Apple has removed videos showing antenna performance issues across a number of rival smart phones from its website, prompting many to wonder why.
The videos, which were revealed after Apple's press conference about the iPhone 4's non-existent reception (or attenuation) issues last month, were created by Apple to take the light off the iPhone 4 troubles and show that all smart phones are affected by antenna issues, with targets including the Blackberry Bold and Droid X.
But (as first spotted by TechCrunch) today they seem to have disappeared, with the files no longer available on Apple's specially-created Antenna page on their website. Instead, users are met with a new page showing images of their state-of-the-art testing facilities and a brief description about their testing program, which could previously be found elsewhere on the Apple site. The exception is Apple Canada, where the old page still lives.
The last video was uploaded just one week ago -- showing the so-called "death grip" at work on the Motorola Droid X -- and you can still find the clips on Apple's official YouTube account, although they are no longer grouped in a featured playlist.
Apple has yet to comment on why the videos have been removed, but it's thought that the threat of legal action by companies whose phones have been demonstrated (including Research in Motion who weren't happy) or the negative backlash from the public could be behind the change.
Comments (71)
ReplyMore apple fail!
Just because they have now taken them down doesn't mean legal won't happen, they've already attempted to tarnish other brands.
Its typical Apple marketing, don't tell us what's good about their products, just tell us why we shouldn't buy other companies products. Mind the apple marketing department are borderline geniuses. Their ability to make out everything on the iPhone is revolution is also beyond belief. Radio / TV / Papers and people all report on the features of every new iPhone as if it's the first phone to do the things they state. The number of times I've seen iPhone multitasking as being revolutionary - sigh.
What the hell are you talking about? Apple tend to point out every single good point they can. They weren't attempting to tarnish other brands, just show that it was an issue the entire smartphone industry has, not just the iPhone 4.
Death Grip is Revolutionary and a First
What the hell are you talking about? Apple tend to point out every single good point they can. They weren't attempting to tarnish other brands, just show that it was an issue the entire smartphone industry has, not just the iPhone 4.
Try telling that to users of these other phones who can not replicate what apple did. Especially in any "normal" holding way
What the hell are you talking about? Apple tend to point out every single good point they can. They weren't attempting to tarnish other brands, just show that it was an issue the entire smartphone industry has, not just the iPhone 4.
LOL your a fool if you seriously believe that! Apple have basically just admitted it is a dodgy faked video. And I'm yet to see this issue on my LG or Nokia phones as many others have already stated.
I hope Motorola sue's them big time
After all isn't that what Apple do and believe in ? protecting their IP
LOL your a fool if you seriously believe that! Apple have basically just admitted it is a dodgy faked video.
How does this prove they admitted anything? The only fool is one who believes this means something significant.
How does this prove they admitted anything? The only fool is one who believes this means something significant.
Maybe not, but only a fool would believe the videos got taken down for no reason.
What the hell are you talking about? Apple tend to point out every single good point they can. They weren't attempting to tarnish other brands, just show that it was an issue the entire smartphone industry has, not just the iPhone 4.
Have you never even seen the MAC vs PC ads?
Have you never even seen the MAC vs PC ads?
+1
Have you never even seen the MAC vs PC ads?
Nice headshot.
What the hell are you talking about? Apple tend to point out every single good point they can. They weren't attempting to tarnish other brands, just show that it was an issue the entire smartphone industry has, not just the iPhone 4.
I hope you are being sarcastic. If not, you need to get a life-lesson in something called "Psychology", because what you said in your comment is pretty infantile and foolish.
hahaha just own up and fix it, more people would be happier about that then you trying to hide you faults... for me they have lost alot of respect as a company, they do make nice products, but im not about to full into there hype market. I have a hackintosh and enjoy there OS very much. When there cost for there systems come down ill look @ buying one.
They've lost almost all respect from me. I will not buy another product based solely on their response to this issue. I don't know if you can really say they make nice products anymore. They've seemed to lose their touch a bit and are slacking in the departments they used to thrive in. It's really sad. I've never been a really big fan but I love and welcome competition. My fear is that this is the beginning of the end for them. I can't see, at least at the moment, them bringing anything else out anytime soon that will bring back the wow. For features and design, it's nice. It's better than any before but with the issues they're having and the way they're approaching it, they're gonna fail. With the hurt from this last release, I don't know if they can release another one and get the big crazy lineups and hype for another. I can see people buying it slowly after release to see if it's really safe and reliable. With Android on a tear and the new WP7 coming soon, I can see them dropping down to third before the holiday season next year.
