to the end of comments you post, 120 chars)
Android needs a task manager but doesn't come with one.
False. Android doesn't need a task manager: the OS suspends tasks when they become unused (leaving them in memory but not using any CPU), and kills them when it needs to reclaim their memory. Task managers are for people with OCD and people who are confused about how Android's multitasking works.
The most popular Android task manager doesn't show which apps are consuming the battery most.
Android 2.x has that built in: Settings | About phone | Battery use
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Apple licensed the name from Cisco. There's no legal problem.
If you do, do you experience the antenna shorting signal drop to zero issue? I'm curious, because 99% of the messages I see about this issue, on all forums, are from people talking about the problem, but who do not make any mention of actually have an iPhone 4 nor even of knowing anyone who has the problem. Now, maybe in fact everyone who has an iPhone 4 has this issue, but I am having a hell of a time trying to figure that out. And I'm trying to figure that out because I've got an iPhone 4 on order and I'd like to know if I should keep it. Android fans declaring, definitively, perhaps spurred on by the speculation of a specialist who doesn't have an iPhone 4 either, that the iPhone 4 has a fatal flaw does not tell me one way or the other. iPhone 3GS, 3G and iPhone owners saying that the iPhone 4 has a fatal flaw tells me nothing. The only people I want to hear from are genuine iPhone 4 users. So... do you have the issue?
--- What?
"I'm sure Steve Jobs will fix this immediately."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3h3Ogt2L44Q
.
Prisencolinensinainciusol. Ol Rait!
As the summary claims: it may fix it.
For what is worth, I noticed that the Geolocation API through safari doesn't work unless you have the WiFi on. It seems like they either crippled the device or something they may as well fix. Possibly not the only thing to fix from the first release of iOS 4.
In other Apple news, Germany has demanded that the company "immediately make clear" what data it collects from customers, and what use it makes of that data (perhaps spurred by Google's Wi-Fi sniffing debacle).
While updating my Ipod touch (3gs) last night I noticed in the tos that you can control which apps have access to the service. I think this is a cool idea but I didn't see anything in the new os that allows me that access. It doesn't really matter that much for me as I usually turn location services off till needed but what is Apple pulling here? I'd be very disappointed if that only works with an iphone.
"We are just a war away from Amerikastan. When god vs god the undoing of man." Dave Mustaine
How could a software update fix a hardware problem with the antenna? Isn't basic physics involved?
>
Yes, but the new software update will allow you to turn it up all the way to 11.
I call name collision. Please refer to the iPhone/iPad operating system as something other than IOS because Cisco used it first.
You're about a month behind. The complaint that's currently fashionable is the antenna issue. In about two weeks it's gonna move on to something else, so try to keep up.
"I like to lick butts!" by MobileTatsu-NJG (#32700246) (Score:5, Informative)
it's only 2k if you count the basic phone plan, but by this point pretty much any consumer buying an iphone is either switching from some other form of cell phone or would probably at least get a basic cell phone if they didn't end up with a smart phone of some kind.
Pretend I want to develop an app that runs on an iPhone 4. Until there's an iPod Touch 4, I have to buy an iPhone 4 to test on an iPhone 4. I am satisfied with my current phone plan at $7 per month from Virgin Mobile USA. So yes, it would cost me over a thousand dollars to switch to an iPhone.
What? Problem with the antenna? A pure hardware problem that will be solved with the next iOS update, i.e. software problem??? Here i am lost, since when we entered the era of quantum phones?
The trick is that software controls the behavior of the hardware. So even if the basic problem remains, a software patch (blasting out more radio power, changing frequencies, whatever) could help reduce the symptoms.
Bow-ties are cool.
I can also vouch for this on my 3Gs after updating to iOS4.
Problem wen't away when I downgraded to 3.1.3.
Also, if you take a trip to the Apple store and try to perform this on the new iPhone 4 you will find that the signal doesn't go down no matter how you try to bridge that antenna gap.
My guess is that they are using an ATT microcell in the store to provide the cell signal for demo purposes. Since the bars stay at full it backs up the claim that its related to how the software decides which signal to use and not that the users hand is shorting out the signal.
I officially nominate you for comment of the story.
A lot of ways. Signal processing, power levels,etc. We don't actually know what is causing the problems, so everything anyone says is pure speculation.
The upcoming OS update might fix it. But if the update is no help, Apple would probably still say it'll be fixed soon, so keep buying them. If the update doesn't fix the issue, this will allow them to sell as many as they can before the update is released and sales drop like a left handed call.
This sentence no verb.
Or as an alternative, you could use the power of "context" to figure out what is intended, as we do every day with the numerous homographs already in use in the english language, such as polish, bear, wind, close, lead, and dozens of others.
