• All Smartphones have weakspots – showing videos of 3 competitive smartphones, Apple demonstrated that all Smartphones show signal-loss when “gripped tightly”
• AppleCare Data = 0.55% – Less than half of 1% of AppleCare support calls are related to antenna and signal-loss issues
• AT&T Return Rates = 1/3 of iPhone 3GS – The number of customers whom have returned their iPhones (based on dissatisfaction) is far less than those that had returned their iPhone 3GSs. Theoretically showing that despite the success and praise that the iPhone 3GS has received, it had 3 times as many returns to AT&T stores as the new iPhone 4 has had.
• Dropped Calls = <1 per 100 – Once again comparing to  the highly successful iPhone 3GS, less than 1 out of 100 more calls are dropped on the new iPhone 4. In this statistic Apple admits “we cannot deny that this shows a problem with the antenna”. But also reminds us that the difference between iPhone 3GS and iPhone 4 is miniscule.

Apple admits that there is a problem, but repeatedly reminds us that it is no different than other smartphones, and that the data proves that although a problem is apparent, it is only affecting a “small percentage of users”.

Apple then proceeded to explain the actions that it is taking to fix the issue. They repeated that although this is a problem with only a small number of users, they want to satisfy each and every user.

The first action that they have already taken is the updated operating system (iOS 4.0.1) which became available for free download yesterday afternoon. This fixes the algorithm that Apple uses to accurately display signal-strength. Apple admits that this does not fix the problem, but puts the problem into perspective, with a more accurate display of signal-strength.

Furthermore, Apple is offering a free case to every iPhone 4 user. Namely, this includes Apple’s own popular “Bumper Case”, which has been in high-demand, and to-date is the only iPhone 4 case offered in Apple Retail Stores (although I have no data to support it, I have visited 5 different Apple Stores since iPhone 4 launch, one of which being Apple’s own flagship store in New York City on 5th St., and I have only seen black bumpers available). If you have already purchased a bumper case, Apple will be refunding you the full $29 for the price of the bumper. Apple also admits that it does not have enough bumpers available to give one to every iPhone 4 owner, so they will offer a choice of other 3rd-party cases available for you to choose instead (but did not specify which cases those will be). You will be able to sign-up for a free case online at the end of next week.

Not only are they willing to hand out free cases to every owner, but if you find that you are still not satisfied with the iPhone 4 (either before or after you receive a free bumper), you can return the phone to Apple for a full refund (waiving all restocking fees) within 30 days.

Apple repeated that they are here to help every single owner of a new iPhone 4, not just the ones that are experiencing problems.

First of all, the design of the new Calendar is going to mimick the experience that iPad owners are experiencing with their iPad devices. The interface will resemble that of a daily planner in book format.

Apple also hinted at a much stronger integration with CalDAV, which is a universal calendar event file format. This will allow transfers and sharing of your events much easier with friends that don’t have MobileMe. For your friends that do have MobileMe, you will experience more sharing options, like the ability for them to mutually edit an event that you are sharing with them.

Beyond these feature additions, Apple’s new Calendar will also load much faster and be easier to scan for events in other views. Apple says that it is optimized to run in Safari 5, Firefox 3.6, and Internet Explorer 8.

Although Apple hasn’t made any mention of this yet, I believe it is also safe to assume that the whole application will be rebuilt in HTML5, the new internet standard that Apple is fully backing right now. This may explain their comment that the application is optimized by those certain browsers, all of which offer the greatest support for the new HTML5 standard.

For anyone wishing to sign-up for the beta, simply log onto your me.com account and go to the calendar page (mail page comes up as default). On the left-hand side, near the bottom you will see a beta announcement asking if you would like to be invited to the beta. Simply click the link that you would, and the small box will change, informing you that invitations will be handed out over the next couple weeks.

In the press release, Jobs is again quoted as calling the iPad, “a magical product” that “has become a part of [everyone's] daily lives”. Jobs continues with a promise that the iPad will become available in nine more countries in the coming month, which will only further increase the popularity of this device.

The full press release is posted below:

Apple Sells Three Million iPads in 80 Days

CUPERTINO, California—June 22, 2010—Apple® today announced that it sold its three millionth iPad™ yesterday, just 80 days after its introduction in the US. iPad is a revolutionary and magical product that allows users to connect with their apps, content and the Internet in a more intimate, intuitive and fun way than ever before.

“People are loving iPad as it becomes a part of their daily lives,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “We’re working hard to get this magical product into the hands of even more people around the world, including those in nine more countries next month.”

Developers have created over 11,000 exciting new apps for iPad that take advantage of its Multi-Touch™ user interface, large screen and high-quality graphics. iPad will run almost all of the more than 225,000 apps on the App Store, including apps already purchased for your iPhone® or iPod touch®

Users can browse the web, read and send email, enjoy and share photos, watch HD videos, listen to music, play games, read ebooks and much more, all using iPad’s revolutionary Multi-Touch user interface. iPad is 0.5 inches thin and weighs just 1.5 pounds—thinner and lighter than any laptop or netbook—and delivers up to 10 hours of battery life.*

*Battery life depends on device settings, usage and other factors. Actual results vary.

