If you can believe reports from the mainstream media, Apple was poised to announce a software fix for the iPhone 4 antenna problem last week. I’m not referring to a more accurate display of signal strength — meaning fewer bars in many instances — but an actual method to compensate for the effects of using […]

If you accept the conventional wisdom, Consumer Reports is the best product review publication in the U.S. The reason is that it’s run by a non-profit corporation that not only doesn’t accept advertising, but actually purchases the items it tests, most often from regular dealers. In other words, it’s incorruptible. So how can you beat […]

As I speculated in yesterday’s column, the makers of competing smartphones are trying to mirror Adobe’s approach on the Flash controversy with smoke and mirrors responses to Antennagate. Whether HTC, Motorola, Nokia or Samsung, the spin control reads the same, using near-identical talking points playbooks. They know all about antennas, and Apple doesn’t, and is […]

It seems as if Apple can’t escape bad news these days. Most recently, it was all about the alleged antenna shortcomings of the latest and greatest iPhone. If you held it the right way — or the wrong way depending on your half-empty/half-full point of view — sensitivity dropped seriously. Apple’s claim, after a few […]