RIM, maker of the BlackBerry brand of smartphones, has responded angrily to Apple’s claims that “all smartphones” suffer from problems with reception due to antenna placement – and especially to Apple’s mention of the BlackBerry brand in its Friday press conference responding to problems with the iPhone 4.

Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie, RIM’s co-chief executives, issued a joint statement in response:

They said, “Apple’s attempt to draw RIM into Apple’s self-made debacle is unacceptable. Apple’s claims about RIM products appear to be deliberate attempts to distort the public’s understanding of an antenna design issue and to deflect attention from Apple’s difficult situation.

“RIM is a global leader in antenna design and has been successfully designing industry-leading wireless data products with efficient and effective radio performance for over 20 years. During that time, RIM has avoided designs like the one Apple used in the iPhone 4 and instead has used innovative designs which reduce the risk for dropped calls, especially in areas of lower coverage. One thing is for certain, RIM’s customers don’t need to use a case for their BlackBerry smartphone to maintain proper connectivity. Apple clearly made certain design decisions and it should take responsibility for these decisions rather than trying to draw RIM and others into a situation that relates specifically to Apple.”

Apple’s newly-introduced page on smartphone antennas says that “In our tests, the BlackBerry Bold 9700 dropped from 5 bars to 1 bar when held in a way that attenuated the signal” and points out that the antenna is fitted in the base of the phone. It also compares reception effects on other phones, including the iPhone 3GS, HTC Droid Eris and Samsung Omnia II.

Source: Guardian Technology

Apple has called a surprise news conference on 16 July at 1800 (BST) to talk about the iPhone 4 as the clamour for the company to resolve antenna problems with the new device intensified.

The company has refused to give details about whether the event will address reception problems that some users have reported with the phone, launched just last month.

Apple has faced mounting criticism from analysts and consumers over its handling of the issue.

Industry watchers said the firm was in danger of damaging its “rock star” reputation over how poorly it had dealt with what would normally be a minor problem.

Source: BBC Technology

Signal indicator bars dropping on the new iPhone 4 is the fault of the handset’s software and not its hardware, Apple has said.

Some users reported the smartphone’s signal strength fell significantly when held, giving rise to speculation its new antenna – incorporated into the handset’s metal frame – could be disrupted by the hand.

However, in a letter addressed to iPhone 4 users, Apple said its own investigation revealed the “simple and surprising” cause was the formula by which it calculated signal strength has always been “totally wrong”.

Apple’s letter said: “Our formula, in many instances, mistakenly displays two more bars than it should for a given signal strength. For example, we sometimes display four bars when we should be displaying as few as two bars.”

It continued: “Users observing a drop of several bars when they grip their iPhone in a certain way are most likely in an area with very weak signal strength, but they don’t know it because we are erroneously displaying four or five bars. Their big drop in bars is because their high bars were never real in the first place.”

The computing giant said the problem has been present since the original iPhone launched three years ago.

It will now adopt American mobile network AT&T’s more accurate method for calculating signal strength and a free software update will be available in the next few weeks.

Source: Yahoo Tech News

The launch of Apple’s iPhone 4 also marks the end of unlimited Smartphone data plans from major UK mobile phone companies.

O2, which was Apple’s exclusive UK partner for the iPhone, has introduced a monthly cap of up to 1GB (gigabyte) for data on new contracts. This mirrors a similar recent move by rival Vodafone, and Three has also today announced a 1GB monthly cap.

Some observers expressed surprise at Three’s decision to impose a limit. Ben Wood, a mobile phone analyst at CCS Insight, said: “We had expected that Three would seek to differentiate its offer from rivals by offering bigger data bundles. “It has obviously realised that this approach would see heavy data users signing up and clogging up its network.”

Orange has always imposed a 750MB monthly “fair usage” policy since it started to offer the iPhone in late 2009. But some networks vary their data bundle between 500MB and 1GB per month, depending on the cost of the contract a user chooses.

A 1GB cap amounts to approximately two to three hundred MP3 song downloads in a month. And a message on O2’s website says that a user with a 500MB cap could send 1,000 e-mails with photos attached.

But data consumption can grow very quickly when users start to stream video on their Smartphone.

Source: BBC Technology

Apple Inc said the first iPads will be in U.S. stores on April 3 and hit nine international markets from Japan to the United Kingdom later in April.

The 9.7-inch touchscreen tablet, which is designed to surf the Web, play video and games, and read digital books, is the most anticipated product launch from Apple since the iPhone in 2007.

Chief Executive Steve Jobs unveiled the iPad in late January, but the company did not announce any international markets until Friday, when it said the tablet will go on sale in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, Switzerland and the UK in late April.

Apple shares rose 3.1 percent in early trading on the Nasdaq to $217.20, an all-time high for the stock.

Apple is seeking to tap an unproven market for tablet computers. The iPad, while admired for its sleek design, will have to compete for consumer attention with a myriad of more established device categories, including smartphones, netbooks and dedicated e-readers like Amazon’s Kindle.

The U.S. launch date for the iPad model with short-range Wi-Fi wireless links, starting at a price tag of $499 (332 pounds), is slightly later than the previously expected late March launch. Customers looking for versions of the iPad with third-generation (3G) high-speed cellular data links will have to wait until late April, said Apple.