iPhone 4

In the wake of what Steve Jobs referred to as "Antennagate," Apple has launched an informational website to follow up on its Friday press conference on the iPhone 4. Much of the smartphone graphics and testing facility photos presented at the event are explained in detail on the new Apple pages. Pictured below is one of Apple's 17 anechoic chambers, which accurately measure antenna and wireless performance.

Apple highlights the fact they have spent thousands of hours logging tests in special facilities like these and in the field with prototypes of the iPhone 4 and all of their wireless devices. These state-of-the-art facilities cost Apple over $100 million to design and build.

Apple, recently under fire for iPhone 4 antenna problems, publicly addressed the issue in a special press conference at its Cupertino headquarters today. Steve Jobs explained that the company isn't perfect, but they want to make their users happy. Over three million iPhone 4 units have already been sold.

According to Jobs, for 22 days Apple has been working non-stop on determining the root cause of the problem and coming up with a real solution. Reports have indicated that connecting a gap with your hand in the metal band around the outside of the iPhone 4 can cause a drop in signal strength. The media has affectionately referred to this hand position as the "death grip."

Dev-Team member planetbeing has demonstrated the first unlocked US-purchased iPhone 4 in the world. With a custom-cut Rogers SIM card and some coding magic, his iPhone dialed Rogers customer service and displayed the Rogers carrier logo on the home screen.

MuscleNerd and planetbeing are working simultaneously on two different unlock solutions, and plan to release the best one when the time is right. Apparently the software needs work even though the end result is functional. Dev-Team may wait until Apple releases iOS 4.1 before making the iPhone 4 unlock public.

The independent and nonprofit magazine Consumer Reports sent some mixed signals after testing the iPhone 4. Reception issues resulting from touching the lower left corner of the device have been verified in Consumer Reports' labs. First the bad news. The magazine said it "can't recommend" the iPhone 4 due to the problem, which they cited as a design flaw in the external antenna.

When held so that a gap between the two antennas is covered the signal drops up to 20dB, which Consumer Reports explains is "enough to drop a call." Reception problems were improved with the addition of non-conductive tape to the affected corner of the iPhone 4, which prevents the metal from coming in contact with the user's hand.