iPhone 4 on sale in Australia July 30 with free case to fix antenna issue

Apple’s iPhone 4 will hit Australian shelves next Friday, July 30, but the high-end handset will come with a free case in order to fix the faulty antenna issue that has plagued the company for the past month.

The free hand-out was announced by chief executive Steve Jobs on Saturday at a hastily-convened press conference on the weekend, at which he said all iPhone 4 owners are entitled to a free case until September 30, or a refund if they choose.

The decision comes after the company has been slammed by analysts for the faulty antenna issue, which occurs when users hold the gadget in a certain way. And that criticism continues, as the American consumer publication which caused a stir last week for not recommending the iPhone 4 has come out and said it still cannot recommend users purchase the gadget.

Additionally, rival manufacturers Nokia and Research in Motion have attacked Apple for bringing their companies into the debate about the particular fault and how often it occurs in other handsets.

Tech journalists were invited to the press conference at Apple’s San Francisco headquarters, at which Jobs attempted to ultimately put the faulty antenna issue to rest.

While Jobs pointed out the company has sold three million iPhone 4 units in just a few weeks, he acknowledged: “It doesn’t seem like a good thing if you can touch your phone in a certain way and it loses signal”.

“We haven’t figured out a way around the laws of physics. Yet,” Jobs said. While he attempted to defend the company by saying only 0.55% of all customers have reported the issue, he still confirmed what some analysts had predicted – each iPhone 4 user will receive a free bumper case.

The “bumper” case, which is basically a thick piece of hard rubber that stretches over the back panel and sides of the iPhone 4, allows the antenna to work properly. Any iPhone 4 customer who buys a phone through September will get a case for free, along with any users who have bought their handset in the past few weeks.

The company also announced current iPhone 4 users will be able to return their handset with a full refund if they so choose.
But Apple didn’t want to just address its own problems, so Jobs demonstrated how a number of other handsets, including those made by RIM, Samsung and HTC have the same problem – a demonstration these companies have criticised harshly.

RIM said in a statement that this “attempt to draw RIM into Apple’s self-made debacle” was unacceptable, while Nokia said “we prioritise antenna performance over physical design if they are ever in conflict.”

This hasn’t stopped Apple from setting up a new space on its website where the iPhone 4 is compared to these other handsets.

But despite all of Apple’s efforts, it doesn’t seem to have done much good. Consumer Reports, the publication in the US which sparked a controversy last week after refusing to recommend the iPhone 4, has said the new solution is simply a short-term fix.

“Consumer Reports believes Apple’s offer of free cases is a good first step. However, Apple has indicated that this is not a long-term solution, it has guaranteed the offer only through September 30, and has not extended it unequivocally to customers who bought cases from third-party vendors.”

“We look forward to a long-term fix from Apple. As things currently stand, the iPhone 4 is still not one of our recommended models.”

However, Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster pointed out last week the likelihood of a recall is extremely small, given the massive costs. More likely, some analysts have said, is that future manufacturing lines will contain a permanent fix, but it is unknown when this will occur as Jobs pointed out cases will be available to users through September.

Australian users will also be eligible to receive a free case, but as Consumer Reports points out, the handset will still suffer from the same antenna issue.

This hasn’t stopped Apple from announcing the iPhone 4 will be released in Australia next Friday, July 30, with 15 other countries to receive the gadget on the same day.

SmartCompany contacted the major telcos including VHA, Optus and Telstra, to determine if any new pricing details have been released, but no reply was received before publication.