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Apple, AT&T Sued Over iPhone 4 Antennas

bannable writes "Apple has been accused of violation of the Federal Communications Act, three counts of products liability related to negligence, defect in design and breach of implied warranty, intentional and negligent misrepresentation, fraud by concealment, unfair business practices and more. 'The iPhone 4 manifests design and manufacturing defects that were known to Defendants before it was released which were not disclosed to consumers, namely, a connection problem caused by the iPhone 4's antenna configuration that makes it difficult or impossible to maintain a connection to AT&T's network,' the California complaint reads."

5 of 435 comments (clear)

  1. ATT's return policy by Wiarumas · · Score: 4, Informative
    ATT has a return policy where you can exchange a phone for another one within 30 days:

    http://www.wireless.att.com/cell-phone-service/legal/return-policy.jsp

    --
    I will bend like a reed in the wind.
  2. Re:Just Return It by PPalmgren · · Score: 5, Informative

    Anandtech just popped out a fantastic writeup on this issue in their iPhone 4 review. Check it out, its very informative for those who don't have basic antenna design knowledge from EE in college. To paraphrase, it reduces signal by up to 27 dbm, which is almost 50% of normal signal range. (50 to 113 dbm). This will not effect you or show on your bars if you get a better signal than ~75 dbm on a normal basis.

    Pretty much anyone who has had an introductory course in EE should have forseen this after the keynote...including their employees. It is a case of gross engineering negligence. Yes, interference does happen with all phones, but the effect is much more pronounced with the iPhone 4 due to an exposed antenna and lack of spending to fix / spot the issue.

    In short, your anecdote doesn't address the problem because you are in a good coverage area, and the signal degredation doesn't ruin your reception.

  3. Re:Bumper solves and creates a problem by Xuranova · · Score: 4, Informative

    What I didn't realise until I read a review recently is that although the Bumper solves the antenna issue, it means that you cannot plug in your standard iPod/iPhone connectors!

    I have my iphone plugged in with the bumper now. There's a clearly defined hole of which to plug in the connector. Perhaps your reviewers got the bumper installed upside down?

    http://i1034.photobucket.com/albums/a429/MalfoyR/bumperplug.jpg?t=1277997549

    --
    "There is no real right or wrong, just what the majority accepts at the time."
  4. Service Cancellation & Early Termination Fee by perpenso · · Score: 5, Informative

    It's not exactly about the phone. Yes, you CAN return the phone, but it's too late at that point - now you're in a 2-year AT&T contract, that you then have to pay $375 to get out of ...

    I just went through AT&T's iPhone 4 online upgrade process far enough to be shown:
    Service Cancellation & Early Termination Fee
    Call the number on your invoice/receipt to cancel your service. You may cancel service within 30 days from the activation date to avoid the applicable early termination fee (the "Early Termination Fee" or "ETF").

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    Perpenso Calc for iPhone. Classic Scientific and HEX functionality plus RPN, fractions, complex numbers, 64/32/signed/unsigned bitwise operations, UTF-8, IEEE FP decode, and RGB decode with color preview.

  5. everybody back to 4th grade, please. by swschrad · · Score: 4, Informative

    AFFECT is a transitive verb. "I can affect your computer's operation with this sledgehammer."

    EFFECT is an object of action. "The effect of my hitting your computer with my sledgehammer is a reduction in idiotic posts on the wacky."

    please everybody to get this correct in the future.

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    if this is supposed to be a new economy, how come they still want my old fashioned money?