Stop freaking out about name collisions, you handle dozens of them every day without batting an eyelash, why is this any different?
Ohnoes! A trademark that's been licensed by Apple from Cisco, and is only known to a few thousand CCIE dweebs around the world is being used by Apple to describe the operating system that's installed on millions of devices used by regular people every day! I'm sure that everybody with an iPhone will immediately assume that when somebody references "iOS" they're talking about a fucking Catalyst, and hilarity will ensue!
And for the record - in my time in IT, it's been overwhelmingly those neckbeards who love Linux and open source who carry around 2 phones, a palm pilot, a small toolkit, quarters for Mountain Dew and Candy from the vending machine, and the latest "Official World of Warcraft" book in a fanny pack. Apple users can fit their iphone in a pocket and be on about their business.
Get stuffed.
The apps ask you when they first want access to Location, which is not really new.
The new thing is when you go to Settings -> General -> Location Services (which might fool you into thinking it only sets Yes/No), where you'll see all apps that use Location Services and you can turn them off and on by hand. A little arrow head next to the app indicates it's used your Location in the last 24 hours. An app won't be in this section without having asked to use Location Services first, but it's really nice to be able to track and revoke Location permissions after the initial ask.
Oops, might have just started something there...
This is different because it could have simply been avoided in the first place. Yes, we infer things from context. The problem is, the context of discussion for devices by Apple, and networking gear from Cisco may have some overlap, for example if you are trying to use an iPad on a wireless network comprised of Cisco gear. Yes, you can differentiate them by being explicit, "The Cisco IOS needs to be updated to the latest version", "The network settings in Apple iOS are not correct, and so you cannot get on the network".
But wouldn't it be simpler to just name it something else?
Anyhow, who's freaking out? I simply pointed something out.
No, it IS a short circuit*. If you bridge the two pieces of metal on either side of the band width a small metal object (a key, paper clip, etc) you get the same effect without blocking most of the antenna.
Of course, my testing is only a single data point, but I've asked other people to do the same and they've seen similar results.
* Ok, I don't think it's really a short. But by bridging an antenna with another piece of metal, you're altering it's length and as a result the frequencies that it will pick up.
How are sites slashdotted when nobody reads TFAs?
I see the same behavior on my 3G, recently upgraded to iOS 4.
Left hand, signal plummets.
Right hand, signal drops a hair slower.
Before iOS 4, I'd see some attenuation in areas with limited reception, but not to this extent.
Number of dropped calls I've had over ~2 years of using the 3G? 10-20. Inconvenient, but I really don't think it's that different than my experience with other carriers (Sprint) previous to my swap to AT&T. Maybe I'm just lucky to live and work near strong signals.
so the gap is on the top of the phone?
I submit the following conspiracy theory to explain the antenna situation:
Apple, in its efforts to thwart unlockers, knowingly ships a defective baseband firmware in iOS4, fully expecting it to be unlocked quickly. Apple then releases iOS4.01 with a new firmware, fixing the horrible issue, as well as the unlocking vector.
Sound possible?
How does an app maintain a network connection? or listen of incoming messages? Or is this not possible?
Have you ever done any form of end-user technical support?
If you're talking to a user about their network problem, are you going to tell them, "Open your iOS 'Settings' application on the iOS iPad, and click the iOS Settings 'Network' button to bring up the information on your iOS Networking." Why would your end user need to know a single thing about the "Cisco iOS Networking settings," or hear about them from you? And more to the point, why would you constantly refer to "iOS" to your users? To them it's an ipad, not an "iOS device".
The number of times you would need to make this distinction you're worried about are ridiculously rare - perhaps in a memo to your boss, explaining the root cause of an issue where the Apple device's settings and the Cisco device's settings both had to be adjusted - but even then, why would you specify the OS name? Do you refer to laptops as "laptops" or "windows xp laptops"?
I look forward to reading about your concerns regarding bears live-bearing baby bears in a biology textbook, or polished Polish soldiers polishing boots in a history textbook.
there are ways to test the app using a phone simulator.
Is the iPhone 4 simulator accurate enough to the point where one can test an app exclusively on the simulator and be reasonably certain that it will work on the device? Or is it like Nesticle, the obsolete emulator whose inaccuracies the NES homebrew scene loves to hate?
if you are looking to make a living from your apps, then a $1000 business expense if your apps really take off is not all that huge.
What's the easiest way for someone with a thin credit file to come up with over $2,000 of startup capital to buy what is needed to start a business (Mac, iPhone, iPhone developer certificate, and 24 months of an extra phone line)?
