IPhone Users Look to Livestrong Bands for Cheaper Antenna Fix
Lance Armstrong
Darren Stewart/Gallo Images/Getty Images
Lance Armstrong gives a speech during the Livestrong Global Cancer Campaign Launch visit to cancer survivors at Groote Schuur Hospital on March 11, 2010 in Cape Town.
Lance Armstrong gives a speech during the Livestrong Global Cancer Campaign Launch visit to cancer survivors at Groote Schuur Hospital on March 11, 2010 in Cape Town. Photographer: Darren Stewart/Gallo Images/Getty Images
Apple Inc. fan sites have found a cheaper fix for iPhone 4 users than the $29 rubber case that the company is selling to minimize antenna-reception problems: Livestrong bracelets that sell for about $1 each.
The iPhone Guru, The Unofficial Apple Weblog and CrunchGear are recommending that users take a pair of scissors to cyclist Lance Armstrong’s Livestrong yellow bracelets or other inexpensive plastic wristbands; cut out holes for the phones’ dock connector, headphone jack and silent-mode toggle switch; and stretch the bands around the phone.
After Apple began selling the iPhone 4 on June 24, users reported reception problems and dropped calls when they held the lower-left corner of the device in a certain way. The company advised them to hold it differently or buy a case. Apple sells a case called Bumper that surrounds the outer rim of the phone and is available in white, black, blue, green, orange and pink.
“Apple sells the Bumpers in six colors for a wince-inducing $29 each,” Aurich Lawson, a writer on the Ars Technica technology blog, said in a posting today. “For this kind of quality and utility you should get all six colors for the price.”
While the Bumpers seem to do the job, even users accustomed to paying premium prices for Apple gadgets might feel the cost is “a rip-off,” Lawson wrote.
Livestrong Band
Natalie Kerris, an Apple spokeswoman, reiterated the company’s comments that users should buy one of the cases available for the phone or avoid gripping it in the lower left corner “in a way that covers both sides of the black strip in the metal band.” The company sold 1.7 million iPhones in the first three days.
Livestrong bands are available from Livestrong.org, part of a non-profit foundation started byArmstrong in 1997 to help people fight cancer. The group sells a 10-pack of the wristbands for $10, with proceeds used to fund its cancer survivor and support programs, according to the foundation’s website.
Livestrong.org said it has seen an increase today in visitors to the wristband page on its site. “This glitch is our gain by getting our message of social change to more people,” foundation President Doug Ulman said in an e-mailed statement.
Armstrong sent a message to his roughly 2.5 million followers on social-networking site Twitter.com today, saying “Wow. Cool,” to describe the new use for the Livestrong bands. Armstrong, 38, is in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, to participate in his final Tour de France cycling race, which begins this weekend.
Lawsuits
Users who order an Apple Bumper today can expect it to ship within five to seven business days, with mailing costs starting at $4, according to the Cupertino, California-based company’s website. IPhone cases are also available from accessory makers including Hard Candy Cases and Belkin International Inc.
Apple was sued yesterday in San Francisco over reception problems with the new iPhone by customers who accused the company of unfair business practices and false and misleading advertising. A separate complaint was filed in Maryland today, alleging that Apple and U.S. wireless service provider AT&T Inc. were negligent in marketing the phone.
Apple fell $3.05 to $248.48 at 4 p.m. New York time in Nasdaq Stock Market trading. The shares have advanced 18 percent this year.
To contact the reporter on this story: Connie Guglielmo in San Francisco at cguglielmo1@bloomberg.net
Rate These Stories
Rate this Page