Apple has posted a QuickTime video stream of its iPhone 4 ‘Antennagate’ press conference on its website. During the roughly hour-long event, Apple CEO Steve Jobs gave a presentation explaining Apple’s view of the antenna issues. In addition, the company has posted a pair of new webpages examining smartphone antenna performance and comparing that of the iPhone 4 to the BlackBerry Bold, HTC Droid Eris, Samsung Omnia II, and iPhone 3GS, and highlighting the company’s antenna design and testing labs.
During the conference Steve Jobs revealed that due to complaints over the iPhone 4’s antenna issue, Apple will be offering a free case to all customers who purchase an iPhone 4 by September 30th. According to Jobs, users will be able to apply for the free case on Apple’s website late next week, and the case will be shipped to them free of charge. Due to the low number of Bumper cases available, Apple also said it will be offering users a choice of cases beyond the Bumpers, but did not specify which cases would be eligible. For iPhone 4 users who have already purchased a Bumper case, Apple will be offering refunds, but will not be refunding those who purchased third-party cases. If the new case or bumper still doesn’t solve the problem, Apple will provide a complete refund to the iPhone 4 owner.
Apple also claimed that a fix for the iPhone 4’s proximity sensor issue would be included in the next update. The issue, in which calls can be accidentally interrupted by button presses and hang-ups, has been reported since the launch of the device. Apple did not specify when the update would arrive, or whether it would be a small, incremental update—like iOS 4.0.1—or included in the larger iOS 4.1 update, a beta of which was released to paid developers earlier this week.