No, this is not a joke. The Democratic Senator from my home state of New York, Senator Charles E. Schumer (D-NY), urged the iPhone 4 maker, Apple, on Thursday to provide fresh answers about the source of the so-called “death grip” glitch that causes poor reception, and called for a fix to be identified and provided free of charge to existing customers. Schumer sites the recent Consumer Report finding of the problem. Researchers with Consumer Reports said they would not recommend the product for purchase. The magazine said it found that the antenna was in fact the culprit behind the drop-off in the phone’s reception. It said a design flaw was responsible for the glitch. Maybe Senator Schumer read my GadgetHigh article on the press conference (which can be found here) and felt so passionate about the issue that he decided to take it one step further and contact Jobs?

While I thank Senator Schumer for his support on the matter, I do believe he has better things to do in the United States Senate. As some of you may know, I have spent the last month working as a Senate Page on the Senate Floor in Washington (shout-out to my fellow pages). I will not spend my time talking about my experience, but I can tell you that Senator Schumer was my sponsoring senator and that the Senate Floor has a strict policy of no cell phones on the Senate Floor. To be more specific, I also happened to notice that Senator Schumer did not own an iPhone. He carried with him a Blackberry and a simple flip phone. It surprises me that a Senator would be so passionate about the  iPhone’s antenna problem when there are so many other, in my opinion, larger problems in the United States today. Nevertheless, part of a Senator’s job is to fight for the beliefs of his constituents, and there is no doubt in my mind that he has made many New York iPhone owners (including myself) very happy with this letter.

A copy of Schumer’s letter appears below.

July 15, 2010

Dear Mr. Jobs,

I write to express concern regarding the reception problem with the Apple iPhone 4. While I commend Apple’s innovative approach to mobile technology and appreciate its service to millions of iPhone users nationwide, I believe it is incumbent upon Apple to address this flaw in a transparent manner. According to Consumer Reports’ review, released Monday on its website, the iPhone 4′s signal-strength problem is a hardwire glitch triggered by gripping the device in a particular manner. This finding, according to Consumer Reports, “call[s] into question” Apple’s recent claim that the problem is “largely an optical illusion caused by faulty software.” Consumer Reports declined to recommend the iPhone 4 because of this hardware design flaw.

Given the discrepancy between Consumer Reports’ explanation of the reception problem and the explanation provided by Apple in its July 2 letter to customers, I am concerned that the nearly two million purchasers of the iPhone 4 may not have complete information about the quality of the product they have purchased. The burden for consumers caused by this glitch, combined with the confusion over its cause and how it will be fixed, has the potential to undermine the many benefits of this innovative device. To address this concern, I ask that Apple provide iPhone 4 customers with a clearly written explanation of the cause of the reception problem and make a public commitment to remedy it free-of-charge. The solutions offered to date by Apple for dealing with the so-called “death grip” malfunction-such as holding the device differently, or buying a cover for it-seem to be insufficient. These proposed solutions would unfairly place the burden on consumers for resolving a problem they were not aware of when they purchased their phones.

I also encourage Apple to keep its promise to provide free software updates so that bars displayed accurately reflect signal strength; I further urge Apple to issue a written explanation of the formula it uses to calculate bar strength, so that consumers can once again trust the product that they have invested in.

I look forward to Apple’s swift action on this matter, and once again laud Apple for its innovative efforts and service to millions of Americans.

Sincerely,
Charles E. Schumer

Thanks Chuck. The press conference is tomorrow at 1PM Eastern. I will keep you updated if Jobs responds.

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In a letter released from Apple on July 2nd, Apple acknowledged the problem many, many people are finding with their iPhone 4′s antennas. Apple said they were “stunned.” Part of the statement is below:

We have discovered the cause of this dramatic drop in bars, and it is both simple and surprising.

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. Our formula, in many instances, mistakenly displays 2 more bars than it should for a given signal strength. For example, we sometimes display 4 bars when we should be displaying as few as 2 bars. 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. Their big drop in bars is because their high bars were never real in the first place.

Apple says that other phones, including Droid, Nokia, and RIM phones, experienced similar problems. Although, to my knowledge, only the iPhone 4 has had many widespread complaints. The easiest fix for the problem is buying a case, something that I did. I need a case anyway because I am very clumsy with my technology, but that is besides the point. The case Apple is selling, called a Bumper, is being sold for a ridiculous price of $29.99. These cases seem like another way for Apple to make easy money. There have been rumors that Apple is going to cut the price in half or even give them out for free, but let’s be honest. Apple doesn’t give anything for free (except for those Apple logo stickers that come with all the products).

