The CEO Game

iPhone 4 signal fault leaves Apple embarrassed.

Just a few weeks ago, Apple’s released its brand new anticipated smartphone the iPhone 4. Since then, the iPhone 4 grew up to be the most successful product launch in Apple’s history with over 1.7 million units sold within just a few days. With these numbers, you would expect the guys at Cuppertino (Apple’s HQ) to be celebrating, but in fact they aren’t, as a major design error overclouds the phone’s success.

Following the gadgets launch off, many new iPhone owners reported that the signal strength and reception dropped significantly when the phone was held in a specific way- on the lower left side. Not long after that, videos showing the weird bug started popping all over the web as well as talkbacks who mocked Apple. The growing pressure finally got to Apple, who decided now to seriously address the issue.

In a statement released to the press, Apple says a fault on its new iPhone 4 is causing it to incorrectly display the phone’s signal. According to them, the problem is related to an error on how the signal bars themselves are displayed, rather than a reception issue. On the contrary, many tech experts claim the problem is deeper than a “cosmetic design flaw”.

Moreover, Apple had said that generally all phones gripped in “certain ways will reduce its reception by one or more bars”. “We have discovered the cause of this dramatic drop in bars, and it is both simple and surprising”, the statement read. “Upon investigation, we were stunned to find that the formula we use to calculate how many bars of signal strength to display is totally wrong”.

“Our formula, in many instances, mistakenly displays two more bars than it should for a given signal strength. For example, we sometimes display four bars when we should be displaying as few as two bars”, Apple explained. The company also added that the problem existed in the original iPhone as well.

Apple promises to fix the bug with a patch “within a few weeks”. In theory, once the patch has been applied, iPhone’s bars will report signal strength “far more accurately”. However, many industry experts are sceptical as the iPhone 4 integrates the antenna into the case, claiming that “changing the display may make some people feel better, but it doesn’t really fix the problem”.

The People who purchased the new iPhone may also choose to get a full refund within 30 days of purchase, the firm announced. In case you were wondering, one solution is already available: Apple sells a rubber shield that protects the sensitive area. In the meantime Apple’s CEO Steve Jobs summarized one of the more embarrassing foul-ups from a major tech company in a simple manner: “just avoid holding it in that way”.

Omer Shachnai

The CEO Game.

With the World Cup’s final upon us, here is something you have got to see: Paul, a special fortune telling and a rather amusing octopus who has already predicted with 100 per cent accuracy the previous Mondial game scores, has chosen Vicente del Bosque’s Spain to beat the Netherlands in the tournament final.

Working from his aquarium tank in Oberhausen, Germany – his astonishing record in predicting international soccer matches since 2008 stands at 10-1 – Paul has made his choice before an army of cameras from all over the world.

Paul the octopus

The cephalopod’s latest prediction had an immediate impact on Spain and the Netherlands, just two of the countries where it was broadcast live. But Spanish fans can’t decide whether Paul’s winning prophecy is a cause for celebration or vice versa. On the one hand, they can be optimistic – the octopus has been correct all along this World Cup after all. On the other hand, the Spanish team is afraid that the scenario from the Euro 2008 games will repeat: when the aquatic creature got all the games right except for the final game.

Paul’s bets are based on his food selection – when consulted, the octopus is faced with a choice to pick his mussel-based lunch from one of two jars with flags on them. Whichever box he picks, that country will prevail.

The octopus, who was born in the UK and was moved to the German aquarium, has become a national celebrity after correctly predicting Germany would beat Australia in their opening match, then lose to Serbia, then beat Ghana and then beat England. Until the semifinal, “Paul’s prediction was phenomenal,” many Germans agreed. Nevertheless, being as lucky as he is, or talented if you wish, Paul doesn’t get any slack: predicting Spain would surpass Germany to the final resulted in death threats from outraged German fans.

By the way, Paul tried to repair his relations with the Germans by choosing them as the winners over Uruguay in the match for third and fourth places, which Germany ended up winning. Whatever happens, Paul will be remembered as one of the symbols of the World Cup along with the noisy Vuvuzelas.

Lucky for him Germany won third place, otherwise Paul would have been sleeping with fishes, ending up as the first fried prophet, a la calamari style.

Omer Shachnai

The CEO Game