Free iPhone 4 Cases to Cost Apple $175 Million

Apple’s solution to Antennagate — free cases — is likely going to cost the company $175 million in revenue.
Apple posted record earnings this quarter. However, its recent success has been marred by controversy over the iPhone 4’s reception issues, specifically how holding it by its lower-right side can decrease reception.
Apple held a press conference last week to address the issue. Its solution to the problem: free cases for all.
Cases don’t grow on trees, though. During today’s Q3 earnings conference call, Apple revealed that it predicts that the free iPhone 4 cases and bumpers will result in $175 million in deferred revenue. It hits Apple’s books as a liability — essentially a debt or a negative balance on the bottom line. Apple says that it will expense the cost of the cases, which will help mitigate the overall cost on the bottom line.
In other words, Apple is accounting for $175 million in lost revenue on its Q4 balance sheet, all due to free bumpers and cases.
While no company wants to lose out on $175 million in revenue, the alternative — reduced iPhone 4 sales due to Antennagate — was far less palatable. And it’s important to note that this is just Apple’s cost estimate — the actual number could end up being more or less than $175 million, depending on iPhone 4 sales and how many customers take advantage of the free case offer.
Still, it looks like Antennagate will be just a drop in the bucket for a company that made $15.7 billion last quarter alone.

Bandage iPhone 4 Reception Issues with Antenn-aid [PIC]

On Friday, Steve Jobs announced that part of Apple’s response to the whole iPhone 4 antenna problem would be to offer free cases for all iPhone 4 owners. However, if you don’t like the idea of having your beautiful phone marred by a bumper or other case, consider this adorable (and inexpensive) option to masking tape or silicon: the Antenn-aid.
Antenn-aids are described by the seller as “custom vinyl sitcker[s] for your iPhone 4.” The Band-Aid for your iDevice is designed to be placed over the lower left corner of the antenna. And while the seller takes great pains to ensure that buyers understand that the Antenna-aid is for entertainment purposes only, chances are, the solution will work at least as well as tape or another type of protective covering.

The bandages are being sold in packs of six for $4.99. Each Antenna-aid is a different color so you can color-coordinate.
How useful (or not) the decals actually are is kind of irrelevant. We’re just really taken by the ingenuity and creativity of such a creation. As much as I love my iPhone 4, I still find the idea of having to have a bandage for the device just to make a phone call (assuming you hold your phone while touching the problem areas) absolutely hysterical.

Inside Apple’s Antenna Design Lab

After a press conference Friday addressing the iPhone 4’s antenna, Apple gave journalists a private tour of its radio-frequency test facility to provide a glimpse into the process of designing wireless products such as iPhones and iPads.

Apple’s iPhone 4 Strategy: Free Cases for All

At its press conference to address the iPhone 4 reception issues, Apple laid out its response plan.
The first part of the strategy was the press conference itself. Apple has acknowledged that there is a problem and that it is committed to making its customers happy. Although the data shows that the rate of dropped calls on the iPhone 4 are higher than on the iPhone 3GS, the increase in dropped calls is less than 1 per 100 calls.

Apple made it clear that it is committed to making its customers happy and providing the best products it can offer. With regards to the iPhone 4, this is what the company said it was going to do:

• Release a Software Update to Better Report Cellular Signal — This was actually included in yesterday’s iOS update 4.0.1. The software fix does not actually improve call reception, however. Instead, it adjusts the algorithm to better report the actual signal. That should make the drop in bars when gripping a caseless iPhone appear less significant (even though the end result is exactly the same).
• All iPhone 4 Owners Get a Free Bumper or a Refund for Their Existing Bumper — Apple believes that part of the reason that the dropped call ratio has increased (however slightly) is because fewer users have cases for their new iPhone 4. With the iPhone 3GS, the iPhone form factor didn’t change, which meant that not only did more existing users already have a case, but more cases were available at launch. That didn’t happen with the iPhone 4, and so Apple is going to give all iPhone 4 users who purchase the phone from launch date through September 30 a a free bumper or a refund on their existing bumper. Additionally, because Apple can’t make enough bumpers to satisfy demand, customers can choose another third-party case as well. The company says it will have a form on its website late next week that customers can fill out to request their new bumper or to get a refund on their existing bumper.

• Unsatisfied Customers Get a Full Refund — If the new case or bumper still doesn’t solve the problem, Apple will provide a complete refund to the iPhone 4 owner. Presumably you can also just exchange your iPhone 4 for another unit.

First iAd Campaigns Come To iPhone

With Apple launching its new iAd network last week, and the first few advertising campaigns using iAd popping up, it is time to have a look at whether these campaigns are delivering on the anticipation.

