Over the past few days, we’ve written a lot about the iPhone 4. But for every story we wrote, there was another story we didn’t get to write. Here are those stories, in brief:
iPhone 4 Gets Telstra’s Blue Tick approval with a bumper
Given the Antennagate issue, it was a bit of a surprise to hear that the iPhone 4 has actually been given Telstra’s Blue Tick approval for use in rural Australia… with the use of a bumper.
Some iPhone 4 users are having problems porting their number across carriers
It’s on Twitter and the MacTalk forums, but some users moving from Optus to Telstra are suffering delays. That sucks.
All carriers have 12 month contracts
APCMag had the story about Telstra’s 12 month contracts yesterday, but we’ve had confirmation from tipster Aman that Voda and Three are selling the phone on a 12 month contract as well (he grabbed it on the $49 cap + $45 for the phone). Optus also has 12 month options.
Telstra Offering Bonus Gig On Business iPhone Plans
Buy an iPhone 4 on a Telstra business plan before the end of August and you’ll get an extra gig each month for the life of the contract. Data for the win.
Optus expecting a four-week delay on iPhone delivery
If you didn’t queue up last night and you want an iPhone 4 from Optus, you might be in for a wait. Optus have tweeted that they’re predicting a four-week wait for online and rainchecked iPhone orders. Ouch!
SmirkAbout have iPhone 4 skins
The Aussie guys behind SmirkAbout – who make some awesome vinyl skins for a whole range of gadgets – have announced they’ve already got skins for the new version of the iPhone.
What About Antennagate
It’s interesting to see that for the most part, few people in Australia seem to have been able to replicate the antenna reception issue found in the US. Does that mean Apple’s fixed the problem? Does it mean that it was mostly an AT&T issue? Does it mean that Australian hands aren’t as dense as Americans? Who knows, but in the early stages of people owning the iPhone 4 in Australia, it doesn’t seem to be such an issue…
Nicholas
July 30, 2010 at 5:59 PM
Wow on the antenna issue…
When considering an iPhone, my issues were Telstra’s data offers, and the antenna problem. Both of these are (seemingly) rectified within a few days… I really have no excuse now.
Report Permalinkrichard
July 30, 2010 at 6:22 PM
i have the new iphone 4 on telstra and all i can say is antennagate does not exist on my handset. i have had full bars all day wherever i go and i have tried everything to replicate this issue of bars dropping but gladly can say its not a prob for me. cheers to apple. maybe they fixed the issue or perhaps telstras network is so great that it makes no diff!!
Report Permalinkyee–haa!! :)))))
lolitajayne
July 30, 2010 at 6:46 PM
Well how about the camera issues?? I got my iphone 4 today and went to use the camera and it froze on the shutter view. After heading straight to google i found that i am not the only one who has had this problem. I have tried every solution on the net and to no avail. Apparently the only solution is to go to apple and get a new iphone. must say i am less than impressed considering i had never heard of this issue before. As for the reception, mine is fine and i have no problems at all. I have a appt with apple tomorrow but am guessing the likely hood of me getting a new iphone 4 with no camera problem is pretty small. *sigh*
Report PermalinkWil
July 30, 2010 at 6:59 PM
Well i hate to tell you, but i am definitely experiencing this Antennagate issue.
At home and at work, the death-grip works every time!! POS.
Not too happy about it. And the bumper case that they’re giving out to people (not the Apple original) is also crap.
Gotta need to look for a better case. Any suggestions?
Report PermalinkMaz
July 31, 2010 at 10:51 AM
Dude! Sorry to hear yr not happy with yr iphone 4.
Question?? curious to know wot network yr on ??
M
Report Permalinkunknown
August 2, 2010 at 10:36 AM
check out the case program from iphone
Report PermalinkArtWest
July 30, 2010 at 7:06 PM
I replicated the antenna issue on an instore model today, sadly i missed out on one for myself.
Report PermalinkCaptain Mal
July 30, 2010 at 8:12 PM
having got my iphone 4, the signal goes up when you GRIP it… so take that all you idiots who said this was broken!
This phone totally rocks, and in areas I had 1 or 2 bars with iphone 3G, I know have 4-5, and I dont even use a bumper!
Report PermalinkParker
July 30, 2010 at 10:38 PM
I can replicate antennagate to drop bars but not to ‘no service’ or even to lose 3G, even then only when it’s out of it’s case.
so for metropolitan areas and carriers that you can actually make calls on, it’s a non-issue.
Report PermalinkAdam K
July 31, 2010 at 1:32 AM
Where the hell are our free bumpers?!
Report PermalinkAido
July 31, 2010 at 2:47 AM
Got the iphone 4 this morning from Optus and I’ve been trying all day to replicate the antenna issue with no joy, although there seem to be a lot of random dead spots around a few places I’ve visited in Perth today but none had anything to do with holding the phone..
