antennas

Buzz Out Loud 1257: Don't hold it that way (that's what Steve said) (podcast)

Turns out the iPhone grip of death is simply a "fact of life" with all wireless phones. If holding your phone makes your iPhone 4 signal drop dramatically, Apple would like you to know you should either hold it a different way or buy a case. From them. That sounds logical, right? Right. No, thanks. Also, introducing Rafe's new side project, oneleggedgoat.xxx. Enjoy.

Subscribe:  iTunes (MP3) |  iTunes (320x180) |  iTunes (640x360) |  RSS (MP3) |  RSS (320x180) |  RSS (640x360)… Read more

The 404 610: Where it won't work if you hold it wrong (podcast)

The show title for today's episode of CNET's The 404 Podcast actually refers to two stories in the rundown. The first, of course, refers to the masses of complaints from early Apple iPhone 4 adopters. As if yesterday's heatstroke line nightmares weren't bad enough, some owners are experiencing disappearing signals when the steel bands antennas are covered by gripping the phone in use.

Ironically, the external antenna band was supposed to increase reception bars, but many feel jilted that Apple and Steve Jobs failed to mention the glaring design error during the keynote earlier this month. … Read more

Apple acknowledges antenna issue in iPhone 4

Apple has finally acknowledged that the way you hold the iPhone 4 can hinder the device's cellular reception.

Complaints about weakening or disappearing signals when the iPhone 4 is gripped in a particular way--usually by touching two seams of the antenna band on the exterior of the phone simultaneously--began popping up late Wednesday night, and continued to appear Thursday.

While Internet commenters and bloggers spent most of the day trying to figure out if the problem was related to the phone's hardware or software, Apple released a statement late in the day to PC Magazine.

"Gripping any … Read more

iPhone 4 is out, complaints are in

Though the iPhone 4 is flying off store shelves, the just-released device is already gathering complaints from early buyers.

Apple's latest phone hit stores Thursday to lines of people--some who were waiting 6 hours to buy one. But almost as soon as the device arrived on the doorsteps of customers who placed early preorders came reports of reception problems, discolored spots on the screen, easily scratched exteriors, and issues with third-party accessory connections.

The most prominent complaint on Thursday is customers noticing that touching the seams of the antenna band that runs around the iPhone 4--particularly when holding the … Read more

Are you killing iPhone 4 reception with your bare hands?

Reports are surfacing that some iPhone 4 users are unwittingly strangling reception via the metal antennas surrounding the phone's body.

Some iPhone 4 owners in the U.S. are noticing that touching the seams--particularly when holding the iPhone 4 in their bare left hands--interrupts reception, slowly causing the phone to lose its signal.

We're looking into the issue, setting a number of people with a number of gripping positions loose on a number of iPhones to see if our skin's conductivity throws AT&T's five-bar, 3G reception off its groove. We were able to consistently … Read more

Introducing the pill that snitches on you

It's getting harder and harder to hide from your doctor.

Researchers at the University of Florida today unveiled the tattletale pills, standard pill capsules that come with microchips and digestible antennas to alert caregivers, family members, etc., when the pill has been ingested.

"It is a way to monitor whether your patient is taking their medication in a timely manner," says Rizwan Bashirullah, assistant professor in electrical and computer engineering at the University of Florida, in the school's news report.

Developed in part to improve medication compliance in clinical trials, where failure to take experimental drugs … Read more

Good-bye, rabbit ears? Not so fast

Congratulations! You've successfully made the switch from analog to digital TV. So is it good-bye to rabbit ears? Not quite!

Whatever your view of television, be it couch potato casual or flat-screen fanatic, Friday was a special occasion. And even if you didn't give it the kind of warm reception some Chicago students did on Friday night, complete with champagne toasts, you knew it was the end of an era, if for no other reason than all those incessant reminders we've been giving you, like "The Big Switch From Analog To Digital TV" or "Flipping The Switch To Digital TV".

In these days of cable and satellite, you probably thought it was time for a requiem for the old rabbit ears. Not so fast.

"The antenna is alive and well," said Michael Godar, who runs one of the nation's few handmade antenna companies out of a TV repair shop in Gilbert, Ariz.

And he says that, even at the dawn of the Digital Age, there's plenty of life in that old antenna.

"There was almost a sport (in) adjusting your antenna on your TV," Sieberg said.

"Oh yeah, battling it--you know, especially when you had a remote control," Godar laughed. "You'd change the channel and then get up, adjust the antenna!"

… Read more

DTV converter boxes aplenty, but good luck finding an antenna

NEW YORK--Louise Coleman of Brooklyn, N.Y., did everything she was supposed to do before full-power TV broadcasters in the U.S. turned off their analog TV signals and started broadcasting only in digital, but she still found herself in a Best Buy store on the DTV deadline day, Friday, buying the last amplified digital antenna on the store shelf.

Coleman said she had gotten her $40 coupon from the government and bought a digital converter box for her older analog TV before the first deadline for the switch to digital TV on February 17. And she even bought a … Read more

Best Buy has the Terk - Outdoor Amplified HDTV Antenna for $107.99, after $12 savings.

Save $12 on the Terk - Outdoor Amplified HDTV Antenna from Best Buy >> Regular price is $119.99 >> Sale price is $107.99 >> Savings $12 (10.00%) >> Click here for deal