Fring Claims Skype Blocked Their iPhone App; Skype Says There Is ‘No Truth’ To Fring’s Claim

Regarding Apple deleting threads from discussion groups

The internet is abuzz with news that Apple has deleted discussion threads involving the Consumer Reports tests concerning iPhone 4 antenna issues.

Apple routinely deletes threads from discussions.apple.com when their main purpose is to complain about Apple or Apple products. The moderators seem to act as though the forums are for people asking questions and getting answers, and not just piling on complaints. Since there’s no freedom of speech on someone else’s dime, that’s the way it goes. There are plenty of other forums on the internet where you can complain away about Apple issues to your heart’s content — including TiPb’s own iPhone forums.

(You’re better off using apple.com/feedback/iphone to send in complaints anyway, there’s no indication discussions.apple.com holds any weight with Apple when it comes to issue tracking.)

The internet buzz concerning the thread removals is important for one reason, however — it shows how sensitive customers are to the antenna issue. Never mind that Consumer Reports said they couldn’t recommend iPhone 4 in one sentence then named it the best smartphone on the planet in another. Never mind we still don’t know how many people have the problem. Never mind that other phones have the same problem albeit to lesser degrees. Never mind that Apple’s historic misrepresentation of signal strength might be exacerbating the issue, as could AT&T’s network. Never mind anything else.

The antenna issue has become a matter of public perception now and that’s a huge problem for Apple. The mainstream media has their teeth in it now. They smell blood. The open letter and its contents clearly weren’t enough this time. As brilliant as they are in marketing, handling customer-facing problems is their kryptonite. MobileMe’s initial launch might have been the goofy red kind of kryptonite. They finally acted, they finally fixed it. This might be the green kind of kryptonite. The kind that hurts.

Regarding Apple deleting threads from discussion groups is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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Apple deleting mentions of Consumer Reports’ iPhone 4 piece on forums, can’t delete your thoughts

...or can they? In case Apple has somehow managed to perfect the art of selective disremembrance across a wide population, here's a refresher: Consumer Reports has thrown down the gauntlet, stating that it "can't recommend" the iPhone 4 until the antenna issues are fixed, issues that its labs and ours have verified quite substantially. Apple apparently isn't happy about that, and has taken to deleting threads about the Consumer Reports article from its support forums. Now, Apple deleting threads from its support forums is nothing new; outside of "regular" moderation, the company routinely deletes discussion of hardware flaws that it's not ready to 'fess up to, or just generally negative lines of thought about its products. Good thing the internet's a big place, and if Apple's not going to admit the antenna issue, there are plenty of ways to gripe about it. Feel free to express yourself in the comments below, for instance!

Apple deleting mentions of Consumer Reports' iPhone 4 piece on forums, can't delete your thoughts originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 12 Jul 2010 20:34:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Aside from Signal Issue, Consumer Reports Rates iPhone 4 Highest Amongst All Smartphones

Earlier today, a Consumer Reports post made headlines after they concluded that they simply could not recommend the iPhone 4 due to the widely reported signal issues related to touching the lower-left corner of the device. This single issue...

Viewfinder lets you search download Flickr photos

Viewfinder, by Connected Flow, is an iPad app that lets you search for and download Flickr photos straight to your iPad's Photos app.

First look: Exogear ExoLife battery case for iPhone 4

Filed under: Accessories, iPhone

One of the more eagerly anticipated accessories for just about any new phone is an extended-life battery case. One of the first out of the gate for the new iPhone 4 is the Exogear ExoLife rechargeable battery case (US$89.95). It's only available for pre-order at this time, but is expected to start shipping on July 30.

The ExoLife has several features that should make iPhone 4 owners clamor for it -- a 1500-mAh Lithium-ion polymer battery that should be able to recharge the phone once, a hard polycarbonate shell to keep your baby from getting scratched and dented, a regular USB 2.0 to micro-USB cable for charging and syncing, and something called ExoClear technology to help you avoid the dreaded Grip of Death.

The ExoLife also has a feature to turn off the battery when it's not being used, as well as a thin blue LED battery meter on the back. As you can see in the photo above, the case is relatively sleek as battery cases go, and looks pretty nice to me, although your personal preference may vary, of course.

Exogear plans on having the black model seen above shipping by July 30th, and a white model will follow by September 30th. The ExoLife will be perfect for running TrailGuru on my iPhone 4 when I'm doing long hikes or bike rides, so I'll be anxious to see one soon.

First look: Exogear ExoLife battery case for iPhone 4 originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 12 Jul 2010 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

First look: Exogear ExoLife battery case for iPhone 4 originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 12 Jul 2010 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Consumer Reports Can’t Recommend iPhone 4 Due To Reception Problems

Consumer Reports knocks iPhone 4 for reception issues

After testing the iPhone 4's reception issues, Consumer Reports has announced it will not recommend the device, despite otherwise high ratings.

Review: In My Pantry for iPhone

If you're willing to put in the effort to maintain this labor-intensive pantry and grocery list manager, you'll be impressed by In My Pantry's powerful features.

Lawsuit Over AT&T’s iPhone Exclusivity Gains Class Action Status

Late last week, Wired reported that a lawsuit filed against Apple and AT&T over the carrier's exclusivity arrangement for the iPhone has received class action status, meaning that it now automatically covers every iPhone customer in the Unite...