Apple ignited the personal computer revolution with the Apple II, then reinvented the personal computer with the Macintosh. Apple continues to lead the industry with its award-winning computers, OS X operating system, and iLife, iWork and professional applications. Apple leads the digital music revolution with its iPods and iTunes online store, has reinvented the mobile phone with its revolutionary iPhone and App Store, and has recently introduced its magical iPad which is defining the future of mobile media and computing devices.

Today we are proud to announce that a new face for The Mac Coach is coming. Our new site will launch soon and will bring all of you countless new features, and added functionality. Here is a brief list of what we will be seeing in the coming weeks and months.

1. Cleaner Look

This site is focused on Apple and its’ products, all of which are exceptionally well-known for their critical design and clean, effective styling. With those products in mind, the future site of The Mac Coach will bring to all of you a cleaner, more pristine interface that just begs you to stop and stare.

2. Universal Compatibility (HTML5)

Probably the most common suggestion that I see in my inbox is to improve compatibility of the site for other products (namely the iPad, iPod Touch, and iPhone devices). Our original site incorporated a large amount of Flash. Although the animations and menus were engaging, the site was virtually useless to iPhone users or visitors on an iPad device. Since these users are most likely the people that would visit our site, it only makes sense that we make our site work for them.

Our new site will not use flash for menus or animations, but will instead use HTML5 standards and javascripts or AJAX for engaging content. All of these technologies are compatible with virtually any internet-connected device (including all brands of smart-phones).

2B. HTML5 Video Player

As a continuation of the point above, yet of such great importance that it deserves its’ own bullet point is the introduction of an HTML5 video player to play our popular screencasts. This allows iPad users to watch our videos using this newly developing standard. On a desktop or laptop computer however, we will still continue to deliver our content in Flash video format as many features of video delivery are still lacking from the newly created HTML5 standard (full-screen as one example).

Look for this feature in the coming months.

3. Greater Range of Content

Right now all of our content on themaccoach.com is for the desktop mac experience. This is a fast-growing environment that many people are looking for training in. That is why we are here, to teach and help mac users to get more acquainted with their computers. In the past 6 months however, other products like the iPad and the up-and-coming iPhone 4 are dominating the markets with new users. It is our pleasure to announce that themaccoach.com will now provide training for these products as well. We will continue to bring you Apple news like this blog, but in addition, we will now have screencast of iPhone and iPad software. We will also be starting app reviews so that you can learn about exciting new apps for these devices, and even see them in actions in our signature videos.

4. One Place… Everything

Before, our sites were slightly scattered. We had our main site available at themaccoach.com, then we had child sites such as mobileme.themaccoach.com or ilife.themaccoach.com, and we also had sister sites like The Mac Coach Blog (which you are reading now) or our forums. All of these were seperate sites that did their best to maintain uniformity, but ultimately made things confusing for you. Our new site will incorporate everything together into one unified site so that you can come to one place to get everything. This also means that this blog will be moving soon… but it will still exist.

5. Surprises around every corner

Keep in touch with us and our ever changing identity. We promise that many more exciting surprises are coming soon. We also love the comments that you have been sending us, if you have any further suggestions please send them our way.

The SDK includes the iPad simulator, sample code bits, a programming guide, human interface guidelines, and a host of programming tools to help you create iPad-ready applications when the product launches in a few months.

No word yet as to the exact changes with the newest version of this SDK, but we will be sure to keep you posted. For more information about the iPad SDK, visit Apple’s Official iPad SDK site.

First place went to L.L. Bean and second place went to USAA, an insurance company. Apple received its’ highest marks for “Quality of Staff” and “Efficiency of Service”. Apple placed 20th in last year’s poll by Business Week, showing that they have made considerable progress over the past year.

This rapid growth comes at a surprise to other manufacturers who are struggling through these economic troubles. Most manufacturers have cut costs considerably, trying to get their computers into consumer’s hands for less than $200 in some cases; While Apple sells over 90% of its’ computers at prices above $1,000. These prices aren’t bother consumers either. 58% of people surveyed said that they would buy an Apple computer again, and over two-thirds said they recommend it to friends. Apple is dropping jaws around the business world at how they are able to stay on top (and even reach record profits) in these difficult times. This also shows that companies can constantly improve in customer service, and that yes, customers notice.

[via Cult of Mac and BusinessWeek]

Jon Atherton, the developer of a title called Wobble iBoobs, recently received the above letter.

Other apps have disappeared from the App Store without trace like Exotic Positions or Sexy Women. But there are still other “adult” content apps that remain in the store. We will see if Apple decides to continue pursuing the deletion of these apps further or if they were looking for a simple way to eliminate the worst ones. Either way, this will likely cause minor controversy for the next few months, but will quickly slide under the rug and be forgotten.