And so, after all the drama, Apple has admitted that something is really wrong with the iPhone 4 reception. This friday, Apple will hold a press conference on the matter at Apple’s Cupertino headquarters. No one really knows what will be announced at the conference, but I don’t get your hopes up for something too good. Check back after the conference for updates on the matter.  In addition to this conference, Apple has released new software (4.1 beta) to developers, but sadly, early reports have stated that the software update does not fix the signal problem. For those of you with iPhone 4′s, I suggest buying a case to not only fix the problem but also protect your awesome phone. I bought a Belkin case at BestBuy that works great.

Possibly the funniest part about this whole antenna situation is the fact that Steve Jobs was so thrilled and excited about the new antenna when he revealed the new iPhone 4 at WWDC. Steve describes the antenna as: “It’s never been done before and it’s really cool engineering.” Nevertheless, the problem has not really hindered iPhone sales. Was this antenna problem just an elaborate scheme plotted by Apple to see how many people they could get to buy a broken phone? If so, Kudos Apple. You got me and millions of others.

Until next time,

GadgetGuy

Swan dive (commercial reference!) into the videos below.

If you have watched the World Cup on TV or even saw clips of it or even stay current on the news, you have probably heard about the Vuvuzelas. YouTube always has had a way with pranks. Some time in the last few weeks, the world’s largest video portal activated a new button on some videos that looks like a tiny soccer ball. Clicking it will activate an endless, incredibly annoying sound that sounds vaguely like a swarm of insects. So, if you want to have some nice Vuvuzela sounds while you watch your YouTube videos, go ahead and hit the soccer ball button. If you aren’t a fan of incredibly annoying sounds then just watch your videos and you normally would. Be sure to check out GadgetHigh’s YouTube channel for the latest GadgetHigh videos and unboxings.

On Wednesday July 7th, my friend and I went to a OneRepublic concert at the club Terminal 5 in New York. With two opening bands and (of course) OneRepublic playing, the show was bound to be awesome. Read on for videos (taken on an iPhone 4!) and a review.

After arriving at about 6:30PM and getting our hands drawn on to show that we were under 21, my friend and and I took our spot in the middle of a mosh pit on the first  Wednesday July 7th, my friend and I went to a OneRepublic concert at the club Terminal 5 in New York. With two opening bands and (of course) OneRepublic playing, the show was bound to be awesome. Read ofloor of Terminal 5. The first band to perform was Alpha Rev, a band I had previously never heard of. Formed in 2005 in Austin, TX, Alpha Rev came together as the brainchild of singer/songwriter Casey McPherson after the breakup of his previous band, Endochine. They were, surprisingly, very good. There music had a similar sound and feel as OneRepublic, the lead singer had an amazing voice, and  the electric violin player was excellent. If you like OneRepublic, definitely check them out on iTunes here.

GadgetHigh Report Card: A-

Next up was Sara Bareilles. To be honest, I was never the biggest fan of Sara Bareilles and the only song of hers I really knew was her hit single “Love Song.” She was pretty good, but nothing great. I was surprised by how many people in the crowd were fans of hers. She played her new single “King of Anything” and played a lot of music from her upcoming album “Kaleidoscope Heart.” She was also very social with the crowd, telling stories and even talking about the whiskey she was apparently drinking. Overall, a pretty good performance for a Sara Bareilles fan.Check her out on iTunes here.

GadgetHigh Report Card: B+

Finally, at about 9:30PM, OneRepublic took the stage and immediately performed “Everybody Loves Me.” After a little bit of schmoozing and crowd pleasing, they continued to play hits from their new album. After “Secrets” and “Good Life” (A video of Good Life is posted below!) and other songs, lead singer, Ryan Tedder, announced that they were going to play a song they decided to play about 5 minutes before walking on stage. They proceeded to perform an excellent cover of Franz Ferdinand’s “Take Me Out.” A video of that performance is posted below. After playing many more songs from the new and old albums, throwing water on the crowd, jumping into the crowd,  and even giving champagne to the crowd, OneRepublic was done for the night. Or so we thought. They returned a few minutes later for an encore in which they started out by covering “Stand By Me” (video below!) and “Seven Nation Army” (video below!). At the point of the guitar solo in “Seven Nation Army,” Tedder decided to sing a little bit of “SexyBack.” They ended the performance by playing “Waking Up.” Overall, the performance was fantastic. The music was great and the band members were great performers. Ryan Tedder had an amazing voice and played the piano (keyboards) beautifully. Brent Kutzle, the electric chello player (and guitar, and bass, and keyboards) never ceases to amaze me, and Wednesday night was no exception. Check out the videos below and check on OneRepublic on iTunes here. GadgetHigh Report Card: A

I also just learned that OneRepublic and Sara Bareilles did a duet recording of OneRepublic’s hit song “Come Home”. You can check that out here and buy it on iTunes if you’d like.

All video below was recorded in amazing 720p on my iPhone 4.

Enjoy: