Apple CEO Steve Jobs announced during the iPhone 4 press conference that Apple will be giving away the protective cases to buyers of its latest iPhone to alleviate the so-called “death grip” problem in which holding the phone with a bare hand can muffle the wireless signal. This will be eligible to the more than 3 million people who have already bought the iPhone 4 as well as new buyers through Sept. 30. People who have already purchased the $29 “Bumper” cases on their own will also be refunded. In addition to that, if purchasers are still unhappy with the iPhone 4(before or after they have got the free cases), Apple will offer a full refund if the iPhone 4 is returned undamaged within 30 days. So, the message that Steve Jobs is sending out is quite loud and clear and that Apple loves their users and try very hard to delight and surprise them.

Below is the live coverage on how he communicated this message during the iPhone 4 press conference call:-

So, apart from this key message that Apple CEO Steve Jobs would like to convey to the new purchasers of the iPhone 4, what else did he cover during the iPhone 4 press conference? Below are the summary:-

• Steve Jobs apologized to the purchasers of iPhone 4 and admits that Apple is not perfect
• iOS4.0.1 software update is out which fixes the wrong formula that Apple uses to calculate how many bars to put up for a given signal strength as well the Exchange bug
• Next iOS update will fix the proximity sensor issue
• Apple sold 3 million iPhone 4 in 3 weeks
• The iPhone 4 has the highest customer satisfaction rating of any smartphone
• The iPhone 4 to be available for sale on 30th July in 17 countries i.e. Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, New Zealand, Singapore, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland. ~Damn~ Malaysia is not in there….  :-(
• Antennagate issue does not only happen on iPhone 4. Other smartphones like Blackberry, Nokia, Motorola and HTC also drop bars if held in a certain way.
• The iPhone 4 drops one more call per hundred than the iPhone 3GS
• Only 0.55% of all iPhone 4 owners called Apple to complain about the antenna
• Apple invested $100 Million in antenna test facilities
• The White iPhone 4 will start shipping at the end of July
• Steve Jobs was on vacation in Hawaii and came back for the conference
• Someone has made a cool song out of this iPhone 4 antenna issue

Before we sign off, below is the cool song about the iPhone 4 antenna issue. This is a cool way to get free publicity….  :-)

Apple will be holding a press conference on this coming Friday(16th July, 2010) 10am PST. The topic of discussion is about the iPhone 4. Most likely it is to address the issues related to the iPhone 4 Antennas. For the past 3 weeks, there have been a lot of complaints about the iPhone 4 antennas. Most of the complaints are citing signal loss issues when it is held in a certain way.

With the strong sales recorded for the iPhone 4, Apple has better address this issue well. Otherwise, they may be pissing off some of their most loyal and die-hard fans. Apple has recorded 1.7 Million units sale in the first 3 days of launch. This is another record in the Apple history. In 2008 and 2009, Apple has sold 1 million each of the iPhone 3G and iPhone 3GS respectively in their initial weekend of sales.

Apple has initially claimed that the antenna issue was merely a software problem that the onscreen signal strength display is over-stating the actual signal strength. Consumer Reports and some other sources have conducted a laboratory test which proves that the iPhone 4 does suffer from higher signal attenuation compared to other devices and that a software fix will not be able to solve the problem. With this report going into mainstream news, Apple is once again in the hot seat.

Below is the video by Consumer Reports about the iPhone 4 antenna issue.

So, what will Apple be announcing this coming Friday?

Below are some of the guesses from other major news/blogs/forums:-

1.  Apple to recall the iPhone 4

2.  Apple to issue a free upgrade of the phone when the problem is fixed

3.  Apple to continue to deny the issue

4. Apple to issue a bumper cover to all iPhone 4 purchasers  - quick fix and cheaper option

Below is a video on how the bumper option works to fix the Apple iPhone 4’s antenna issue.

Let’s keep our fingers crossed on this and not speculate too much until we hear it from Apple.  :-)