Best Buy customers can get a free Side Shield for the iPhone 4. Starting today,Best Buy iPhone 4 owners can get clear, unobtrusive Side Shield from invisibleSHIELD from ZAGG thatwas designed to address issues with antenna attenuation.

This program will be available free of charge, including installation, to anyone who purchased or will purchase an iPhone 4 from Best Buy and will be extended to all existing Reward Zone customers. The solution will also be available to the general public for the retail price $9.99, including installation. The Side Shield can also be purchased directly from Zagg online.

Star Date Now: There is now the Star Trek Captain's Log app for iPhone 4. The Captain's Log app transforms the iPhone 4 into a Star Trek Captains communicator. Their website claims "Open your Star Trek communicator to begin logging voice recordings, pictures, and GPS mapping locations of your voyages. Choose to share your logs with friends and social networks or keep a log private. As a member of the Starfleet Command, your mission is to explore, seek out new life and civilizations and boldly go where no one has gone before."

Using the Captain's Log communicator, users capture voice recordings, text entries, take photos and map GPS locations of their voyages as they travel. Officers select their preferred Enterprise class level, whether taking the role of Captain, Engineering, Science/Medical, Enterprise, or assuming the identity an enemy Romulan or Klingon officer.

Gay men social networking service fabulis now has an iPhone app. Fabulis members, also known as 'fabbits,' can instantly connect with people nearby, engage in real-time chat with members who are online via the iPhone or web, and to browse more than 71,000 gay-relevant local events. 

To celebrate, fabulis is awarding anyone who writes either a detailed blog post on their personal blog, or submits a video to their YouTube Channel  a free fabulis t-shirt.

Also unique to the app is the "shake-it" or random-friend-maker feature - a colorful slot machine style screen that when shook, connects users based on their proximity. fabulis is available free of charge at www.fabulis.com and in the Apple iPhone App Store.

A  ChangeWave smartphone survey found that the next 90 day projections show the most extensive growth in consumer smartphone sales ever recorded in a ChangeWave survey. They looked at demand for the new Apple iPhone 4 and the HTC Droid Incredible, along with the impact these and other offerings are having on the rest of the smart phone industry.

Apple and HTC are taking over from Motorola and RIM. There's a huge increase in demand for the Apple OS and an accelerating downturn for the RIM OS.

Just in case you haven't heard, there have been issues with the iPhone 4 and attenuation on the iTenna.  Hands that touch the lower left hand corner, can decrease signals. This condition was called the "death grip" and the whole mess is called "Atennagate.'

Last week, Steve Jobs, announced that Apple will offer free cases to iPhone 4 owners.  There is now a website showing how to get the free cases, and the only way iPhone 4 users can get a case is via an iPhone app.

Those who purchase an iPhone 4 before September 30, 2010, are eligible to receive an iPhone 4 Bumper or a select third-party case from Apple at no charge. iPhone 4 owners must download the iPhone 4 Case Program app from the App Store. Then launch the app on your iPhone 4 and sign in using your iTunes Store account or Apple ID.. Users then select a Bumper or case

The MOG mobile app for iPhone and Android is now available for unlimite on-demand music. For $9.99 per month,  get access to more than 8 million songs with unlimited listening and all-you-can-download downloads.  So what do you call yourself when you use MOG, a Mogger which rhymes with "blogger."

Included in the service is MOG's desktop service which can be accessed using any PC and any browser. MOG claims to be is the first mobile service that lets subscribers download any song or album directly to their iPhone or Android phone.