What about fixing folders to be something that is actually usable. Talk about a kludge. It looks like the kind of crap you'd find on Android. You have to click to enter/exit a folder, each can hold only 12 apps, and they are crap ugly. I knew folders was a bad design idea when I heard about it but after seeing it I know it is way worse than I imagined. Why not allow home screens to be grouped by topic and scroll up/down between them similar to the existing left/right scrolling? Why not make them smart so apps can be in more than one and defined either manually or by user-created rules? Doh. Screw iPhone users. I paid $900 for an iPad with 64GB of storage and I can only have eleven pages of apps and folder feature, coming someday to iPad, is horrible.
Multitasking is fine. All the whining is that it isn't like a PC. Folders is a bad implementation because it is to much like a PC.
At what price learning? At what cost wisdom? The price is a man's peace of mind, and the cost is his life.
It works really great. Basically, during your call if the quality goes any bad or there is a drop, the phone plays the sound of VUZULELA automatically until the signal is picked up again. This way it never really drops the call, at least not obviously.
No, it IS a short circuit*.
...
* Ok, I don't think it's really a short.
Is this one of those riddles where you have to figure out which villager is the one who lies every time and which one always tells the truth?
How does an app maintain a network connection? or listen of incoming messages? Or is this not possible?
It is possible. The trick is that "unused" has a more complicated meaning than "not in the foreground".
Android divides all apps into a few different kinds of chunks, the most important of which are "activities" and "services". Activities are the visible pages that you can interact with; tapping an icon in the launcher starts an activity, and pressing the back button returns to the activity you were using before. Services are the parts that can keep running in the background.
An app that needs to keep doing something in the background must separate that part into a service. For example, the music player starts a service when you hit play, and that service keeps running even when you switch to another activity (even though the activity is suspended). When you pause or when the playlist ends, the service stops. Keeping a network connection open works similarly. The OS tries not to kill processes that are hosting a running service, but it will kill them anyway if it gets desperate enough.
Well-written apps usually put an icon in the notification bar when they have a background service running. You can also go to Settings|Applications|Running services to see which services are running or to kill them manually -- but if you ever need to do that, it probably means you installed a buggy app that you should replace with something better.
Visual IRC: Fast. Powerful. Free.
Difference between an application and a service.
Much like the Iphone, when an application is removed from the foreground it is suspended (effectively terminated and removed from memory). If an application wants to do anything in the background the application needs to start a service, the service can run in the background and can maintain a network connection, process data or perform a variety of other tasks. Third party services cannot be started on the Iphone, even version 4.
Calling someone a "hater" only means you can not rationally rebut their argument.
But my reading of the situation was that both bits of metal are antennas, and the phone can use either or both. If they set the phone to use both antennas then a short between them would not be important.
http://michaelsmith.id.au
There is no reception problem./a>
Where can you get such a nice screen so cheaply?
I have been looking for screens of varying size for custom tablet projects, but I find it rather difficult to find a good usable screen.
Now the IPhone screen is too small for my needs, but I wonder where one would even start looking for something that good and that cheap.
I imagine that millions of people use Cisco products or services, including everyday. They provide modems and other services to Virgin Media, a UK cable/broadband/TV company with millions of customers, for example.
These people may not have heard of Cisco's IOS, but how many Iphone users have heard of "IOS"? Can we call them "dweebs" too?
Apple users can fit their iphone in a pocket and be on about their business.
My 5800 fits fine in my pocket. Shame about the size of your Ipad, though. And as for your "geek" stereotype; it's in geek communities like here that Apple has its popularity, just as with Linux. Among normal users, Apple are behind Nokia, Motorola, LG, Samsung, RIM.
HTC Droid Incredible: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eaDE941PzQ
Nexus One: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x2g5J4qPp54
Nokia E71: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gi1gHDa7-X0
Nokia 6230: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B_RP7Fn1w8Q
Nokia 6720: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yQ7t75Uo6qQ
You can keep on blaming the phone for carrier network issues in some cities but it does not change facts.
There are videos of the 3G and 3GS upgraded to iOS 4 exhibiting a similar issue if you hold it a certain way in your left hand but the strength of your local network towers is still a factor as I have only been able to bring my 3GS running iOS4 down by one bar from full service while trying to reproduce the problem because I have strong Fido towers all around me. I don't even hold my iPhone that way most of the time when I'm on a call.
Jesus was a compassionate social conservative who called individuals to sin no more.
Once again, Android had this feature long before the iPhone. . .
Apparently it doesn't affect all of them. If the rumors about incorrectly applied coatings can be believed, then it makes a bit of sense. Those which have sufficient coating thickness (probably a clear coat of sorts) insulate the band from the user's skin (preventing bridging). It's not like we're talking about a 6+-9s manufacturing operation.
It's not too surprising that there are manufacturing issues - they happen with just about every new device.
Is it just my observation, or are there way too many stupid people in the world?