Must have realised how stupid they were making themselves look. At least they're promoting themselves with the new page. That's the sort of thing you want to see when visiting a companies website.
After all that design, technology and money that went into the facility I like how they simply used a rubber band to secure the phone to the equipment. No special adapter. Just a plain rubber band.
Normal Apple reaction to a iussue:
First: It's not true, you're a liar.
Then: It's not our fault, you're using it in the wrong way/with uncompatible devices (which actually work with any other product).
Finally: It's a problem every other product has.
Say "It's a problem, we'll fix it as soon as possible" seems too hard to be said
First: It's not true, you're a liar.
Then: It's not our fault, you're using it in the wrong way/with uncompatible devices (which actually work with any other product).
Finally: It's a problem every other product has.
Say "It's a problem, we'll fix it as soon as possible" seems too hard to be said
Stop bitching like anyone else. You guys are not interesting anymore, really... If you don't want to use Apple products, don't use them. But who am i kidding? You americans live for technology, not for life.
Suckaz.
Stop bitching like anyone else. You guys are not interesting anymore, really... If you don't want to use Apple products, don't use them. But who am i kidding? You americans live for technology, not for life.
Suckaz.
Wrong...nerds and geeks life for technology and not for life (come on, technology is the best thing on earth).
And Apple bashing is funny (you also do that with MS and Google...for sure)...
Stop bitching like anyone else. You guys are not interesting anymore, really... If you don't want to use Apple products, don't use them. But who am i kidding? You americans live for technology, not for life.
Suckaz.
A commy?
eheh
Anyway, what i've said is the simple truth: every apple defence after a iussue sounds like these.
And am i not able to express my opinion? oh yes you commies always tend to shut other mouths up if they don't think like you do.
Now that several independent, scientific studies have shown that the issue is in fact unique to the iPhone 4 and not at all an industry problem, it's certainly better for them that the videos are gone.
PA Consulting: http://paconsulting.com/our-th...phone-antenna-test-results/
Stiftung Warentest (German): http://www.test.de/themen/comp...esst-Apple-4116516-4116521/
I wonder whether they can be sued for faking those videos and spreading the FUD. Probably not, but they'd deserve it for all their lies.
By the way, this is hilarious: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2fup7fb1qIM
PA Consulting: http://paconsulting.com/our-th...phone-antenna-test-results/
Stiftung Warentest (German): http://www.test.de/themen/comp...esst-Apple-4116516-4116521/
I wonder whether they can be sued for faking those videos and spreading the FUD. Probably not, but they'd deserve it for all their lies.
By the way, this is hilarious: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2fup7fb1qIM
the only thing unique to the iphone is that you can put your finger on one specific spot and kill the reception if your in a less than average area. Griping a phone and killing it's reception is completely normal.
Oh and guys, just for the sake of contradiction, a Norwegian newspaper did a test with the iphone 4 and 3 other phones in one of the worst reception areas of Norway, guess which one they found best? Yup the iphone 4...
Oh and guys, just for the sake of contradiction, a Norwegian newspaper did a test with the iphone 4 and 3 other phones in one of the worst reception areas of Norway, guess which one they found best? Yup the iphone 4...
Unless you hold it the way 90% of users do...
"You were watching wrong videos!"
Haha
I can only assume they came under pressure from the companies they were trying to also include in this debacle. They should never have put them up to be honest!
It wouldn't have been a problem if they hadn't faked the videos.
But other tests have shown that no other phone suffers from similar issues and that Apple's claims were bogus and their videos most likely fake.
But other tests have shown that no other phone suffers from similar issues and that Apple's claims were bogus and their videos most likely fake.
They weren't faked, I've been able to kill the reception of several phones by just griping them slightly harder than normal, if your in a really good area it will be impossible to do but so it is with the iPhone 4 too
No other phone loses as much reception as the iPhone 4, even when you squeeze the hell out of them.
Sure you can drop a bar or two by squeezing your phone. Maybe three if you use both hands. But that doesn't matter, cause nobody does that in normal use.
The iPhone 4 can lose four or five bars when held normally. That's totally different story from what Apple tries to make dumb people believe.
Anyway, those videos were faked.
I agree. It just came across as childish finger-pointing. Competition should strive to create better products, not have "sit down conference" full of excuses and finger-pointing. Lame, Apple.