MOG Mobile for iPhone and Android features include:

• Unlimited downloads: Subscribers can download any song or album directly to their phones and continue to listen to music even when out of cell or WiFi range.
• On-demand streaming: Unlimited listening to any artist, album, or song at any time.
• MOG Radio: Only MOG offers the patent-pending "MOG Mobius" music discovery engine, which enables users to control the mix of similar artists, from true "artist only" radio up to a full mix of similar artists.
• Playlist access between website and mobile: Make playlists on MOG.com and access them on your phone. Favorite tracks that are bookmarked from the web are then integrated into a user's personal library and appear in favorites on the mobile app.
• High quality audio: Songs can be downloaded at the standard rate of 64 kbps or users can turn on HQ downloads (up to 320 kbps) to save the song as a larger file with higher audio quality. This gives listeners the option of receiving high quality downloads for maximum audio fidelity.
• Multi-tasking: Android users can continue to play music with MOG while using other applications. In the coming weeks, MOG will add multi-tasking for iOS 4 users.

A new IDC survey indicates that 66% of current iPhone owners are delaying their purchase of the iPhone 4, lengthening the normal upgrade cycle associated with the release of a new phone. However, the antenna issues do not seem to be impacting the 74% of non-iPhone owners who indicated that they are not delaying their purchase plans.

The IDC survey was done in collaboration with the IDG TechPanel that seeks to provide insight into the impact the technical problems with the Apple iPhone 4.

We've got a call out to IDC to see if they can comment about consumers perceptions of the iPhone after Steve Jobs' press conference today in which he offered free cases and returns.

At the iPhone 4 Press Conference,  today, even though Steve Jobs does not use a bumper on his iPhone 4,  he offered the over 3 million people who bought the latest iPhone 4, free bumper cases, refunds if they bought an Apple case, showed a funny video, and showed other phones with attenuation. He offered full refunds to anyone who's not satisfied, and noted that the press was unfair to the iPhone 4.  He did not offer a product recall as some had hoped.

Jobs said that only 0.55% of iPhone 4 owners have called in to AppleCare to complain. He showed on the BlackBerry Bold 9700 and Droid Eris have simular attenuation issues to the death grip on the iPhone 4.

He did admit about Apple, "We're not perfect."

Consumer Reports is not giving the iPhone their seal of approval and also found Apple's claim that the signal bars were wrongly calculated was bogus.

Consumer Reports has tested the iPhone 4 with cell tower simulations.  They found that the loss of signal aka death grip is a true problem especially for left-handed people therefore they wrote, "the signal can significantly degrade enough to cause you to lose your connection altogether if you're in an area with a weak signal. Due to this problem, we can't recommend the iPhone 4.

Consumer Reports also found Apple's claim that the signal bars were wrongly calculated was bogus.

They found a way to fix the lower-left antenna corner issue, "Cover the antenna gap with a piece of duct tape or another thick, non-conductive material."

If you are an iPhone 4 owner who wants to video call with friends and family who don't have iPhones or you want to use 3G instead of Wi-Fi, then the latest version of the Fring app may be for you. Or you may have an HTC EVO 4G and you want to video call your iPhoned contacts.

Fring, video calling, yesterday allowed iPhone users unrestricted 2-way video calling over Wi-Fi or 3G internet with other iPhone, Android or Symbian devices. A video follows showing the fring app working across devices.

Since adding 2-way video calling on iPhone 4 yesterday, there was  huge jump in fring video calling. To free up capacity for more the fring-to-fring video calling, fring temporarily reduced support to 3rd -party Skype.

Compete issued their Q1 2010 Smartphone Intelligence survey, which showed increases in the use of local search, social networking and gaming on smartphones. The report covers smartphone such as iPhone, BlackBerry, Android and other smartphones. iPhone users are top gamers while all Android and iPhone users used local search equally.

Local Search Very Common
Almost one in three smartphone owners has called or stopped into a local business after finding it using a local search application. In Q1 alone, close to a third of Android and iPhone owners discovered at least two new businesses that they were not previously aware of as a result of using local search applications.

The AT&T network was supposed to be ready for the deluge of data from the new rave-reviewed iPhone 4, but upload speeds were v-e-r-y slow.  The uplink problem, confirmed in an AT&T statement, was a software glitch with Alacatel-Lucent HSUPA equipment.  The iPhone 4 is currently the only smartphone that AT&T  using HSUPA which has the problem.

