I know this was part of Google’s mapping mandate, and (I can’t source where I read it) there is a caveat about network devices that move; the database is only as accurate as when it was recorded.

From my own experience of owning an iPhone 4 for a few days, the number of bars can vary wildly, easily going from 5 to 2 just by holding it slightly differently. While this sounds dramatic, the figures above show that it’s probably a drop of only a few dB, reflecting the signal attenuation I’d expect from placing a big block of water (i.e. my hand) on the antenna. Exposing the antenna externally almost certainly invites more attenuation than previously, but in practice it doesn’t affect calls or the 3G connection. I’ve never lost the signal completely even by trying the unnatural ‘grip-of-death’. I wouldn’t know any different if the phone simply showed a constant 3 bars, which sounds exactly like the ‘fix’ Apple is making.

It’s a interesting user interface issue though: users are only made aware of the attenuation because the number of bars changes so easily. Let’s see if the complaints stop once it’s not so obvious.

I am going to ring them again early next week to see if I can redeem it by post. With the closure of the sales office in Dublin there is now no SAS ticket desks on the island of Ireland (either in Northern Ireland or in the Republic). So I have no other way of collecting it (unless they want to offer me a free flight to Copenhagen and redeem it there!)

David.