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.

Another one of Apple’s notorious gimmicks or a spoof? A prototype of the new, yet to be released IPhone 4G had been found stranded alone in a bar in Redwood City (San Francisco Bay Area), California. It seems an Apple employee had forgotten the phone either accidentally or deliberately in the bar and Gizmodo, a trustworthy and familiar site was able to obtain it. According to Gizmodo, they have dissected the phone and found that all the internal parts and components were clearly labeled as Apple and not a knock off as many believed. So has Apple done it again?

iPhone 4G

The first analysis shows that the device contains new components. These new parts found, may suggest that the new IPhone is not just like the previous 3GS, only suited up with a new case, but more. So, without further ado, here are the big additions: A new front-facing camera (will probably enable video chat), an improved regular back-camera (they claim the lens is noticeably larger than the old one), camera flash- a feature many Apple groupies yearn for quite some time now.

Moreover, the device has a slot for a Micro-SIM instead of a standard SIM (just like the one the new iPad uses), the guys at Gizmodo also claim the forgotten device has improve display (it’s unclear if it’s the 960×460 display thrown around before). In addition, there seems to be a secondary mic for noise cancellation, on top of it, next to the headphones jack. The volume button has been splitted into two different buttons. The volume button as well as the mute and power buttons got a new metallic look.

What’s changed? Well for starters, the back of the phone is entirely flat, made of either glass (more likely) or ceramic or shiny plastic in order for the cell signal to poke through. An aluminum border going completely around the outside. Slightly smaller screen than the 3GS (but seemingly higher resolution). The phone has a new drastically different exterior- a more “squared off” look. Now you have a thinner body, with no wasted space and lots of hard lines. The phone is 3 grams heavier too. The phone’s batter is 16% Larger, while other internal components are shrunken, miniaturized and reduced to make room for it.

Unfortunately, they claim the phone had been remotely disabled by Apple, so no one was able to test out the new features on it. Whether it is true or not, the entire story seems too good to be true anyways, and it would come as no surprise if it was just another one of those publicity stunts, Apple is so famous for. When connecting the phone to a computer it behaves exactly like an iPhone does when it is plugged, with the proper boot sequence and “connect to iTunes” restore functionality. Maybe a sign of its authenticity. However, the Firmware cannot be loaded, since it is tied to the device model, and in this case there is no firmware yet for the 4G.

Why do they think it’s real? The people at Gizmodo said that after playing around with the phone for a week “the overall quality feels exactly like a finished final Apple phone—and after disassembling this unit, there is so much evidence stacked in its favor, that there’s very little possibility that it’s a fake. In fact, the possibility is almost none”. What the feeling like? “Freaking amazing. As a person who never really liked the round mound of a back in the 3GS, the sleeker, flatter, squarer design is super welcome. It feels sturdier than the 3GS, and much less plastic. The metal buttons give it a heftier feel—less of a toy—than all previous generations”.

Currently, It is rumored Apple will officially announce on the IPhone 4G in June, so this “gag” could be getting close to a final retail model. Up until then it is all speculation on if this is real or not. If it is real, either Apple did it intentionally, or perhaps one of Apple’s employees could be looking for a new job. And what do we say? Out with the old and in with the new.

Omer Shachnai

The CEO Game

Apple Lunched today its new flag product – The iPad a tablet pc which will cost starting from 499$.

Apple had to put an end to the rumors and speculations when it announced its new tablet PC. During an event that took place in San Francisco, Apple’s CEO Steve Jobs had announced the release of the new product- the iPad.

iPad- Apple's new tablet PC

The new product, which is mainly focused around network services, includes a 10 inch screen and it’s based on the iPhone operation system iPhoneOS. The iPad is 1.25 cm thick and weights 700 grams. The iPad works on Apple’s CPU the A4 with approximately 1 GHz CPU power. The iPad also has a Bluetooth capability and apple had declared that it can last as long as 10 hours on its batteries. The iPad screen is of course a multi touch screen.

Job has declared that the iPad is a part of a new generation of products between the Laptops and Smartphones. What about notebooks? Jobs said that notebooks are nothing but weak and cheap laptops.

Apples had declared that the iPad will support all the iPhone and iPod applications as well as having original application of its own. One of the major goals of the iPad is to act as an electronic reader (similar to Amazon Kindle). In the event itself Jobs announce that Apple had already signed deals with 5 of the world’s largest book publishers.

Also during that event Jobs had announced that Apple had sold its 250 million iPod few weeks ago and had more than 250 million visitors, in its 284 stores, in the last quarter.

Ailon.

The CEO Game.

Since the invention of the iPhone, the smartphone trend has exhibited continuously exponential growth. Many new developments have created a new market to explore.

A lot of iPhone buyers use only a small and trivial part of its functionality, not realizing the full potential of their mobile friend.

iPhone Applications, the hottest trend of the mobile world, let everyone (with Mac and technical approach) to develop their mobile dream, from every corner of the world. The talented ones can also make money out of it.

But this article is not about just any iPhone apps. It is about those applications that may save you time and money!

Here are 5 tips for managing money with your iPhone:

• Convert Currencies
  Check the up-to-date exchange rate of any desired currency, and get a close look at your stocks.

  Applications such as Currency Converter Pro enable you to check 220 exchange rates, including silver and gold, and to convert between them.

• Manage your budget
  In order to stay on top of your budget planning and implementation, you may need a tool to help you plan and act appropriately.
  

  iPhone - Budget Application

  Budget is an application for managing your personal budget. It enables you to receive some basic information, such as graphs of your expenses, reminders relevant to your plans (such as when you need to pay your monthly rent), retrieved data and sets the time period for you budget plan.
  You may synchronize the data over several iPhones, for more than one person managing their households (husband and wife, partners etc.).

  Another budget management application is Day Bank, which allows you to synchronize the iPhone application with software on your computer.

• Save SMS and phone calls
  The fact that you’re with your mobile phone doesn’t necessarily means that you need to make your phone calls through the device.
  Fring is an application that combines all your contacts in the instant massages networks (Google Talk, ICQ, MSN messanger etc.), allowing you to chat with them and even have a voice conversation (VOIP) through Wifi.
  Fring users can speak free with one another. Skype is also enabled by the SkypeOUT rates.
• Keep updated in the stock market
  Keeping track of stocks is something you can do with the application Stocks, which comes with the iPhone. You can get information about stocks and receive relevant updates, including detailed graphs and a list of securities.

  Stock information for experts is provided with the application Bloomberg, built by the financial information agency, Bloomberg. The

  

  iPhone - Bloomberg application

  application is far more detailed than ‘Stocks’ and allows you to keep updated with the world’s markets, complete with news and estimations.

• Tip calculator
  Have you ever wondered how much money you should leave for the waiter? Tipulator, an iPhone application that easily calculates the tip everyone in the table need to pay, does it for you. You simply enter the amount to pay, the tip percentage desire and the number of people dinning.

This is only a few of the enormous pool of iPhone applications that can save you time and money.

I believe that in the future the mobile revolution will manage our wallet very, very closely. Smartphones are already helping us manage our budget and advise us for smart saving. Of course, until the CEO Game becomes an iPhone app, in order to play what will surely be the most fun and realistic business simulation ever, you’re going to have to sit down at a computer. It’ll be worth it, we promise.

Nimrod.

The CEO Game.