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My iPhone 4 does do it when you cover the lower left Hand corner.
Mike

Sent from my iPhone 4 32GB Black.

On Jun 24, 2010, at 12:16 PM, Mark <hargrme@gmail.com> wrote:

> Tried it. Doesn't happen with my iPhone 4.
>
> Mark
>
>
> On Thu, Jun 24, 2010 at 10:25 AM, rkkeller8 <thekellergroup@gmail.com>wrote:
>
>>
>>
>>
>> http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2010/06/iphone-4-loses-reception-when-antenna-band-is-touched-firmware-issue/
>>
>> Got an iPhone 4 yet? Hold it carefully by the glass, avoiding the new steel
>> antenna band that runs around the edges. Note the number of signal-strength
>> bars you have. Now, touch the steel band with your other hand, preferably
>> the left and bottom sides together. You will almost certainly see your
>> signal disappear, or drop by three or four bars.
>>
>> The problem is being so widely reported that Gizmodo has managed to add 16
>> videos of the phenomenon, along with many, many user reports. The problem is
>> also repeatable, making it look like a lot more than simple coincidence.
>>
>> If you have ever touched a bare-metal loop antenna for a TV, you'll know
>> that the water-filled human body has an effect on the reception, although in
>> that case it usually improves the picture.
>>
>> This, it turns out, is not entirely unexpected. Just two weeks ago, Jens
>> Nielsen of Danish blog ComON quoted Professor Gert Frølund Pedersen of the
>> Department of Electronic Systems at Aalborg University:
>>
>> [H]uman tissues will in any case have an inhibitory effect on the antenna.
>> Touch means that a larger portion of the antenna energy turns into heat and
>> lost. This makes the antenna less efficient to send and receive radio
>> signals. [Translation by Google]
>>
>> Simply holding the new iPhone in the hand is enough to kill the signal.
>> Even Walt Mossberg, in his review of the iPhone 4, had an eerily
>> similar-sounding experience:
>>
>> [O]n at least six occasions during my tests, the new iPhone was either
>> reporting "no service" or searching for a network while the old one, held in
>> my other hand, was showing at least a couple of bars. Neither Apple nor AT&T
>> could explain this. [emphasis added]
>>
>> Is it possible that a problem like this would make it into the wild? You'd
>> think that it would have been discovered in testing. On the other hand,
>> maybe this is what caused Steve Jobs' connection woes at the WWDC keynote
>> where he demoed the new handset?
>>
>> One possible answer is in the way the new antenna works. Instead of just
>> picking the strongest signal, the iPhone 4 picks the highest quality signal,
>> the frequency with the least amount of interference. In the current iPhone
>> firmware, this is not yet reflected in the signal display, which still
>> indicates actual strength. Apple has said that this is known bug which it
>> plans to fix. If true, then you shouldn't actually drop a call, even when
>> your apparent signal-bars drop to zero.
>>
>> Or perhaps it is all a sinister plot from Apple to sell more of those
>> insulating rubber Bumper cases?
>>
>> If you have an iPhone 4, please test this out for us, and send the results
>> to us at gadgetnews@wired.com <gadgetnews%40wired.com> or post them in the
>> comments. Specifically, check to see if a decrease in displayed bars
>> corresponds with an actual drop in call quality.
>>
>>
>>
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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