Consumer Reports: "we can't recommend the iPhone 4"

In what could be the last word on the iPhone 4 reception issue, Consumer Reports has released the results of its tests and concluded that "there is a problem with its reception. When your finger or hand touches a spot on the phone's lower left side—an easy thing, especially for lefties—the signal can significantly degrade enough to cause you to lose your connection altogether if you're in an area with a weak signal. Due to this problem, we can't recommend the iPhone 4."

The report confirms that this is a hardware issue, and not a software issue as Apple claimed.

However, the report maintains that the iPhone 4 "sports the sharpest display and best video camera we've seen on any phone, and even outshines its high-scoring predecessors with improved battery life and such new features as a front-facing camera for video chats and a built-in gyroscope that turns the phone into a super-responsive game controller." Which means that the iPhone 4 is perhaps the best hand-held device out there for doing the other stuff, except making calls.

How about you? Would you be willing to pay a hefty amount for such a great-looking phone (with the Retina Display, FaceTime, two cameras, multitasking and a new handsome industrial design) even if it, you know, drops your calls because you're holding it the "wrong way?"

Could it be??

Tw.apple.pro has the cult of Apple buzzing when it posted last week photos of a 3cm x 3cm touch screen bearing an Apple copyright stamp. It would be easy to dismiss such postings as a hoax if not for the fact that the same site had posted photos of spare parts before that turned out to be components for actual Apple products. The photos are intriguing because nobody knows exactly what product in Apple's current line-up could make use of said spare part. A new iPod? A new peripheral for the iPad when using a physical keyboard?

However, what really sparked my interest was this rendering by Apple.pro in the same post, causing me to gasp a little:


Gasp. Could it be??

In last month's keynote by Steve Jobs to introduce the iPhone 4, I admit my eyes moistened (a bit) when he picked up that phone and called Jonathan Ive using FaceTime. "It's real now," he said. Of course, what he's talking about was the ability to make video calls using hand-held devices, the stuff of our childhood sci-fi and comic book fantasies.

Let me backtrack a bit. When we say hand-held devices, we actually mean this:


It certainly wouldn't be the first phone wristwatch. LG released a similar device last year. However, we're talking video here. And if Apple could make possible FaceTime calls over 3G, then Steve Jobs' promise of shipping "tens of millions of FaceTime devices this year" would be a possibility. Anticipating!

Apple's new iPhone 4 FaceTime ads

Apple's Golden Age

Amazing. According to this article, Apple is 50% bigger this year than in 2009 in terms of value. The article painstakingly details this in financial terms that may be difficult to follow. Never mind. What I really like about this achievement by Apple is, here's a company that is arguably this generation's Ford, but it's a company that people love, that people are devoted to. It doesn't spill oil in the sea, it doesn't inspire hatred from detractors (umm, at least not much), and it's this corporate entity that is anything but boring and square, routinely coming up with innovations that thrill consumers and push technology forward. Apple is just going to get bigger, and I hope it doesn't lose its way.

A new landmark in Shanghai

Apple opens its first store in Shanghai this coming Saturday, and by the looks of it, Cult of Mac should expand its list of Apple stores to visit before you die. It's similar to their flagship store in New York City, but instead of a glass cube, Apple's Shanghai store has a glass cylinder rising from the ground (and is it true that this round area will be covered with water, like a moat?). Inside, the Shanghai store will also feature a "Briefing Room," sort of a VIP room for trying out Apple products.

More coverage here.

Wow

A retro Apple decal for the iPad. Who needs a diamond-encrusted iPad, when this gorgeous little thing makes it just as irresistible, for less than $5. Get it here.

Three more stunning decals from CoolDecal by Etsy. Check out their site for more.

Futurama parodies Apple

The Futurama gang catches the "eyePhone" fever in this clip posted by Engadget. Enjoy!