Bad Press For Apple iPhone 4? Good Signal For Rivals

Apple probably isn't losing much sleep over the much-discussed Consumer Reports dismissal of iPhone 4, but its rivals sure are. Why? Thanks to the swirl of bad publicity around Apple for iPhone 4 -- with everything from Consumer Reports to a class-action lawsuit to Apple's ham-fisted handling of the situation -- it's the best opportunity yet for smartphone rivals to attempt to kick Apple when it's down.

As more than a few sharp observers have noted, Motorola's mighty Droid X launches this week. Provided all goes well, Motorola, Google and Verizon couldn't have asked for more ammunition to challenge Apple. How well they exploit Apple's shortcomings will be the challenge, but with both Motorola and Android gaining momentum -- Droid X and other Android phones are among the 10 Coolest Smartphones of the Year So Far -- there appears to be an opening.

Or, Apple's hold on publicity -- good or bad -- will continue to be so dominant that the Droid X launch will fly by without a big to-do. Love it or hate it, Apple and iPhone hype, good or bad, seem inescapable.

Along with a lawsuit against Apple and AT&T that was just granted class-action status, this week's Apple tractor beam is the matter of Consumer Reports. The product review magazine has heartily recommended previous versions of Apple's iconic iPhone, but earlier this week came a much-passed-around report saying it couldn't recommend iPhone 4 because, as iPhone 4 users have been pointing out since the day of its release, "there is a problem with its reception."

Michael Gikas, Consumer Reports' senior editor for electronics, described the iPhone's purported design flaw in detail in a blog post.

"When your finger or hand touches a spot on the phone's lower left side -- an easy thing, especially for lefties -- the signal can significantly degrade enough to cause you to lose your connection altogether if you're in an area with a weak signal," Gikas wrote. "Due to this problem, we can't recommend the iPhone 4."

According to Gikas, Consumer Reports tested three iPhone 4s, each purchased at a separate retailer in the New York area. It also tested other AT&T phones like Apple's iPhone 3GS and Palm Pre, but "none of those phones had the signal-loss problems of the iPhone 4," Gikas noted.

Consumer Reports' blog post from Gikas comes after an initial post, published July 2, stating there was "no reason, at least yet, to forgo buying an iPhone 4 over its reception concerns."

Meanwhile, Apple was said to be deleting a large number of threads in its official online forums pertaining to the Consumer Reports reviews.

Following initial reports about the iPhone 4's signal strength issues, Apple earned plenty of criticism from technology blogs after it suggested consumers hold their iPhones differently.

Apple earlier in July said it would be solving a software glitch that affects signal strength, after skepticism over a July 2 post where it claimed that the iPhone 4's wireless performance was "the best we have ever shipped."

Consumer Reports' Gikas wrote that Apple would need to permanently fix the iPhone's antenna problem before it would recommend iPhone 4.

It's all a big black eye for Apple, but still, it's hard to believe a bad review from Consumer Reports will be enough to stymie Apple's skyrocketing iPhone 4 sales, especially since Consumer Reports stopped short of a "don't buy" warning, which the magazine uses primarily for unsafe products. Motorola, with Droid X, and other iPhone rivals have their work cut out for them to make Apple's bad press work in their favor.

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