Report PermalinkThis is the first iphone I’ve had and all in all I’m really quite happy.. and addicted to Fruit Ninja..
Kevin Russell
July 31, 2010 at 3:16 AM
Yay for functional antenna, I’ll be watching keenly as I have reception currently and I’d feel much more comfortable going for the iphone 4 if I knew this wasn’t an issue.
Report PermalinkSteve M.
July 30, 2010 at 6:15 PM
I can replicate the issue if I try, but it doesn’t happen when I hold the phone as I naturally do with either hand. When it does happen, the phone loses two bars. Sometimes it happens fairly quickly, sometimes it takes at least a minute to lose both.
Based on how I hold the phone and how I see others holding phones, I really don’t think it’s something that should happen often in normal usage, and if it does happen it’s not going to make you actually lose signal altogether unless you already have patchy reception.
Short version: Yes, you can drop two bars of reception by holding the phone a certain way… but in my opinion, that way is not a particularly natural or even comfortable way of holding the phone.
Report PermalinkNicholas
July 30, 2010 at 7:07 PM
Wondering how you posted… tomorrow. It’s still the 30th (everywhere) isn’t it?
Report PermalinkQuinn
July 31, 2010 at 3:41 AM
hey guys, any of u expriencing YELLOW spots / DISCOLORATION on the screen????
Report PermalinkSteven Basford
July 31, 2010 at 10:48 AM
I tried to make the bars disappear in store but it wouldn’t work… I wonder what makes some models fail and others not?!
Report PermalinkTee C
July 31, 2010 at 12:49 PM
My issue is with the Telstra service. This should be raised with the ACCC
I bought the phone outright (no contract, no plan) from Telstra and Telstra had to reissue my number to a new microSIM. This still hasn’t happened and it’s now 30 hours later. I have a wonderful looking $1008 iPod though.
Telstra (and other carriers) need to accept responsibility for this and offer credit for the customers they have put out.
Report PermalinkRich
July 31, 2010 at 2:25 PM
I can sometimes cause reception to drop a couple of bars by using the “death grip” without the (cheap, non-Apple) free bumper on, and as Captain Mal mentions I have even had occasions where reception has seemingly increased with the grip…. strange!
Generally though, my reception is much better with the iPhone 4 than I had on either the 3G or 3GS, and testing with the Speedtest app shows I’m getting faster download speeds than my 3GS, so I’m happy.
Nope, no yellow spots or discolouration for me.
Report Permalinklolitajayne
July 31, 2010 at 2:52 PM
just updating on my first comment – Went to apple store today and was issued with a new iphone 4. They hadnt heard of the camera issue but could plainly see the camera was faulty. If ur interested just google “iphone 4 camera not working” and you can see this is not an isolated issue. If this happens to you dont bother trying any of the solutions, just take straight to apple and get a new one. Its the hardware for sure =)
As for antennagate…pfft wat a load of rubbish! Mine is fine and the genius i saw today even mentioned that if he holds his in “death grip” his reception increases 1 or 2 bars.
Hope everyone is enjoying their little slice of Apple =)
Report PermalinkHeath
August 1, 2010 at 5:33 PM
Ordered mine online from Optus, around 1:15am, the 32gb’s were on “back order” by that stage, yet my phone is due for delivery tomorrow (2nd August). Maybe I’m lucky, or maybe the Optus order tracker is telling lies, but I hope it’s the former!
Report PermalinkAndrew
August 1, 2010 at 7:30 PM
I’m a recent convert to Telstra, have previously been on Optus and Three. Have owned an iPhone since it originally came out, obtained the 2G via eBay. I’ve never thought about joining to Telstra because of the cost of plans and lack of value. Well as a new user of Telstra I must say that I get full bars and 3G everywhere! I’ve tried to see if I lose reception in the deep dark recesses of where I work and I don’t, its AMAZING! 3G has never been faster and I have done side by side comparisons with a mate’s iphone 4 with Optus, geez I feel sorry for him as his 3G is markedly slow in comparison. I have not got any issues with the antenna, proximity sensor or discolouration or white dots on the screen. All in all, Telstra and the iPhone are the perfect match!
Report PermalinkGavin
August 2, 2010 at 3:03 PM
Got the phone on friday morning, love it, compared to my first gen iphone, and 3G, its so fast and responsive. Video and camera is great, really nice quality video.
I love the aesthetic of it too, feels really solid in the hand, I wasnt a fan of the plastic backed 3g and 3gs, the first gen felt much nicer build quality, but this is a level higher again.
Only downside is im still waiting to be ported from Optus to Telstra!, im told that there is thousands waiting to switch to telstra, massive backlog of manual processing.
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