我用iPhone 3G的时候的确总觉得不对，但谁敢随便怀疑苹果啊 苹果就iPhone 4手机的信号问题再次道歉。这是最近3周内苹果第三次公开向iPhone用户道歉。 苹果说手机的信号计算／显示问题从2007年就开始了。 “经过调查，我们吃惊地发现我们计算显示信号格数的代码完全是错误的。”苹果在上周五的一封公开信里说。 自从六月24日iPhone4开始销售以来，顾客们抱怨如何用手拿iPhone会显著地影响信号质量。 苹果起初辩解说，所有的手机当被拿在手里的时候都会损失一格的信号。 但苹果承认对iPhone4的投诉远远大于这个正常的衰减。 http://www.smh.com.au/digital-li ... -20100705-zwbe.html Apple has come clean about an embarrassing software glitch that overstates network signal strength in its hot-selling iPhone, as complaints mounted about the phone's wraparound antenna. Apple admitted its signal strength miscalculation dates back to its original 2007 iPhone. It promised to fix the glitch in a few weeks, but did not directly address concerns that its antenna design caused reception problems for iPhone 4, its newest phone. Apple's apology - a relative rarity from the company known for its marketing savvy - marked the third time in less than three weeks it had to apologise to customers of iPhone 4. Apple CEO Steve Jobs poses with the new iPhone 4 during the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco. Photo: Reuters "Upon investigation, we were stunned to find that the formula we use to calculate how many bars of signal strength to display is totally wrong," Apple said in an open letter to customers, published on Friday. Since the iPhone 4 hit stores on June 24, consumers have complained about phone reception problems when they hold the phone in a certain way. Even while just standing in one place, a rapid decline in the number of signal bars can be observed, depending on how the phone is gripped. Apple has already been sued by iPhone customers in at least three complaints related to antenna problems on the iPhone 4. Rival Motorola has made a thinly veiled dig at the iPhone's problems. In ads for its Droid X phone, Motorola promised users can "hold the phone any way they like". Apple said that "gripping almost any mobile phone in certain ways will reduce its reception by 1 or more bars". It said this problem was not limited to iPhone, but also plagued phones from Nokia and Research In Motion, as well as phones with Google Android software. But Apple conceded iPhone 4 consumers complained of a far bigger than normal drop in signal bars. The iPhone 4's antenna is an unusual design in that it circles the entire perimeter of the device. Phone makers typically try to place the antenna in places the user is less likely to touch when making a call to avoid degrading reception by absorbing electromagnetic waves that carry phone calls. But with iPhone 4, unless an insulating cover is put around the antenna, the design seems to make it difficult to avoid touching it, analysts say. Kenneth Dulaney, a long-time mobile phone analyst suggested that Apple's notoriously strict control of information before its product launches might have hurt the ability of its engineers to test the device in as many situations as possible. "It could be that some of Apple's secrecy could be reducing the number of test cases they expose the device to, therefore some of these problems show," Dulaney said. As a result of user complaints, Apple said it would update its software in coming weeks using a formula recommended by AT&T, the exclusive US provider for iPhone. This should give users a more accurate display of signal strength at any given time, the company said. Apple said that, when users noticed a dramatic drop in the number of signal strength bars on their phones' display, it was most likely due to weak network coverage in that area. "Users observing a drop of several bars when they grip their iPhone in a certain way are most likely in an area with very weak signal strength, but they don't know it because we are erroneously displaying 4 or 5 bars," Apple said. AT&T deferred questions about the letter to Apple. It declined to comment on any implication that its network performance, which has faced a lot of criticism, could be even worse than users thought. Apple has already apologised for website delays when it started online iPhone 4 pre-orders on June 15. It then apologised for store shortages after the device hit shelves. Despite the complaints Apple says iPhone 4 is its most successful phone launch ever, with sales of 1.7 million by the end of June 26. Apple analysts said the popularity of the record-selling device will most likely not be hurt by the technology problem. "The demand is so far past what they're able to supply right now, the impact would have to be massive to hurt sales numbers," said Pacific Crest analyst Andy Hargreaves, who does not see consumers being upset enough about the phone's problems to decide against buying the device. Another analyst, Ashok Kumar of Rodman & Renshaw, said consumers might be forgiving since Apple was "pushing the technology envelope" with a new antenna design. |