AT&T said they have temporary fix that should return upload data speeds to the usual 3G speeds. Until the problem is fixed iPhone 4 users will have a maximum speed of 384Kbps.  Users have reported upload speeds as slow a 32 Kbps.

The A&T statement appears below.

This is not the first software glitch for iPhone 4.  There is a problem with the way signal bars appear on the iPhone 4 as well as signal loss with a left-handed grip. A software update is supposed to be in the works for the bar-issue.

Borders' eBook store launches with more than 1.5 million titles, including thousands of free titles, available in a variety of formats, including ePub, mobile and PDF, developed by Kobo maker of eReaders and their iPhone/iPad apps. The eBooks can be read on the Kobo eReader, personal computers, iPhone/iPad, BlackBerry and Android.

Users can get Borders Rewards loyalty program  benefits ranging from special gift cards and free shipping on certain items, to exclusive offers on popular digital series, double Borders Bucks incentives on the purchase of eReaders,

They are selling the Kobo eReader ($149), which  comes with 100 free titles, and the Libre eBook Reader Pro ($119.)

Borders is also now offering Blackberry and Android eReading applications, powered by Kobo. Now customers can enjoy the free, easy-to-use eBook reading applications on the BlackBerry Curve, the new BlackBerry Tour 9630 and the Blackberry Bold, as well as Android smartphones.

The Death Grip on the iPhone 4 has gotten its grip on Apple, for which they have issued a statement telling users that that they are "stunned" that they miscalculated the formula for bar signals that show on the iPhone 4.

The reason why the bars are dropping so quickly with a south-paw grip is that the number of bars showing weren't right in the first place.  They call the cause for the dramatic drop "simple and surprising."

Apple will issue a software update for the iPhone 4, Phone 3GS and iPhone 3G, shortly to fix the glitch and remind users that if they are not happy they can return their new iPhone 4 for a refund within 30 days.

In the meantime, it's nearly impossible to find case that will cover up the left corner death grip location on the iPhone 4.   Antenna experts AntennaSys, tried wrapping an iPhone 4 with electrical tape to see if the grip of death still occurred and there was not difference. They also found similar attenuation problems with the original iPhone.

On almost every cell phone there can be signal degradation from hands blocking the antenna. We posted several videos that show signal attenuation, earlier last week.

With 12% unemployment in the state of California, it's good to know that Apple is hiring antenna engineers, hopefully to fix signal problems with the iPhone 4. Apple began their search for antenna engineers about the same time the iPhone 4 Death Grip Issue surfaced.

The engineer will be required to:

• Define and implement antenna system architecture to optimize the radiation performance for wireless portable devices.

• The candidate will be expected to performance radiation performance measurements, create test plans, execute them, publish test reports, provide feedback to the other design engineers, and lead some of the manufacturing of antenna.

The beloved iPhone 4 that is expected to come to Verizon next year, is not perfect, there is some attenuation and signal loss if you hold it near its steel-rimmed bottom-left corner, especially if you’re using the iPhone 4 in a weak signal area, this problem is referred to as “death grip.“  To improve reception Apple put the antenna in a metal rim to improve reception. There have been reports that the reception of the iPhone 4 has better reception than previous iPhones.

Yesterday, we showed several videos of different phones with the same attenuation problems.  Everyone, likes to put a “death grip” and gripe about iPhone 4 problems.

Yahoo! trends shows iPhone Death Grip as rising,  while Google is showing massive increases in iPhone 4 search signal strength.

Leaked internal documents show Apple care people how to deal with callers complaining about the iPhone 4 Death Grip:
1. Note that is the best reception of any iPhone yet.
2. Gripping almost any mobile phone in certain places will reduce its reception. This is true of the iPhone 4, the iPhone 3GS, and many other phones we have tested. It is a fact of life in the wireless world.
3.If you are experiencing this on your iPhone 3GS, avoid covering the bottom-right side with your hand.
4. If you are experiencing this on your iPhone 4, avoid covering the black strip in the lower-left corner of the metal band.
5. A bumper or case may help.