The new service has received a lot of media attention and has been predicted to be a big hit. According to Apple CEO Steve Jobs, Apple has developed iAd to “help developers make money through advertising so they can keep their free apps free.”
Some of the key features of iAD include:

• iAd will allow advertisers to deliver interactive ads to consumers without them leaving the original app
• easy to implement, as it is built into the iPhone OS
• very interactive, providing full access to all the special features of iPhone prouducts

Apple Goes on the Offensive

CUPERTINO, Calif. — Many expected a mea culpa from Steven P. Jobs, Apple’s chief executive. Instead, he turned the iPhone 4’s antenna problems into a marketing event on Friday.

Raymond M. Jones/The New York Times

The so-called iPhone “death grip.”

At a news conference at Apple’s headquarters here, Mr. Jobs acknowledged that there were issues with the antenna, which wraps around the outside of the device.
But he insisted that the problems, which can result in dropped calls when the device is held a certain way, affect all smartphones — a claim that was challenged by some Apple competitors. And he accused the news media of exaggerating the scope of the issue, saying customers and reviewers were thrilled with the new phone.
“This has been blown so out of proportion that it is incredible,” he said.
Mr. Jobs said that to put the controversy behind it, Apple would give free bumpers — cases that wrap around the rim of the phone and seem to reduce the problem of dropped calls — to all iPhone 4 buyers who want them.

Lab Tests of iPhone 4 Confirm Reports: It’s the Antenna, Stupid

File this under “we told you so.”

Lab tests by Consumer Reports have confirmed what Wired and its readers have been telling you all along: The problem with the iPhone 4’s reception has nothing to do with how the signal-strength bars are represented, and everything to do with the phone’s faulty antenna design.

Consumer Reports took three separate iPhone 4s into the controlled environment of their radio frequency-insulated testing chamber. That room is insulated from all outside RF signals, so there’s nothing to interfer with the tests. Once inside the chamber, the testers set each iPhone to connect with a base station emulator — a piece of testing equipment that acts like one of AT&T’s cellphone towers. They then tested the iPhones’ ability to connect when held various ways.

10 Fascinating Facts You Didn’t Know About Apple

It can be argued that no consumer electronics company has captured the public’s fascination the way Apple has. Over the years it has morphed into more than just a company or corporation, but for many it has become a representation of a lifestyle or culture, and a status symbol complete with a larger fan base than most pop stars.
Here at Mashable (), we’re also quite fascinated by Apple and its achievements. The company is known just as much for its veil of secrecy and ability to get the Internet () buzzing with rumors, as it is for the actual products. You’re probably in on the gossip, but there are likely a few things you don’t know about Apple.
So read on for the origins of product names, factoids about the Apple logo, what Wozniak sold to finance the Apple I, and more wonders dug up from the archives of Apple’s past.

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1. The First Apple Logo Featured Isaac Newton

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Although the now-retro rainbow logo is arguably Apple’s most well known, the very first Apple logo featured Sir Isaac Newton sitting under a tree, with an apple about to hit his head. (Legend has it that he was literally hit on the head with an apple and that led to the concept of gravity.)
The Newton logo was designed by the lesser-known Apple founder Ronald Wayne (the guy who sold his stake — that today would be worth $22 billion — to Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak for $800 – ouch!) and was only used briefly in 1976, since its high level of detail didn’t really show up that well when shrunk down and stuck on a product.
The rainbow apple, designed by Ron Janoff, replaced Sir Isaac and remained the symbol of the company for many years until the simpler monochromatic apple logo was introduced in 1998.

Top 10 Geekiest Marriage Proposals

Will everyone please rise for the bride and geek! Here at Mashable, we enjoy a good wedding, but we also enjoy a good proposal too — especially if the happy couple show their love in the geekiest of ways.
We’ve scoured the Internet () for the finest examples we could find of the geeky marriage proposal; and they involve video games, gadgets and even Google Street View.
Take a look at our collection of super-cool geeks who made that extra effort to incorporate their passion for tech and online life into securing the all-important “yes” from the person they love. Be sure to let us know your favorites in the comments below.

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1. Super Mario

This sweet geek used FuSoYa’s Lunar Magic Super Mario hack to pose a proposal to his girlfriend spelling out “Lisa… will you marry me?” in gold coins. That’s one way to get the princess!

There’s No iPhone 4 Recall, No Matter What Twitter Says

There’s No iPhone 4 Recall, No Matter What Twitter Says

The Daily Mail reported this morning than an iPhone 4 recall is underway, but don’t believe it; the UK publication’s source was a tweet from a fake Steve Jobs Twitter account. Apple hasn’t announced any plans to recall its new phone.