iPhone Busted

iPhone 4 came out sometimes last week and a friend of mine went to stood in line for 12 hours for it. Since I deemed AT&T undesirable and their plans to costly for me, I wasn't enthused. While I admire his passion and endurance, I couldn't imagine myself lining up for anything, perhaps for a $150 30+" flatscreen HDTV. (Figurative speaking, this coming Black Friday.) I never like to be shelve out premium bucks and become a product's beta tester.



I do see the appeal of an iPhone despite the little funny video above. iPod had been a huge success and iPhone up to the former generation had also been above the curve on the tech front and since HTC hasn't done a great job telling people how much better they are, you can't blame people moving towards iPhone. Obviously, developers are more likely to develop apps for a popular device which will make it more popular.

However, it seems that people are having trouble with iPhone 4. So far 5 lawsuits were filed against Apple; 3 from Northern California, 1 from Texas and 1 from Maryland. Two Maryland residents filed a class action suit against Apple and AT&T that focus on iPhone 4's antenna designs making several claims:

• General Negligence (APPLE and AT&T)
• Defect in Design, Manufacture, and Assembly (APPLE)
• Breach of Express Warranty (APPLE)
• Breach of Implied Warranty for Merchantability (APPLE and AT&T)
• Breach of Implied Warranty of Fitness for a Particular Purpose (APPLE and AT&T)
• Deceptive Trade Practices (APPLE and AT&T)
• Intentional Misrepresentation (APPLE and AT&T)
• Negligent Misrepresentation (APPLE and AT&T)
• Fraud by Concealment (APPLE and AT&T)

They are claiming that Apple knew the product is faulty by design but still selling them to the masses. Cardiff University in the UK has done some tests:

The resulting data was clear under both situations: There is a performance penalty when you hold your iPhone with your bare hand, independently of the bars displayed. When the signal is very strong, the impact is less noticeable. When the signal is weaker (chart above), the problem could stop communications altogether, like have been demonstrated already for both internet access and voice calls.

The performance suffers just because you're holding it? But cell phones are meant to be held. I wonder if this is why Apple was so eager to retrieve their lost iPhone and call on the cops to raid the home of the finder even after the phone was returned.

Steve Jobs and his developer's answer to one of his thousands of angry emails that he received is apparently: “Retire, relax, enjoy your family. It is just a phone. Not worth it.” That's a little bit douchy.