bumper

iPhone 4 Antennagate site goes live, lets you collect $15

Apple iPhone 4 owners can collect a cash settlement or free bumper for their smartphone's antenna troubles. Just don't expect to be blown away by the windfall.

A Web page, aptly named iPhone4settlement.com, has gone live, allowing iPhone 4 customers burned by the device's antenna problems to collect their $15 settlement. According to the site, iPhone 4 owners have between now and August 28 to file their claim for the cash.

The site's claim form, which can be mailed or filed electronically, requests basic contact information. The settlement also requests that users print out their … Read more

iPhone 4 case includes removable tripod mount

About a month ago we first saw the Glif, a cleverly designed tripod mount and stand for the iPhone 4. But that seemingly can't be used with a case and is still preorder only with no real availability date. The XShot iPhone 4 Case, on the other hand, is a two-piece, slim hard case that protects the back and sides of the device, but also comes with a removable tripod mount and will be shipping soon.

To use it, you just snap the case on and slide the mount into notches on the bottom or lower left side of … Read more

Buzz Out Loud 1307: A zero-day porn moment (podcast)

On today's Buzz Out Loud, Jason confesses his noob security mistake, Consumer Reports wants the world to know they STILL don't recommend the iPhone 4. Plus, Mark Zuckerberg's Hollywood moment isn't going to be as fun as he hoped, and we predict the MPAA will go nuclear if rumors of a permanent HDCP crack are true.

Buzz Out Loud 1306: We instantly instantized the Internet (podcast)

Today on Buzz Out Loud, the deadly dashboard of patent pendencies, YouTube's new live-streaming test (which we hope will eventually include CNET!), and Halo: Reach launching at midnight. Plus, could Apple launch an iPad with camera in time for the holidays? Rafe's money is on the line. And a Stanford student gets the best tweet ever.

Apple to end free iPhone 4 case offer Sept. 30

If you have an iPhone 4 and haven't ordered your free case yet, you should soon.

In less than three weeks Apple will end the offer because the antenna signal loss issue related to the iPhone 4's design isn't as big a problem as the company initially thought, according to an update to Apple's Web site Friday.

A posting to the page for the iPhone 4 case says:

We now know that the iPhone 4 antenna attenuation issue is even smaller than we originally thought. A small percentage of iPhone 4 users need a case, and … Read more

Is Apple bumper case scuffing steel antenna band on iPhone 4?

According to a growing thread in the Apple Support Discussions forums, the Apple bumper case, made specifically for the iPhone 4 (and a major part of the "Antennagate" solution), is scratching the steel antenna band.

ASD user Dayvidpriddy reports:

"I received my black bumper about a week ago now. Took off the bumper tonight to clean my phone down and there are scratch marks on the steel band from the bumper (this is caused from the pieces of hard plastic on the underside of the bumper."

Many of the comments after the initial post point out … Read more

iPhone 4 goes far in music playback time

CNET Labs has returned the official iPhone 4 battery results for music playback time. With 3G turned on, we managed an impressive 59.02 hours in our longest test. That more than beats Apple's promised time of 40 hours for audio playback. As a reminder, we also surpassed Apple's rated talk times in the CNET Labs test last month.

When we conduct our music playback battery life test, we start with a fully charged phone. The display is set to a brightness level of 50 percent, and the backlight is set to turn off after 10 seconds. All … Read more

Apple starts shipping free bumper cases

Apple has started shipping its free bumper-style cases to iPhone 4 customers. The company started sending out e-mails revealing the release on Monday night.

"We are pleased to inform you that one or more of your items has shipped," the e-mail from the Apple Store reads. At least some customers who ordered the free bumper case on July 16 when Apple first made the program available are seeing a delivery date of August 3. Originally, Apple said users would receive their cases in three to five weeks, so this is just a little on the early side.

At … Read more

Buzz Out Loud 1276: Molly moves to Comic-Con (podcast)

BOL co-founder Molly Wood discovers "her people" in San Diego. Also, we're actually talking about white iPhones. How'd that happen? And Mama's taking our Kodachrome away.

Apple's free bumpers: There's an app for that

As most people in the known universe are aware, Apple recently announced plans to give a free case to any iPhone 4 user who requests one (and to refund the purchase price to those who already bought one--a process that is apparently now under way).

What we didn't know until today was how Apple planned to handle the giveaway. Would you have to fight traffic on a special Web page? Bring your iPhone to an Apple Store? Chant "antennagate" 10 times while standing inside a pentagram?

Turns out Apple went the app route: the iPhone 4 Case Program … Read more