Antennagate

Millions of Apple customers who have already purchased an iPhone 4 Bumper case have been promised a refund by Steve Jobs over the antenna problems affecting some users. The company has started automatically sending refunds to those customers who ordered the Bumper online. Email notifications are being sent out as well, detailing the refund processing.

The email reads, “As of today, we have automatically processed your refund. You have also been refunded for any Shipping or VAT charges that may have been applied to your order.” Credit cards are expected to show the refund on accounts within 3-5 days after processing.

A couple of designers took Steve Job's press conference suggestion to make an iPhone 4 antenna band-aid to heart. The product is for sale in an assorted color six-pack for five bucks plus shipping. The two are now struggling to keep up with orders on the web site Etsy.

Reports have suggested that electrical, duct, or even scotch tape applied to the lower left hand side of the iPhone 4 alleviates antenna problems when the area is touched. The idea behind the Antenna-aid is to separate your hand from the exposed external antenna to preserve the best signal possible. It should also garner some laughs, too.

In the wake of what Steve Jobs referred to as "Antennagate," Apple has launched an informational website to follow up on its Friday press conference on the iPhone 4. Much of the smartphone graphics and testing facility photos presented at the event are explained in detail on the new Apple pages. Pictured below is one of Apple's 17 anechoic chambers, which accurately measure antenna and wireless performance.

Apple highlights the fact they have spent thousands of hours logging tests in special facilities like these and in the field with prototypes of the iPhone 4 and all of their wireless devices. These state-of-the-art facilities cost Apple over $100 million to design and build.