[UPDATE: Since the time that we originally posted this article, over 5,000 apps have been removed from the App store. It is expected that at least 4,000 or more were due to this change in policy, or nearly 3% of the current apps on the app store have been removed because of this.]

Credit Suisse analyst Spencer Wang said in a report issued Tuesday that he believes Apple’s entry into the field has created fear surrounding the monopolizing growth of the Amazon Kindle. He adds furthermore that when you include the power of Google Books that competition in this field is expected to increase. He says that market share expectations for Amazon’s Kindle are expected to drop from 90% where it is today to about 35% over the course of 5 years.

Time will tell. After the introduction of the iPad, we will see quickly how fast the iBookstore catches on to the public. Looking at past attempts by Apple, the future of the eBook business could become very solid and Apple will likely play a large roll in getting it there. At a time when online music stores were struggling, iTunes Store defied the odds and became the largest distributor of music and media. It even pushed out big box stores like Best Buy and Target and longtime competitors like Amazon.com. Then we saw the rise of the App store. Apple found a way to manage and distribute user content to millions of iPod Touch and iPhone owners. Now, it is Apple’s next chance to take the eBook business by its’ heels and turn it around. Even if they have competitors like Amazon, they will improve the industry and set new standards for eBooks that will make all of us happy. Be sure to stay tuned to what Apple and its’ iPad can do for us.

Most recently, after the introduction of the Apple iPad, Steve Jobs has been quoted as saying many nasty things towards Flash. He also openly said that HTML5 is likely to replace Flash altogether, therefore no action is necessary towards creating Flash experiences on the iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad. With all these means things that Apple has done to our poor friend Adobe, is there anyway that they can kiss and make-up? The answer is: ”Yes, Maybe”.

In the video interview posted below, we have a good idea of where this relationship stands between Adobe and Apple. Now, Apple is never part of the interview, but Kevin Lynch, and Adobe Executive helps us clarifies what sort of things have been going on between Apple and Adobe over recent weeks.

The good news for Flash is that Lynch convincingly tells us that it is here to stay. This is promising with his closing comments that as long as they continue to innovate, Flash will always stay on top. They are aware that staying stagnant will cause them to lose their foothold on the web today. This is good, because we know that Adobe will keep working to make Flash better. It is also true that Flash is able to grow and advance much faster than HTML. Yes, a new HTML5 format has arisen, but these formats take years to implement, since it takes worldwide collaboration. The power of Flash is that it is handled by a hundred or so coders at Adobe headquarters. They can make dramatic changes to Flash and incorporate it worldwide with updates in only a few months.

Lynch also explains that 19 of 20 smartphone companies are onboard for bringing Flash to their devices. This leaves Apple as the odd man out, and with that dramatic industry pressure it will be hard for them to hold their ground much longer. Right now Apple is able to make Adobe look like the bad guy, but soon with these changes Adobe will be able to turn the tables and point the finger at Apple. Honestly the only reason that Apple has beecome so bold recently is because other companies are jumping on the bandwagon too. Microsoft and Google are two examples and this causes other major companies like Hulu into promising to switch to HTML5 to deliver content.

The important fact to understand is that in some respects, Flash has already been brought to the iPhone (and iPad) through Adobe Air. Air is an application that runs Flash content in a program environment. In other words some Apps available in the App Store are actually flash programs running on the device through an emulator of Adobe Air. This has major implications for App developers as this technology spreads to other devices. For example, I could create a game in the Flash design enviroment and publish it instantly to 20 different devices and their respective app stores without changing a single character of code. I could also then make the game available to any computer in the world by publishing it online. This is a huge advantage from where we are now. Currently I would have to learn and create an App using Apple’s SDK, then learn and adapt to Palm’s SDK, likewise with Android and so on. Plus each of these SDKs have different capabilities. Until recently Palm didn’t support 3D graphics, which limited an App I made on iPhone to be ported to the Palm device. With Flash this process will be much easier and capabilities of devices will become more of a moot point.

Currently 85% of the top websites use flash to deliver content.

Flash is here to stay with mobile devices. Adobe needs to make some changes, the Flash platform needs to adapt, but by the end of this year we should see Flash on many of our Smartphone devices. We already have Apps running in the app store under Adobe Air, and it is only a matter of time that Apple will be able to shake hands with Adobe and say, “well done”. Right now, Apple is reluctant to use Flash because of its’ list of flaws. When Adobe fixes those flaws, there is no way that Apple could say no to Flash.

You may notice a similar feature on the iPod Touch, but also noticed the lack of such a feature on the iPhone. That is because the iPhone is made of spectrum-translucent plastic. This special plastic allows waves from the 3G antennae to escape. The iPad is covered in aluminum casing, which isn’t 3G friendly.

There isn’t much other purpose for the strip except to look cool. It may distinguish normal users from the “premium” 3g users, giving them the cool edge. All the photos are available for you to see directly from Apple’s Gallery.

[via GadgetLab]