Those who have managed to get themselves Apple’s latest iPhone 4 release are finding themselves unimpressed with it when it comes to reception.  The antenna on the device is a metal strip around the edge of the phone which sounded good in theory, but isn’t working out as well as planned.

Apparently when a user holds that part of the phone, as most people do, it blocks the antenna’s reception capabilities and as one user said makes it “useless in its current state”.  There have been numerous complaints of the glitch being posted on blogs, personal websites, forums and even news sites.

Apple’s answer?  Basically, they are telling users to hold it differently.

“Gripping any mobile phone will result in some attenuation of its antenna performance, with certain places being worse than others depending on the placement of the antennas,” said an Apple spokesman in a statement given to Bloomberg.  “If you ever experience this on your iPhone 4, avoid gripping it in the lower left corner in a way that covers both sides of the black strip in the metal band, or simply use one of the many available cases.”

The major flaw in this answer is that many are wondering why Apple wouldn’t have put a little more thought into how a user typically holds the phone, before locating the antenna on the bottom.

While the flaw in design doesn’t seem to be stemming the flow of sales, it does raise concern with many considering the difficulty that partner AT&T has been experiencing with consistent service coverage.

Users are expressing disappointment over Apple’s apparent lack of concern over the reception issue, however.  One long time Apple fan  told Bloomberg he thought it was awful that Apple CEO Steve Jobs “has this kind of attitude” towards his customers.

Geoff Livingston / Flickr

A new battleground has emerged in the technology war: Application development. It is no secret that mobile applications are the hottest ticket right now and two giants in the tech world are fighting for control of the lion’s share of the market.

Google, with its Android OS, and Apple, with the iOS, are trading punches in an effort to gain favor among the developers of the mobile based applications. A recent survey has Google slightly ahead as more than 2700 developers believe that Android OS has the greatest potential for long term usage.

However, 40% of those surveyed by Appcelerator said that iOS was going to be the long term operating system. The field is narrow according to most of the sources close to this new war and there is no clear cut winner in sight.

One thing that Google has, according to experts, is brand recognition. People know that Android is a Google product and the company has a long standing tradition in a leader of all things tech. While it is true that they went off script for the entrance into the mobile operating system world, few believe it to be a mistake.

Furthermore, the name Android appeals to the target audience, the young crowd from 16 to 25 years old. Some believe that the branding of the Google OS may be the ticket to winning this war.

Apple is far from down and out though. They are preparing for the launch of Iphone 4 which will run on the iOS platform. Apple is counting on the increased power and functionality of the Iphone 4 combined with the iOS system to win the hearts of developers and users the world over.

Still the battle is far from over. With more than 60,000 applications available the Android system is a tough competitor in the market. Google is adding more than 100,000 users on a daily basis and is in place to take the top spot in the mobile OS market in the coming years.

William Hook / flickr.com

On the heels of possibly losing their exclusivity deal with Apple’s popular iPhone–thus giving Verizon entry into the market—AT&T has announced that they have significantly increased their fees for smart phone holders who choose to opt out of their contracts early.

AT&T declined to suggest that this change in policy is directly related to the upcoming expiration of their deal with Apple, but the timing may raise some flags.

Smart phone early cancellation fees will jump from $175 under AT&T to a hefty maximum of $325. This change will not apply to current contract holders as their agreements have already been signed. Instead, the fee increase will go into effect for all contracts signed on or after June 1, 2010.

In an interview with The Dallas Morning News, AT&T spokesman Mark Siegel quipped that “AT&T’s smart phone ETF (Early Termination Fee) is, at $325, still less expensive than Verizon’s smart phone ETF, at $350.”

Granted, the hike in fees does not apply to absolutely everyone under the AT&T sun. In fact, if you are not a smart phone user, your fees may actually decrease to $150. Of course, that is only if you re-up on your contract. For now, if you already have a contract with this provider, your fee is still $175 (individual cases may vary based on length of time remaining on customer’s contract).

As many consumers will point out, whether or not AT&T’s fees stack up well against Verizon is not what resonates most with this announcement. It’s that this is yet another example of major cell phone services’ ability to prevent you from moving freely to another carrier.

Early Termination Fees have become a particular point of interest for the Federal Communications Commission lately. Whether or not the FCC will comment on AT&T’s announcement remains to be seen.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/acaben/ / CC BY-SA 2.0

Nokia announced today that it has filed a complaint against Apple with the Federal District Court in the Western District of Wisconsin, alleging that Apple iPhone and iPad 3G products infringe five important Nokia patents.

The patents in question relate to technologies for enhanced speech and data transmission, using positioning data in applications and innovations in antenna configurations that improve performance and save space, allowing smaller and more compact devices. These patented innovations are important to Nokia’s success as they allow improved product performance and design.

“Nokia has been the leading developer of many key technologies in mobile devices” said Paul Melin, General Manager, Patent Licensing at Nokia. “We have taken this step to protect the results of our pioneering development and to put an end to continued unlawful use of Nokia’s innovation.”

During the last two decades, Nokia has invested approximately EUR 40 billion in research and development and built one of the wireless industry’s strongest and broadest IPR portfolios, with over 11,000 patent families. Nokia is a world leader in the development of handheld device and mobile communications technologies, which is also demonstrated by Nokia’s strong patent portfolio.