AT&T exec: Open mobile still on the way

The ideal mobile ecosystem is still one that's partly closed, such as the iPhone App Store, AT&T CTO John Donovan said Monday.

Skype says Fring violated its Terms of Use, ‘damaging our brand and reputation’ in the process

It looks like Fring's recent decision to block Skype access to its iPhone 4 video app was the final straw for Skype, who charges that VoIP network was in breach of the Terms of Use and EULA for the Skype API. "Over time," writes General Counsel Robert Miller, "Fring's mis-use of our software was increasingly damaging our brand and reputation with our customers." Although they've "been talking with Fring for some time to try to resolve this amicably," Friday's action is being called "disappointing [for] our customers, who have high expectations of the Skype experience." He goes on to say that "Skype will rigorously protect our brand and reputation, and those developers that do not comply with our terms will be subject to legal enforcement." Meaning, presumably, that in the case of more Fring shenanigans there will be some sort of red-hot legal action. For its part, Fring CEO Avi Shechter had this to say: "We are disappointed that Skype, who once championed the cause of openness, is now attempting to muzzle competition, even to the detriment of its own users." Which is all well and good, but we can hardly see how Skype is the problem here when you were the ones who locked out its users in the first place.

Skype says Fring violated its Terms of Use, 'damaging our brand and reputation' in the process originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 12 Jul 2010 15:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Geohot Won’t Be Releasing Tools To Jailbreak And Unlock iPhone [Update]

How to use iPhone 4 FaceTime behind a firewall

FaceTime might be easy but network traversal can be hard, which is why Apple has posted a knowledge base article to help you get your FaceTime behind a firewall.

If the Wi-Fi network router that you are connected to uses a firewall or security software to restrict Internet access, contact the network administrator and reference this technical article. To use FaceTime on a restricted Wi-Fi network, port forwarding must be enabled for ports 53, 80, 443, 4080, 5223, and 16393-16472 (UDP).

The Wi-Fi network administrator can refer to their router, firewall, or security software documentation for information on configuring port forwarding.

If you encounter issues using a Wi-Fi network, use standard Wi-Fi network troubleshooting to resolve interference and other issues.

Have you had any firewall issues with FaceTime at home, at school, or at work? If so, did this tip help?

[Apple Knowledge Base via 9to5Mac]

How to use iPhone 4 FaceTime behind a firewall is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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Breaking: Fake white iPhone 4 is not delayed

Breaking: Fake white iPhone 4 is not delayed originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 12 Jul 2010 15:04:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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BMW to Support New ‘iPod Out’ Feature in iOS 4

BMW is the first car manufacturer to have announced support for a little-known feature in iOS 4 called iPod Out. CNET reported last week on this new iOS 4 feature:

This feature allows a connected iPhone 3G, iPhone 3GS, iPhone...

Droid X goes on sale Thursday amid flurry of ad promotions

The Droid X smartphone ships Thursday, after an unusual pre-sales publicity campaign designed to entice the savvy tech crowd that might also include some in the iPhone 4 camp.

AT&T Trialling Free 3G MicroCell Offers

Engadget reported over the weekend that some of AT&T's "most valuable customers" have been receiving offers for free 3G MicroCell devices, which recently went nationwide after being tested in limited geographic areas. The 3G MicroCell taps i...

Consumer Reports confirms iPhone 4 antenna problems — and so do we

digg_url = 'http://digg.com/apple/Consumer_Reports_confirms_iPhone_4_antenna_problems'; Although there's never been any question that there's something going on with the iPhone 4's fancy new antenna system, we really haven't seen any rigorous testing confirming that the issue is real, severe, and affects every phone. That just changed: Consumer Reports tested three iPhone 4s and several other AT&T phones in their RF isolation chamber that simulates varying levels of signal from every carrier, and found that the iPhone 4 was the only handset to suffer signal-loss issues. What's more, CR directly says that its findings call Apple's explanation of a miscalculated signal meter into question since the tests "indicate that AT&T's network might not be the primary suspect." CR found that simply putting duct tape over the bottom-left corner is enough to alleviate the issue -- we're guessing that's Jony Ive's worst nightmare -- and says that while the iPhone 4 has the "sharpest display and best video camera" of any phone its tested, it simply can't recommend the device until Apple comes up with a permanent and free fix to the antenna problem. Ouch.

Of course, we couldn't sit around waiting for someone else to test the iPhone 4 in a more controlled way, so we actually asked our good friend Erica Sadun from TUAW to write us a bespoke signal strength app for iOS 4. Obviously we couldn't submit it to the App Store, but we've been running it on all of our phones here at Engadget and we can independently confirm Consumer Reports' finding that there's a serious signal attenuation issue with the iPhone 4's antenna -- every phone we've tested displays dropped signal when held with the bottom left corner covered. Now, what we don't know is whether that signal attenuation consistently affects call quality and data rates, which we suspect is more directly related to the network in the area; some of our iPhone 4s drop calls and experience low data rates with alarming frequency, while others -- like our review unit -- have almost never dropped a call and have had no data problems. However, now that we've confirmed and clarified that the antenna issue affects every iPhone 4, we can take on the next step, which is sorting out exactly when and where the issue is most severe. Either that, or Apple can do something to actually fix the issue -- we'll just have to wait and see. For now, check our app in action after the break.

Continue reading Consumer Reports confirms iPhone 4 antenna problems -- and so do we

Consumer Reports confirms iPhone 4 antenna problems -- and so do we originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 12 Jul 2010 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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