A wireless expert with ties to Apple’s senior antenna engineer says the company is in a pickle. It cannot fix the iPhone 4 antenna issue without completely redesigning the hardware.

Earl McCune, a leading RF expert — and former colleague of Apple’s Sr. Director of iPhone/iPod engineering, Ruben Caballero (who is in the news today) — says the iPhone’s antenna will have to be moved.

“The only way to solve the problem is to not have your hand within a wavelength of the phone — about a foot and a half away,” said McCune, a RF/wireless consultant, author and entrepreneur. “It’s the law of physics.”

McCune is the former boss of Apple’s top antenna engineer, Ruben Caballero. Last year, Caballero tried to warn Steve Jobs that the iPhone 4’s external antenna may drop calls.

Screaming at the screen in a theater when things start to head downhill for the hero never really seems to work fro me. With the iPhone app of the interactive film The Weathered Underground, though, it might  (ok, screaming at an iPhone still won’t produce results, but the idea is that the story can be affected by input).

The movie, which showed up at the App Store yesterday after being available on DVD since earlier this year, lets the viewer choose the protagonist’s path after the young musician loses the love of his life and adventures through the city trying to win her back. Over a hundred path forks are hurled at the viewer — one every 90 seconds or so — which makes for a lot of movie packed into the $4 app.

An interesting idea that seems tailored for the iPhone or iPad; question is, how well does it entertain once the novelty has worn off, and will we see more of these?

Citing “reliable sources,” Greek iPhone site iPhone Hellas is reporting that iOS 4.0.1 might be released today.

The rumor doesn’t quite sound right: iPhone Hellas’ report suggests that yesterday’s iOS 4.1 beta seeded to developers might actually be iOS 4.0.1, which doesn’t make a lot of sense. “The final version of 4.1 will be released much later, probably in September, after several beta versions,” iPhone Hellas’ asserts.

That said, iPhone Hellas doesn’t have a completely ignominious background when it comes to iOS update predictions: back in 2008, they successfully predicted the released of iOS 2.2 over ten days ahead of time.

If the rumor is true, the best news of all might not be the much-talked about “software fix” for the iPhone 4 reception issues, but the fact that the jailbreaking community has been waiting on iOS 4.0.1 to release many of their new exploits, including an updated version of Spirit. Can’t wait!

[via Apple Insider]

Steve Wozniak loves his iPhone 4, but carries a back-up phone because of “death grip” antenna problems.

In a conversation with Dutch journalist Henk van Ess,  Woz says that he immediately noticed reception problems with the latest Apple smartphone.

Henk van Ess: How did you find out about the antenna problems?

Steve Wozniak: The first time I tried I was able to duplicate the problem. My wife was driving me to the airport and as soon as I got a short distance from my home, and no longer on wifi, I tried it by accessing a web page (using Safari on my iPhone 4) and observing the progress bar.

As the bar started to proceed I lightly (‘lightly’) touched a couple of fingers to the trouble area and the progress bar froze. When I lifted my fingers the progress bar continued it’s (sic) rapid progress. Putting my finger[s] back down halted the progress bar again. Lifting my fingers another time allowed the web page to finish loading.”

When Steve Jobs unveiled the iPhone 4 and demonstrated their FaceTime video chat technology, the Apple CEO bragged that they intended to ship FaceTime to “millions of iOS devices this year.”

Ever since then, smart money has been on FaceTime coming to at least the iPod Touch by the end of the year… but how will it work without a phone number?

Predictably, by email, if a report by BGR is anything to go by. According to them, your Apple ID will be registered with your device, and FaceTime requests will be delivered through push notification. Simple.

Who knows what’s going to come out of the Cupertino presser tomorrow regarding the iPhone 4 and its Death Grip “issue”. We don’t even know who will be saying yet. However, my guess is that it will be his Steveness and he’ll be saying something along one of these lines.

Gizmodo has put together this helpful graphic, allowing us to easily visualize how much the signal bars have grown between iOS 4.0 and iOS 4.1.

Hey, look at that! They’re way bigger now. That must mean the signal’s better, right? The software fix worked!

I love it: could Apple’s contempt for people “overblowing” the iPhone 4’s reception issues be any more palpable? It’s so sweet and sticky. It should be drizzled over pancakes. “Having reception problems? Here, have some bigger signal bars… not that there’s any problem to begin with, and you’re a moron if you think there is.”

Did the iPhone 4’s slim design trump functionality? That’s the suggestion of a Bloomberg report claiming Apple CEO Steve Jobs overruled the objections of engineer Ruben Caballero about possible reception problems. The report, citing unnamed sources, comes ahead of a Friday news conference Apple has called possibly to address headline-grabbing issues about drop calls.

