There's a new development today in the Apple iPhone 4 problem with its antennae.
Consumer Reports Magazine says it has completed its testing of the phone and confirms there is a problem causing "a significant reduction in reception," which can cause connections to be broken.
As a result, Mike Gikas of Consumer Reports says: "Bottom line we can't recommend the iPhone 4 until Apple fixes this design flaw."
Shortly after the phone was released in the U.S. late last month people began to report problems with reception if they held the phone, usually in the left hand, and made contact with the metal antennae band around the outside edge of the phone.
The original response from Apple's CEO Steve Jobs was to tell people "not to hold the phone that way".
The company later said the problem was with software that indicated signal strength incorrectly: if there were four bars being shown, it really should have only indicated two bars. Apple said they were going to offer a software fix.
Consumer Reports says it "never" found this problem on any other kind of phone. However, Apple contends it's a problem with any phone, and that overall reception with the iPhone 4 is the best of any phone Apple has produced.
So what can consumers do? Apple suggests you buy a case for the phone so your hand can't contact the antennae. Some users have found duct tape or even Scotch tape over the antennae can reduce the problem. The phones are due to be released in Canada at the end of this month.
Consumer Reports says in other areas the iPhone 4 scores very high compared to other Smartphones because of its display and what the magazine called "the best video camera on any phone". It also has better battery life and superior game-playing technology.