They weren't faked, I've been able to kill the reception of several phones by just griping them slightly harder than normal, if your in a really good area it will be impossible to do but so it is with the iPhone 4 too
The antenna responds to the amount of shielding not the amount of pressure applied, so that's a BS statement.
Yes you can lower reception on a phone by covering the antenna, "lower" being the operative word, on the iPhone you kill the reception, you don't lower it, you completely kill it, something which they also managed to neglect from their tests (whether or not the reception issues caused the signal to drop completely)
Unforunately i can't speak for the iPhone 4, and i don't intend on buying one, but given the tests out there, the death grip is unique only to the iPhone 4, and what Apple is doing by saying that everyone else in the industry have this issue, is plain and simply, just lying.
Yes you can lower reception on a phone by covering the antenna, "lower" being the operative word, on the iPhone you kill the reception, you don't lower it, you completely kill it, something which they also managed to neglect from their tests (whether or not the reception issues caused the signal to drop completely)
No, it drops the signal by an average of 20 dB. If you have 4-5 bar reception (after the "patch") you have to try very hard to get a deathgrip that will go past 1 bar. Problem is, if you are at 3 bar or lower you can "kill it". There is a video on Engadget that shows an app they made that has the signal strength, and other labs have confirmed this. 20dB loss is not "completely kill it" so long as you have adequate coverage. Thats why some people aren't reporting any problems.
It isn't like iPhone users pick up their phone, and all calls are dropped, no more data is received, and Steve Jobs goes out and kills kittens. Thats just the ongoing FUD that is in the air.
How about doing some research before posting BS?
I'd say an increase in dropped calls of 20-70% is a pretty huge issue.
20-24dBm is more than 99% signal loss and can kill even if you have full five bars in iOS4.0 or four bars in iOS4.0.1.
Everything above one bar should be enough for the user to feel "safe", and with any other phone, it is!
You're dead wrong if you think the media coverage is FUD.
In fact, the ONLY FUD that has been spread came from Apple!
Too many articles have been defending Apple and their bogus claims, instead of telling about the facts, which are the greatly increased call drop rate and that no other phone has any similar issues, because even if you grip them tightly, you can easily place calls at one bar and above, where with the iPhone you definitely drop it by just touching the weak spot, which happens to be the natural way of holding the phone (contrary to 'death-gripping', which nobody does in normal use).
how can 20-24dBm be considered "99% signal loss". A 20-24 dB difference means that the signal degrades A LOT indeed, but it can't be measured in percentage when the signal isnt a 'whole' anyway.
And comparing the bars is pointless, as apparently every manufacturer uses different amount of bars and different algorithms to compute how many to show.
dBm is not a linear unit. 20dBm less equals a power drop of 99%, no matter what value you come from.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DBm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DBm
True. I stand corrected. However I think the range 3G still works is -100 , -50 dBm. My phone reports 4-5 bars above -80dBm.
Where did Apple get $100million dollars to build advanced labs in such a short amount of time? Actually how can an advanced lab be built in a short amount of time just to test the iphone 4?
Apple really needs to stop with their lies.
Apple really needs to stop with their lies.
Apple have more cash in the bank than Microsoft. $100 million in terms of what they bought is trivial.
Apple really needs to stop with their lies.
They've had these labs for a while. They didn't build them just for iPhone 4.
I don't understand how they have a $100 Million lab and still create a phone that can be killed with one finger.
Easily. With Apple, form beats function EVERY time. They'd rather build something that LOOKS good than actually WORKS, because they know a while bunch of saps are going to buy it no matter what.
How come i can't do it with mine?
How come i can't do it with mine?
You're touching it wrong.
/s
The videos are still live on the Apple UK website
http://www.apple.com/uk/antenna/
Nah, people just need to wake up and realize what a crappy company Apple really is.
For once they need to buy something because of it's actual value; not because it appears to be looking good / appears to be great / "everybody else has it"
For once they need to buy something because of it's actual value; not because it appears to be looking good / appears to be great / "everybody else has it"
People like you just need to wake up an realize that unless you touch that spot to intentionally kill it it's one of the best antennas out there when it comes to getting reception (still stupid of them no to insulate it though). And the iPhone 4 has with the small antenna issue been called the best smartphone available many times in reviews and there is a reason for it...
I love when people blindly defend a defective product.
you indeed forgot the bold part.
That's fanboys for you, even if it didn't turn on they'd be like 'omg this thing is so slim I love it!!'
