Hasta La Gadget!

Okay, so you’re starting to come down from your post-purchase iPhone 4 gadget high and you’re getting into the habit of using it just like you would any other phone. FaceTime was a neat trick on day one, sure — but if there’s a single thing significantly limiting its day-to-day usefulness, it’s the fact that you can only use it over WiFi at the moment. Apple claims that they’ve got more work to do with carriers to make it usable over cellular, but how legit is that claim?

Seeing how MiFis and other mobile hotspot devices have quickly become a staple of doing business for us, we had a few lying around and figured we’d give it a shot: connect the phone to the MiFi, connect the MiFi to the 3G network, and give FaceTime a whirl. Our first attempt — a call between Chris in the US with a Verizon MiFi and Richard in the UK — failed pretty miserably (unlike our transatlantic Fring call), but a second call entirely within the UK using a 3-branded MiFi from Huawei worked quite well, as did a US-to-US Verizon call between Chris and Ross. In other words, it’s definitely possible, but you might not get as flawless of an experience as you’ll get with a nice, fat landline data connection backing you up. Follow the break for all three videos.

Continue reading iPhone 4 FaceTime over a MiFi connection: because we had to try

iPhone 4 FaceTime over a MiFi connection: because we had to try originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 25 Jun 2010 20:49:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Hoo boy. This is a tough one, isn’t it? In our years at Engadget, we’ve rarely seen such deafening debate and adulation for a pair of devices. In one corner we have the iPhone 4, coming off a few relatively easy rounds atop the smartphone mind share heap. However, the Droid and its ilk have weakened Apple’s spot, and here comes the HTC EVO 4G in for the kill, sporting a larger screen, 4G data, and all manner of HTC sexy. If the devices themselves weren’t enough, the debate has turned into something larger and metaphorical, with Apple representing tight restrictions and a singular top down vision, while Google’s Android stands for something perhaps a bit more haphazard but democratizing. The gloves come off after the break.

Continue reading iPhone 4 or EVO 4G: which one should you get?

iPhone 4 or EVO 4G: which one should you get? originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 25 Jun 2010 16:11:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Continue reading iPhone 4 and TomTom Car Kit brought together with velcro

iPhone 4 and TomTom Car Kit brought together with velcro originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 25 Jun 2010 14:40:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Continue reading The iPhone 4: it blends

The iPhone 4: it blends originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 25 Jun 2010 13:47:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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There’s an old joke about a man who visits a doctor, complaining that his arm hurts whenever he moves it a certain way. The doctor’s response? “Stop moving it that way.”

That pretty much sums up Apple’s response to the people who have complained that holding the iPhone 4 in their left hand can cause signal strength to fall, dropping calls and reducing bandwidth. For these people — over 40 of whom have contacted Wired.com — touching the lower left corner of the iPhone’s metal band is the source of the problem.

Here’s Apple’s official response to the problem:

Gripping any phone will result in some attenuation of its antenna performance with certain places being worse than others depending on the placement of the antennas. This is a fact of life for every wireless phone. If you ever experience this on your Phone 4, avoid gripping it in the lower left corner in a way that covers both sides of the black strip in the metal band, or simply use one of many available cases.

Despite numerous reports from Wired.com readers, we have been trying to replicate the problem without success. According to Wired.com writer Brian X. Chen, if he grips the iPhone 4 firmly in his left hand while downloading a web page, one or two bars disappear from the signal strength indicator. I haven’t been able to reproduce the problem at all.

Sascha Segan on Gearlog.com said he was able to reproduce the problem using what he calls a “death grip,” holding it “in a slightly sweaty left hand, with my fingers covering the three black lines on the phone’s edge and the bottom left corner in my palm.” In that grip, he guesses, signal strength drops by about 3 to 5 dBm.

Solution: Don’t hold your phone in a death grip, especially if you’re left-handed and inclined to have sweaty palms.

And if you’re one of the people who sees this problem even when holding the phone gently, put your iPhone 4 in a protective case — or add a strip of black electrical tape to the lower left edge. Both break the electrical contact between the phone’s antenna and your skin, and prevent the signal-loss from happening.

Photo courtesy Thomas Barnes

See Also:

• First iPhone 4 Reviews Mostly Sing Its Praises
• IPhone 4 Loses Reception When Antenna Band Is Touched
• iPhone 4 Torn Down and Tested: Slower Than iPad, Faster Than 3G …
• Apple's iPhone 4 Launch Draws Huge Crowds Worldwide