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.

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.