According to the Thursday report, senior Apple engineer Caballero in 2009 raised the possibility with Apple executives that a Jonathan Ive-design “may cause reception problems.” Just prior to the iPhone 4’s June 24 release, a carrier also raised the same concerns, Bloomberg reports.

After the iPhone 4’s bezel design was picked by Jobs and other Apple execs, Caballero, an antenna expert, told the company leaders it “might lead to dropped calls and presented a serious engineering challenge.” Since its introduction, Apple has tried to fend-off suggestions the design was causing dropped calls due to the way the iPhone was held. Earlier this week, Consumer Reports decided not to recommend the new iPhone based on its own tests confirming the reception issues.

Apple declined any comment on the story.

[9to5Mac and Bloomberg]

Ostrich is a Twitter client made of Safari Extension stuff. You might find it useful if you like to keep an eye on your tweets while you browse the web, and especially if you like to share a lot of URLs via Twitter.

After installing, you need to click the “Sign in with Twitter” link at the bottom of the Ostrich installation instructions page – this will take you to Twitter and let you grant access to the application.

From then on it’s plain sailing. Ostrich lives in your Safari toolbar and can be summoned with a click, no matter where else you are on the web. It has a button to instantly add a link to the current page to new tweets you create.

Not everyone’s cup of tea (I still like YoruFukurou and I’m sticking with it), but might be of interest to some.

Freebie launcher app Alfred will be getting some additional features soon, in the form of a paid “Powerpack” upgrade.

In a blog post today, Alfred’s developers said they were working on a set of extra features that they will sell as bolt-ons to the existing ones.

Although Apple devices, such as the iPhone and iPad are still more than half the web traffic, Google’s Android is coming on strong. According to Internet measurement firm Quantcast, Android devices comprise 21 percent of the web hits it detected. What could be even more troubling for the Cupertino, Calif. handset maker is that Android’s gains are now coming at the expense of the iPhone.

The flurry of iPhone 4 purchases in late June didn’t translate into greater Apple handsets online, Quantcast noted. Akin to a person trading in a car not signalling more autos on the road, “most new iPhones sold were simply replacing earlier models,” the measurement firm announced.

“Big” changes rumored for Apple’s approach to customer service at the retail level are bound to impress legions of the company’s newest consumers while raising the enmity of long-time customers and customer service employees alike.

New guidelines for handling on-site service requests and repair jobs at Apple’s retail stores are coming down the pike, according to a report Wednesday, as well as to communiques rumored to have recently hit Apple’s internal Retail News Network.

The gist of the company line is that walk-in customer service issues will soon be addressed in tandem with those presented by customers already holding scheduled Genius Bar appointments, and that as many repairs as can be done so will be queued for overnight turnaround — all without the hiring of additional staff to meet what is clearly growing retail traffic and demand for service interactions.

Not only will retail staff be expected to possess Genius-level understanding of the product line, they will also exhibit model habits of efficiency and productivity, according to the company’s plan.

Apple has long been a thorn in Microsoft’s side, using the much-maligned Vista to sell Macs. Now, the software giant is pushing back as Apple attempts to respond to the iPhone 4 troubles.

“It looks like the iPhone 4 might be their Vista, and I’m OK with that,” Microsoft Chief Operating Officer Kevin Turner told the software maker’s WorldWide Partners Conference. Apple has scheduled a Friday news conference, an occasion many believe will be used to seriously discuss the iPhone 4’s much-publicized antenna problems.

The comment would have earlier appeared that of a bully pushing the little kids around, but now as the Wall Street Journal writes, “it sounds like a company trying to play catch-up.” Along with Apple, the Microsoft executive also cast aspersions at Google, telling the crowd Microsoft won’t “read your email and invade your privacy. We’re not soliciting vans to drive your neighborhood and spy on you, snoop your WiFi.”

Although Turner admitted developing its Windows phone had “taken too long” – and that smartphones in general was a “lowlight” for Microsoft, the executive promised its unreleased smartphone will put the Redmond, Wash. company “in the game in a big way.”

[Wall Street Journal]

[polldaddy poll=3473621]

Apple has invited a select group of journalists to a press conference about the iPhone 4 on Friday.

The press conference will be held at 10AM at Apple’s Cupertino campus. It will likely address controversy surrounding the device’s antenna performance, which degrades if the phone is held in the so-called death grip.

It’s not clear if Steve Jobs will host the press conference.

No other information about the conference is available. According got Macworld, the invite simply says it’s a “press conference about iPhone 4,” nothing more.

The iPhone 4 Antennagate went into overdrive this week after Consumer Reports tests showed the issue is hardware related, and not a software problem as Apple had claimed earlier this month.

In a statement published on its website, Apple blamed a faulty reception algorithm for displaying incorrect signal strength. The company has promised a software fix.

