You might remember the whole “death grip” or “antennagate” thing that happened with the iPhone 4. This was supposed to be addressed with a slightly different design on the iPhone 4S, but it seems that the antenna reconfiguration may lead to yet another lawsuit, because it could infringe on a patent currently owned by Samsung.

The new iPhone 4S uses an intelligent switching mechanism for transmission and reception through the dual antennas. That’s supposed to fix the death grip, but it could conflict with “several patents” that were originally developed by Danish antenna professor Gert Frolund Pedersen, along with his colleagues at Aalborg University. The patents were sold to Samsung in 2007.

Samsung is already in the process of getting an injunction against the iPhone 4S being sold in France and Italy, because the phone reportedly violates some of Samsung’s patents. These are in addition to the patents that Gert Frolund and his research team sold to Samsung. So, it pretty much adds more fuel to the fire between Cupertino and Seoul. The saga continues.

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Obviously, Apple had to swap out the GSM radios for ones of the CDMA variety for Verizon, but it seems that the slightly altered antenna design might have been enough to prevent the death grip problem. In a hands-on test, the crew at Slashgear held the Verizon iPhone 4 in precisely the death grip position. And the result?

When they first started the test, they got four bars (out of five) for reception. Maintaining the “death grip” position, it was only after a full minute that they saw a single bar drop away. This could be due to just regular fluctuations, but it’s certainly not equivalent to the death grip on AT&T’s GSM take on the iPhone 4.

So, now you can have the world’s most popular smartphone on America’s (reportedly) most reliable network? Looks like Verizon could be cannibalizing some of its Android sales now.

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Well, that’s one way to solve antennagate: go to another carrier. As you might recall, the iPhone 4 was plagued with all sorts of “death grip” concerns when it first launched with AT&T. People said they were losing bars and dropping calls when they held the smartphone a certain way. Not so, apparently, with Verizon’s version.

Obviously, Apple had to swap out the GSM radios for ones of the CDMA variety for Verizon, but it seems that the slightly altered antenna design might have been enough to prevent the death grip problem. In a hands-on test, the crew at Slashgear held the Verizon iPhone 4 in precisely the death grip position. And the result?

When they first started the test, they got four bars (out of five) for reception. Maintaining the “death grip” position, it was only after a full minute that they saw a single bar drop away. This could be due to
just regular fluctuations, but it’s certainly not equivalent to the death grip on AT&T’s GSM take on the iPhone 4.

So, now you can have the world’s most popular smartphone on America’s (reportedly) most reliable network? Looks like Verizon could be cannibalizing some of its Android sales now.

The post No death grip problem for the Verizon iPhone 4 appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

Apple addressed these problems by giving out free bumper cases, and that comes to an end on September 30. After that day, the solution to address the problem will be on the onus of the owner, unless a revised iPhone 4 will be issued afterwards.  At this point, Consumer Reports isn’t changing their mind, and they don’t think you should buy the iPhone 4 until a “real” fix comes along.

“Our tests found the Bumper successfully mitigates the iPhone 4′s reception issue, which was a weak point in the phone’s otherwise-stellar performance in our tests. And we agree with Apple that not all iPhone 4 owners will experience reception difficulties with the device. But putting the onus on any owners of a product to obtain a remedy to a design flaw is not acceptable to us. We therefore continue not to recommend the iPhone 4, and to call on Apple to provide a permanent fix for the phone’s reception issues.”

Your best bet is to wait for an updated version of the iPhone 4 that fixes the reception problem, and it should be from the inside-out rather than the outside-in.

The post Apple iPhone 4 still not recommended by Consumer Reports appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

As if dropped calls weren’t bad enough, the “death grip” actually increases the amount of radio frequency radiation being pumped from our cell phones into our skulls.  Tawkon, an Israeli mobile software company released a video showing its app measuring radiation output of an iPhone 4, BlackBerry Bold, and Google Nexus One.

 
The devices show significant increases in RF radiation when the phones are gripped firmly in the user’s palm.  This type of grasp blocks the phone’s antenna, so the device must up its RF output in order to remain connected.  The same thing happens when a user steps into an elevator or into any other low-signal area.  So, we’re obviously losing connection during these times, but are we losing anything else?

According to Tawkon co-founder Amit Lubovsky, “Tawkon doesn’t advocate that the “death grip” is necessarily unsafe, because final answers on the health ramifications of mobile phone usage won’t be known for decades, until researchers have had that time to track long-term usage and impact. However, recent studies do indicate a health impact of mobile phone radiation on mobile phone users, especially on people whose usage is termed excessive and cumulative. Until the long-term studies are concluded (decades from now), Tawkon believes consumers should have the right and ability to minimize their exposure to mobile phone radiation.”

Tawkon App on the iPhone showing radiation levels

Still, with acceptable emission levels or not, an increase of radiation near our brains, through something called the “death grip,” is enough to give me the chills.

The post How you hold your phone can hurt you: Death grip increases radiation exposure appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

On the bright side, Apple is quick to point out that the “availability of the more popular iPhone 4 black models is not affected.” So yeah, just go get a black one, ’cause this white iPhone could take a while. It’s actually good to see Apple not jumping the gun on this, and making sure manufacturing is entirely up to spec. In the meantime, Colorware, anyone?

[Gadget Lab]

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