Umm, almost everyone holds the phone like that once in a while. I was just holding my TP2 lefty (even though I'm righty) while browsing Neowin. With an iPhone 4, I wouldn't be browsing anymore, my signal would be gone. And you say that's not a major problem? Really?
Wake the **** up.
Dunno what all the fuss is about with the antenna. Mine works fine
- but then again im not locked to a crappy US network 
Seems that way here as well.. No one is having any issues in Canada from what other sites have reported.. Even touching the band, most are reporting a 1 bar drop at the most..
Cool Lab pics Apple .... too bad people don't ever use phones in enviroments like that. Next time you want to test a phone, come to my house where my ****ty iPhone 3G drops calls all the time. I never had that problem with the 10 cellphones I had prior to buying an iPhone! There's some real world testing for free.
Apple is handling this probrem "the wrong way"
Maybe the videos were removed because the other phones weren't dropping calls, unlike the iPhone 4?
Apple, the one company that prides itself on design prowess just can't admit when they've got it wrong.
Delusions of Grandeur kind of fade away when reality smacks you in the ass.Welcome to the real world Apple.
When did humanity disregard integrity. I will never purchase a product from a company like apple and shame on all of you people who preach about looking after poor kids and less fortunate individuals yet you are willing to spend the price of two equally powered pcs for 1 pretty device. Funny thing is too, most apple fans are liberals who claim to care and are not religious yet follow a religion. PS i am personally an athiest but not a liberal.
They need the help of Protoss Shields!
I guess the RDF is powered by an iPhone and when they made the switch to the iPhone 4, the RDF collapsed, because of the antenna issues.
oh they removed the vids? too bad apple, once on the internet stays on the internet- forever! goodluck with that.
"You're not watching the videos the right way"
This is now a dead issue. Apple fans get over yourselves, and Apple haters please do the same thing.
If only it was, but Apple would rather continue digging itself deeper and deeper into the hole it dug.
just who in the hell made you boss lol .... apple = failboat
Probably the biggest PR fail of Apple's era...save for the Newton (released before the public figured out what a PDA was good for).
Had Apple said, yep, we've got a bug, we'll fix it, then they wouldn't be trying to say that everyone has this problem (my HTC Touch Pro 2 doesn't). I guess they were worried about a ton of lawsuits, which will come anyway.
Epic fail on Apple's part, and their consumers (fanboys) who put up with overpriced stuff that doesn't work.
apple says that all the other smartphones have the issue as well but yet only the iphone is screwing up so WTG apple fail you just failed more, instead of trying to make yourselves look good and trying to sidestep the issues you got you should focus on stop failing at things and claim this and that and actualy be something decent but with steve fail jobs around that ain't gonna happen and apple you need to stop your friggin lies and start being honest and drop your prices to more resonable rates and drop your bloody restrictions as your worse than ms is now. keep digging that hole as i will be at the top watching you whither into nothing.
Honestly, some of you need to mature up and stop taking advantage of this so called Antennagate debacle to bash Apple. I lined up and picked up an iPhone 4 in Canada 2 days ago, and I am on Rogers Wireless. I've yet been able to replicate this Antenna issue with full reception.
The only time I have been able to completely kill the phone's signal is by holding it tightly when there are 2 bars remaining in one area of my house.
Clearly, whatever carriers these certain countries are experiencing this problem in have no tuned their networks properly and Apple needs to put some accountability on their partners for operating such ****ty networks.
Also, I am coming from a BlackBerry 9700 and I've experienced the same signal strength in that area of my house with that phone and have had dropped calls depending on how I hold my phone...I've had the following phones before my iPhone 4. BlackBerry 9000 --> iPhone 3G --> iPhone 3GS --> BlackBerry 9700 --> SE X10 (Briefly), so don't come and call me an Apple sheep because I try every smart phone that I can get a chance to try out and I am not bias in any way as I worked in Wireless for 2 years and have tried numerous devices, the ones I listed above were just the past year.
I'm quite a big hater of Apple in general, however I've alwasys secretly wanted an iPhone, so I got one just last week. I have not been able to kill a phone call as of yet, although yes I can get the bars to go down. It usually only sits around 3/5 on the best of times.
My last mobile was a SE W995, which usually say on 5/5 but I could get that down to 2 or 3 by gripping the bottom of the phone. I have no problems with my iPhone at all... internet access is super fast. I'm in the UK btw...
They shouldn't have put them up in the first place. Low thing to do.