iPhone 4.1 soon? Apple to fix antenna problems, blabs exec.

By Richi Jennings. September 1, 2010 [rabbits, white rabbits]

Apple is readying a revised iPhone 4 -- perhaps we should think of it as the iPhone 4.1? One with a modified casing, which fixes the "death grip" antenna attenuation aspect. At least, that's according to an executive from Mexican wireless carrier, Telcel. Are we less than a month away from a new iPhone that finally solves the antenna-gate problems? In IT Blogwatch, bloggers take care not to hold it wrong.

Your humble blogwatcher curated these bloggy bits for your entertainment. Not to mention the famous bisected women in Thailand...
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Eric Slivka estaba leyendo noticias en español: [¿Qué? -Ed.]

An executive at Mexican carrier Telcel claimed that Apple is set to release a revised version of the iPhone 4. ... According to Marco Quatorze, Telcel's Director of Value Added Services ... as of September 30th, when the free case program expires, revised hardware without the reception issues will become available.
...
At Apple's iPhone 4 press conference last month, Steve Jobs noted that the free case program ... [had] an initial expiration date of September 30th to provide the company with time to ... perhaps come up with a better solution.

To which, Andrew Munchbach adds:

Mexican technology site canal-mx is reporting that Apple will be reengineering its iPhone 4 antenna design. ... Telcel recently began offering the iPhone 4 ... Mr. Quatorze was on the record when he ... stated that after the 30th a new revision of the iPhone 4, with some sort of internal antenna fix, would be made available by Apple.
...
If true, [this] certainly will rekindle the antenna-gate talks, lawsuits, and comment flame wars.

But Chris Foresman sounds suspicious:

It is unusual for a carrier executive to have such advance knowledge of Apple's plans, or to be allowed to share it if he did. However, Quatorze also said that Telcel will have a number of options for early buyers to upgrade to the revised hardware without having to extend the usual two-year contract.

And Taimur Asad "completely agrees":

There is high chance that this Mexican executive is confusing Apple’s September 30th expiration date for the free case program with a new iPhone 4 release. ... If there is ever going to be a new iPhone, it will be next year.
...
Steve Jobs already mentioned the reason for this expiration date at the conference, saying that this date was set to provide Apple with more time to ... come up with a better solution then just free cases.

It seems Jeff Bertolucci is a bit of a Bill Murray fan:

It's entirely possible that the true meaning of Quatorze's comments were simply lost in translation. ... Was Quatorze referring to Apple's deadline? Or did he spill the beans on a new and improved iPhone 4? We'll know more in a month-or perhaps sooner.

But Christian Zibreg thinks he can read between the lines:

At the iPhone 4 presser ... Apple’s boss told the gathered media that the offer will be valid ... through September 30, adding this: "We’ll re-examine this in September and decide whether to keep going or maybe we’ll have a better idea."
...
It would appear Apple already had a better solution in mind back then. Otherwise, Jobs would have never dropped a casual hint of a “better idea.”

And Finally...
You'll come for the beaches but stay for the women chopped in half
 
 
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Richi Jennings is an independent analyst/consultant, specializing in blogging, email, and security. A cross-functional IT geek since 1985, you can follow him as @richi on Twitter, pretend to be richij's friend on Facebook, or just use good old email: itbw@richij.com.

You can also read Richi's full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.