Given the bad publicity surrounding the device, a voluntary recall is expected.

Macworld: Apple to hold iPhone 4 press conference Friday

As you can see in the above screenshot, Apple has delivered on their improved signal bar graphics. Only time will tell if this is an actual indication of signal strength. Other noticeable changes include a revamp of the Game Center app, the ability to add FaceTime favorites and the Camera app (incl. camera roll) auto-rotating in landscape. More screenshots after the break.

What a surprise: software updates don’t fix problems in hardware.

Check out our video above. An iPhone 4 running the 4.1 beta loses a couple of bars when held in a “death grip.”

Apple iPhone Configuration Utility hits version 3.0. The new version was released today and includes enhanced support for iOS 4 and bug fixes. I highly recommend this often under utilized tool as something to have in your arsenal of tools for advanced iOS troubleshooting.

Earlier today, Apple released an update to iOS 4 and the corresponding SDK to developers, bringing the current version of  both to 4.1 beta. The update follows the release of iOS 4 last month.

There are a plethora of problems being reported about the iPhone 4 and iOS 4 and I hope that this update will address them. I’d particularly like to see fixes for the sensitivity of my proximity sensor and the Jawbone bluetooth connectivity issues reported earlier on Cult of Mac. I’ve personally experienced both of these issues on my iPhone 4.

It will also be interesting to see if this update includes the new signal strength formula or not and what effect if any this will have on the problems reported with the iPhone 4 antenna.

Registered iOS developers can grab a copy of the new beta at developer.apple.com/iphone.

I have not yet heard about any new features in this beta, but these details will likely surface soon. If you find out anything new about this update feel free to tell us all about it in the comments.

This is the app every iPhone sold int he U.S. should come pre-installed with. There are probably good reasons — or maybe bad ones — why it isn’t; but it’s easily available, it’s free and it might just save you some money.

If you’re a kid who grew up in the 80’s or 90’s, you might remember days spent carefully building slot-car tracks that would eventually overrun the entire floor; now all that fun can be had on the iPhone with HTR High Tech Racer — without the annoyance of hunting for slot cars sent unceremoniously hurtling off a sharp corner.

Build tracks, customize tires, chassis and motors, then race the creations. The game claims “realistic physics” and an “intuitive track editor.” And if the lure of racing slot cars on an iPhone isn’t enough, the app’s developer, Graffiti Entertainmant, says they’re also giving away an iPad to the top racer on the app’s race leader board.

HTR High Tech Racing is $2 on the iPhone, $5 for the iPad’s HD version.

TeamViewer released their free app that lets a user remotely control any computer over the Internet (with permission) back in March for the iPhone. Yesterday, they brought out an iPad version.

While it’s a pretty cool app to have sitting around on an iPhone, it practically gains Essential Status on the iPad because of the latter’s much bigger screen, making remote-access sessions much easier than on the iPhone’s tiny screen — not to mention the fact that the iPad is the kind of tool that lends itself to functioning as a remote client.

As with the iPhone version, if you’re using the app in any sort of professional circumstance, TeamViewer ask that you purchase a $100 license.

We start off with Apple’s Back-to-School offer. Buy an iMac, MacBook, MacBook Pro or MacBook Air and get a free 8GB iPod touch. We also have a deal on unibody MacBook Pros, starting at $929 for a 2.26GHz version. Lastly, while the iPhone 4 has gotten much of the attention recently, there are deals to be had on the iPhone 3GS. AT&T is offering a refurbished 16GB iPhone 3GS for $99.

Along the way, we’ll also check out the latest batch of App Store freebies, including the new “Tap Defense,” a tower defense game. As usual, details on these and many other items are available at CoM’s “Daily Deals” page after the jump.

Speculation that Apple may be preparing to build its own mapping application gained strength Wednesday on a report the Cupertino, Calif. company acquired a Canadian online mapping developer. If true, the report could be the latest skirmish between the iPhone maker and Internet giant Google.

French-Canadian news site cyberpresse.ca wrote Wednesday Apple purchased Quebec-based Poly9 and moved employees to Cupertino, Calif. The company’s website is also offline, as well as Poly9’s chief product, Poly9 Globe. The product, which operates in a web browser, lets users find their location on a 3D globe. Websites, including Skype.com reportedly offer the service.

Although there is no official comment by Apple, the Canadian report said Poly9 was “recently” acquired and it Quebec headquarters closed. The company’s customers include Apple, Microsoft, Yahoo, MSNBC and NORAD.

The purchase could be the next step in Apple developing its own mapping application for the iPhone and iPad. In 2009, Apple acquired Placebase, a Google Maps rival, as well as advertising for someone to take iPhone’s Maps “to the next level.”

[AppleInsider]