Skype missing from app store, iOS 4 update later today?

UPDATE It’s back in the store and unfortunately the When Will Skype Release iOS 4 app website is still counting up.

Skype has just disappeared from the app store. Could this mean that new multitasking app will be coming out later today? It’s been 25 days since they said it was coming soon as per our awesome count up site [http://whenwillskypereleaseios4app.com], so it’s not out of the questions!

Although as 9to5Mac suggest, it could be down for a small bugfix update or even due to some legal reason, although the legal issue is highly doubtful).

(via @iPhoneinCanada)

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iOS 4, iPhone, iPhone apps, Speculation

Apple to hold iPhone 4 press conference Friday?

The Loop:

Apple on Wednesday invited select press to a special press conference to be held this Friday in California.

Apple would only say that the press conference would be regarding the iPhone 4. No other information was available when I spoke with them tonight.

I guess they realized their PR statement last week wasn’t good enough. We shall see if they are taking this time to announce a recall or continue denying the issue.

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Antenna Issue, iPhone 4, Speculation

Dr. Macenstein puts the Verizon rumors into perspective

I’d like to thank Dr. Macenstein for putting this great picture collage together. Seeing them all together like this, make me realize why I’m so annoyed by the rumors all the time. Yes, eventually Verizon will get one, but not yet. I explain why I think this here and here.

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Humor, iPhone, Speculation, Verizon

How can a software update fix the iPhone 4 antenna problem? (Updated)

UPDATE The final answer on why some see the drop and some don’t.

Let’s review Apple’s responses to this problem since the launch. First Apple was claming the signal issue was just an incorrect display of the signal bars. I can confirm that it’s not just a display issue, my 3G data speed drops to almost nothing when my signal drops in my left hand.  I guess Apple already moved on from this excuse, because then Steve, via email, said we were all holding our phone wrong and that it happens to all mobile phones. Although this is technically true, I’ve never owned a mobile phone that I could touch in one spot with the tip of my pinky finger and disable the phone’s network connection. I guess Steve finally came around to this realization. In his latest email he said there is no is no signal problem and to “stay tuned”.

At first I doubted it was even possible, but the rumors are building that a software fix is coming…as early as today. Even though hard for me to believe, I guess there is still a chance. They were able to fix the 3G reception issues with a software patch. So what could Apple do via software to fix what seems like a hardware problem? I have 2 3 layman’s guesses, one of which I don’t know is even technically possible, but still worth tossing it out there.

Boost the Signal Power

This may be a good quick fix. When the signal starts to drop due to the hand position, boost the power to overcome the drop. This is what would happen in a weaker 3G area so it might work. Although, if this is a problem of shorting antennas then boosting the power might just boost a crappy signal and not fix the issue.

UPDATE Seems like this could possibly be a fix. Taking a look at a clip from a Nokia manual below (@tj via @MikeTRose) it warns that contacting the antenna may cause the device to operate at a higher power level than otherwise needed and can reduce battery life.

Move the Output Zone on the Antenna

Maybe they could somehow move where the main power output on the antenna comes from. So if your hand is blocking the lower left they could move the output to the lower right which is still part of the GSM antenna.  This would still satisfy the FCC requirement to keep the output signal as far away from the brain as possible. Again, if this is some kind of shorting as some people have speculated, would it matter if it was moved to the right since the short would still exist?

Change new iPhone smart tower/ channel selection

David Pogue:

The new phone is also better at choosing the best channel for connecting with the cell tower, even if’s not technically the strongest one. (Ever had four bars, but a miserable connection? Then you get it.)

This has come up in my testing. I’ve held the phone in my left, watched the signal drop to 1 or 2 bars, and then did a speed test that trumped my best speeds on the 3GS confirming this new update. If only this was always the case…a lot of the time I have 1 bar and can’t even get past the ping test in the Speedtest.net app. Looks the iPhone 4 isn’t falling back to the closest tower even when the signal degrades on the “better connection”. Could this be the fix?

Hopefully we should find out if Apple is able to pull it off later today. Do you guys have any ideas of how this could be done? Crazy ideas like mine or someone that actually knows what they are talking about? If so, leave a comment.

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Antenna Issue, iPhone 4, Software, Speculation

Video: iPhone 4 signal issue and how it varies by network coverage

I first noticed this effect while doing my bumper test yesterday. Basically while in the sweet spot of my house my signal starts and stays at 5 bars even while holding the iPhone 4 in my left hand. When I walk about 10 feet away from this spot my left hand degrades the signal to 1 bar.

Even though this is a very small scale test, just moving from room to room in a house, I believe the same effect is happening on a larger scale. The people that aren’t experiencing the issue get this “sweet spot” everywhere they’ve been with the phone so far. I explained this theory in more detail in my last post on the issue, iPhone 4 left hand signal loss dependant on the quality of your 3G coverage.

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iPhone 4, Speculation

Looks like I was right again…no iPhone 4 coming to Verizon

Droid Life:

And the second part of the meeting (and most important to us) was to announce that they will not be interested in the iPhone 4 (as of now) and are putting full effort behind Android and the new lineup of Droid devices.  From what I’ve gathered, the Droid X promo video that was shown at the launch was played again plus the announcement of an August release of the Droid 2.

They basically called it the “Summer of DROID.”

About a week ago I wrote an article called Economy of Scale, disputing the latest batch of iPhone 4 on Verizon rumors. I’m usually wrong, so I needed to take this opportunity to point out I was right.

(via 9to5Mac)

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iPhone, Speculation, Verizon