Tag Archives: reception

Better Cell Phone Towers Kill People (Updated) [Cell Phones]

AT&T's network sucked in 2008, glutted with iPhones and facing the menace of a 3G rollout. So like its competition, it put together a slapdash operation to build towers at any cost. Even a human cost, P...

Elderly Couple Dies After AT&T Drops Nine Calls for Help [Phones]

Madeleine Morris survived Nazi-occupied France, and went on to happily marry a wonderfully trained musician. Then she went on a trip the country, where their car slammed into a ditch. Nine dropped AT&T ...

GSM Galaxy Nexus seeing signal issues after Android 4.0.4 update?

Sometimes, updates aren't as sweet as they initially sound. Such is the case with Android 4.0.4, which recently rolled out to owners of the GSM Galaxy Nexus. According to an increasingly vocal swath of members at xda-developers (and confirmed by a lis...

Apple secures patent on multiple-arm, multiple-frequency antenna design

If not for Leap Day, Apple would've seen this one granted a year to the day after it was filed; as it stands, 365 days will just have to do. At any rate, Apple has not only managed to secure a patent this fine morning for an ejectable SIM tray, but als...

New iPad Wi-Fi issues seem to be software related, should be easy to patch

We mentioned earlier that some new iPad owners were reporting issues with Wi-Fi. The problem seems to affect all models of the new device with both users of the 4G LTE model and the Wi-Fi-only model experiencing poor Wi-Fi reception. Many forum posters compared Wi-Fi reception with their other iOS devices and MacBooks on the [...]

Settlement reached in iPhone 4 ‘Antennagate’ suit

A settlement has been reached in a class-action lawsuit targeting the iPhone 4′s antenna and reception problems, reports CNET. U.S. residents who bought the handset will be offered either $15 or a free bumper case, however the offer is only valid for those individuals who did not take advantage of Apple’s previous offer. The settlement comes from 18 separate lawsuits that were consolidated into one, all claiming that Apple was “misrepresenting and concealing material information in the marketing, advertising, sale, and servicing of its iPhone 4–particularly as it relates to the quality of the mobile phone antenna and reception and related software.” Original buyers will be notified via email before April 30th, or they can visit www.iPhone4Settlement.com, although the site

Verizon confirms Galaxy Nexus ‘signal strength issue,’ says a fix is in the works

Well, there's good news and bad. Per usual, we'll kick it off with the latter. The LTEified version of the Galaxy Nexus has signal problems. Or, more specifically, a "signal strength issue." According to Verizon Wireless' Support account on Twitter,...

Consumer Reports finds iPhone 4S to have worthwhile antennas, says newer iPhone 4 is still problematic

"Consumer Reports recommends the iPhone 4S." It's only half a dozen words, but to the engineers (and marketers) at Apple, it spells "relief." After being profusely impacted by Consumer Reports' decision to recommend against buying the iPhone 4 due t...

Apple patent reveals radically new iPhone antenna window design

A new patent application published by the US Patent & Trademark Office (via Patently Apple) today reveals Apple’s possible plans to radically change the implementation of antennas in future iPhones and other small form factor devices. The majority of the patent describes a new composite material made up of a “foam substrate formed of a [...]

T-Mobile may offer free signal boosters to stop subscribers from fleeing

T-Mobile intends to offer cellular signal boosters to customers looking to switch carriers due to poor reception at home, according to T-Mobile watcher TmoNews. The move appears to be part of a new program intended to slow service quality-related cancellations, which are apparently a significant problem for the nation’s No. 4 carrier. Beginning on September 7th, T-Mobile will seemingly begin offering in-home signal boosters “when a customer triggers for cancellation of service due to poor in-home coverage,” according to a purported leaked internal memo to T-Mobile staff. The memo also warns that signal boosters should never be offered to customers as an incentive when closing a sale. In order to take the signal booster, which will be free of charge,