[neonfunk]

It's a somewhat reasonable account (notably by an iPhone owner), though I remain skeptical (i.e., not trusting either side).

I've had an iPhone 4 for two days now, and I have yet to be able to reproduce the problem; I even tried licking my finger and wrapping it around the bottom left corner, making sure to connect both antennas. I couldn't get it to drop even one bar.

This is not at all to say that it's not a real issue, but the sensationalism belies how little we know about it so far. Of course, people are going to delight in exploiting any chink in Apple's armor, especially today.

[ars]

Make sure to test in a place where you have lost at least one or two bars before you test. Otherwise the reception is probably saturated and your hand can not make a difference.

[pkulak]

I wouldn't trust the "bars" to indicate anything.

[jarek]

This. If we are going to have a discussion about this, I really, really hope to at least see some dBm numbers.

From a test right now, picking up my Blackberry 8100 (antenna along the bottom) in roughly the manner I would use to hold it to my ear, I lose about 10 to 15 dBm (from around -66 to -69 to around -79 to -81), which means the received signal power drops by around 10 to 30 times. I don't know if that's particularly good or bad; I've never had problems with dropped calls.

[Terretta]

Nexus One, same issue:

http://www.google.com/support/forum/p/android/thread?tid=34a...

[nitrogen]

Are there apps available that show signal strength in real numbers (dBm) instead of "bars"?

[DrJokepu]

Not sure about Blackberry, but on Android: Settings / About phone / Status / Signal strength

[m_hughes]

You can always call this number from your iPhone: 3001#12345#

and put your phone in field test mode

(http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/iphone/iphone-field-test-mode-let...)

[rryyan]

Unfortunately this capability has been removed from iOS4: http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=942533. Just confirmed it on my iPhone 4.

[brown9-2]

on Blackberry it's under Options, Status

[jarek]

And via the API: http://www.blackberry.com/developers/docs/5.0.0api/net/rim/d...

An app that instructs the user to pick up the phone and hold it to his head as he would while talking, records the RSSI over a course of a couple of minutes, then graphs or displays the results might be an interesting weekend project.

[SoftwareMaven]

You can do it if you've jailbroken. Haven't looked for non-jailbroken stuff.

On my 3GS, I can vary up to 20 dBm depending on how I'm holding it, how I rotate myself and/or the phone, where I'm holding it in relation to my body, etc.

[marbletiles]

Regardless of the actual numbers, the issue doesn't appear when the gap in the antenna is taped over or it is otherwise insulated (like with a bumper).

That strongly suggests to me that this is something over and above normal loss of signal caused by picking up in a hand.

[jarek]

Sure -- but I've also seen reports that the effect is much more pronounced in areas of spotty coverage (as measured by bars). Perhaps, even though over and above, the degradation is still acceptable with areas of good coverage.

[neonfunk]

Exactly why I'm skeptical about these reports, including my own!

(And if the old method to access the field test mode hadn't been disabled, I'd be the first to give you dBm measurements.)

[lushootseed]

Unless every human being can reproduce the issue with precision, it is a non-issue and neonfunk will be skeptical.

Sir, We are not talking about newton's third law here. There could very well defective units or other factors come into play. So don't assume others are just lying liers