It goes on to instruct employees to not perform warranty service, to still trouble shoot, only escalate if the problem happens when there is no hand over the and there will be no free rubber bumpers from Apple.

Even though Verizon Wireless has the finest Android smartphones around, it looks like Verizon customers still want the coveted iPhone.

Bloomberg News reported today, that Verizon will be offering the iPhone in January 2011, citing multiple anonymous sources.

This follows a Wall Street Journal report that Apple will begin making CDMA iPhones in September. 

Apple and Verizon do not comment on these kinds of forward looking statements. The iPhone which has been an AT&T exclusive should give Verizon a boost UBS AG analyst Jod Hodulik estimated in an interview that Verizon customers, who numbered 92.8 million at the end of the first quarter, could buy 3 million iPhones a quarter, he estimates.

Apple sold over 1.7 million iPhone 4 through Saturday, June 26, three days after its launch on June 24, even with reception issues, while the iOS 4 is putting a drain on iPhone 3G 3GS users.

The iPhone 4 suffers from attenuation/reception issues when held with a left hand.  An iOS 4.0.1 software fix is in the works and may arrive as early as Monday, according to Apple Insider.

According to iSuppli Corp.'s Teardown Analysis service, the 16Gbyte version of the iPhone 4 carries a BOM of $187.51, iSuppli estimated the BOM of the 3GS in 2009 at $170.80; the 3G in 2008 at $166.31 and the first iPhone in 2007 at $217.73.

The LCD display represents the single most expensive component in the iPhone 4, costing $28.50 and accounting for 15.2 percent of the product's total BOM. The 3.5-inch display uses advanced Low-Temperature Polysilicon (LTPS) and In-Plane Switching (IPS) technology, and features a 960 by 630 resolution--four times that of the iPhone 3GS.

The latest lines and frenzy for the iPhone 4 have analysts buzzing. Some predict that over 1 million iPhone 4 smartphones will be sold today. There have also been problems with the screen that should be cured over time.

Some iPhone 4 newbies reported the  iPhone 4 that has gotten rave reviews looses signal strength when you touch the lower-left corner of its external antenna band which some contend is software issue.

Update 7/6/10: Apple has issued a statement, saying it is stunned at the problems and admits that the bar signals shown on the screen are not accurate. They will issue a software update to fix that glitch.  Most phones have signal loss with hands covering some part of the phone you can view several videos that show signal attenuation, we posted after the death grip revelation. Internal Apple documents revealed how to Apple Care associates should deal with the problem.

As of 11:00 am this morning, CNET reported that while stores in New York and San Francisco were still making sales, other stores are already out of stock. Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster reported today, that he had called 20 Apple stores in the morning and found nine already out of iPhone 4. AT&T is not selling an iPhone 4 to non-pre-orders, until June 29.

There have been rumors flying around about the launch of the iPhone 4 this week. Some pre-orderers have gotten emails telling them to expect their new iPhone 4 tomorrow.  AT&T Wireless has issued a statement to keep customers informed of  iPhone 4 news before the  iPhone 4 mania hits the streets.

They don't want the general non-pre-order public in stores until June 29. AT&T has a facebook page to help  iPhone 4 buyers which is over-loaded and does not load as of this writing.

AT&T is on-track to deliver iPhone 4 phones to customers who pre-ordered the device on June 15.  AT&T will be offering the  iPhone 4 to all other customers beginning Tuesday, June 29, when it goes on sale in all AT&T sales channels.

Here are the few guidelines for customers buying iPhone 4 from AT&T:

• Preordered for home or business delivery:  iPhone 4 will begin arriving this week for customers who preordered.  AT&T send an email when each order has shipped.
• Preordered for store delivery: AT&T retail representatives will begin calling customers this week to let them know their iPhone 4 is available for pick up in store.