Swedish Magazine Blames Faulty iPhone Hardware

Sweden’s leading engineering publication reported Wednesday that broadband connectivity issues with some of the new Apple iPhones are likely the result of a hardware problem introduced during mass production of the device.

Ny Teknik, a weekly publication, said they had obtained a report about test results that showed some iPhones had sensitivity levels to third-generation (3G) network signals that were far less than those called for in the 3G standard.

3G networks allow for faster Web surfing on mobile phone browsers, and make high-bandwidth applications like video calling possible. 3G standards, set and maintained by the Geneva-based International Telecommunication Union (ITU), include the engineering and technical specifications that 3G phones must meet.

According to the report, the likely cause of the 3G iPhone’s problems is faulty adjustments between the handset’s antenna and an amplifier that receives very weak signals from the antenna. Such a defect could result in inadequate 3G connectivity and slower data speeds.

The iPhone 3G, which became available July 11 in the United States and 21 other countries, was intended to provide higher-speed Web browsing than the initial year-old model. Since its launch, the company’s message boards have been inundated with complaints of dropped calls and poor connectivity. Some users in Canada, the U.S., Japan, Britain and other countries reported connectivity problems with their 3G iPhone in locations where 3G phones from other manufacturers did not experience such issues.

According to a Reuters report, Natalie Kerris, an Apple spokeswoman, declined to comment on whether the problem was in the iPhone's hardware or software, or an issue with the carriers' 3G networks.

AT&T Inc. is currently the only wireless provider in the U.S. to sell the iPhone. Mark Siegel, a spokesman for AT&T's wireless unit, told Reuters the company had not received a substantial number of complaints.

"Overall, the new iPhone is performing just great on our 3G network."

Siegel advised 3G iPhone users to frequently sync their phones with Apple's iTunes to receive the most up to date software and any potential improvements.

The iPhone’s connectivity problem is not the only issue with the 3G iPhone.
Just hours before the new phones went on sale, users of the older data-synching service were locked out of their accounts as Apple scrambled to get the new version, MobileMe, up and going.

On the day of the launch, the company’s servers choked as buyers attempted in-store activations of their iPhones while owners of older iPhones and the iPod Touch reactivated and updated their devices from home.

Francis Sideco, a senior analyst for El Segundo, Calif.-based research group iSuppli Corp., told Reuters the connectivity issues described by users, in particular the number of dropped calls and the low number of bars shown on the handset display, could be caused by a variety of components. These could include the antenna, amplifier, radio frequency transceiver or the baseband that processes signals and sends them to the screen or speaker. Such a problem could cause the phone to sense inadequate signal strength to keep a call connected, prompting it to display too few bars, Sideco said.

Parts from different manufacturers also vary in their ability to receive 3G signals, he said. This would support claims by users that side by side comparisons of iPhones to those made by other manufacturers displayed a different number of bars.

Ny Teknik's report indicated the fault was introduced during mass production. Cell phone chips, or the phones themselves, undergo a testing and certification process before reaching consumers, but only a small fraction of the chips or handsets are tested, Sideco said.

"We've seen this in the past before, in Motorola's Razr line. It was a very big seller, but the first version of that phone had RF (radio frequency) problems. They had to recall it, fix it, (and) put it back out there," he said, adding that such a problem could explain the 3G iPhone’s shorter-than-expected batter life, another common complaint.

"It could end up drawing more power because now the phone thinks it's (getting a) worse signal than it actually is. When it goes to talk to the network, it speaks louder than it needs to," he said.

When people in more than one geographic location lodge similar complaints, it indicates the problem is with the phone, not the network, Sideco said. However, without knowing precisely what has gone wrong, he did not specify whether Apple would be facing a recall scenario, or whether a software or firmware update might instead fix the problem.



Source: redOrbit Staff & Wire Reports


Thank iPhone 3G