On Apple’s emergency press conference and the iPhone 4

You might have gotten wift that Apple has called for a last minute press conference this Friday.

We may be wrong on this but never in our experience have we heard of Apple calling for a last minute press conference. Things must be running on DEFCON 5 at Cupertino. There’s a lot of speculation on what this last minute press conference is all about, though many are saying that Apple will come clean on the antenna issue on the iPhone 4.

Most of the tech blogs in the US are making a big deal out of it, speculating a eminent recall but honestly speaking we’re pretty sick and tired of it all. Seriously everyone, there’s nothing to see here and we all need to move on.

The fact of the matter remains that iPhone 4 is a flawed product. It is, essentially, a phone that doesn’t work. It doesn’t matter if the screen is so chock full of pixels that your eyes can’t even see them, it doesn’t matter that it’s made out of glass and is sure as hell doesn’t matter if it can make video calls – besides you can only do it with WiFi and even with WiFi the iPhone 4 has issues.

What matters is the fact that Apple has been trying very hard to play down the issue. Even Steve Jobs said that iPhone 4 users are holding it wrong and Apple recommends you use the iPhone 4 with a case. Apple has even deleted forum postings that highlight the antenna issue and reference the recent report from US non-profit US consumer watchdog, Consumer Reports on its official message boards. This is not the first time Apple has resorted to deleting negative posts on it forums and it goes to show how they do business.

What Apple needs to do is to stop denying that there’s a problem with the iPhone 4 and to start fixing it, and what the rest of the world needs to do is move on. There are other phones out there that are just as good if not better. In the Android camp, HTC, Samsung and Motorola have caught up with Apple. The naysayers will argue that the iPhone has more apps, a lot more. We say, so does Android. In fact has more apps that can do more things with an Android phone and apps like Swype really demonstrate how Android devices are more flexible in terms of usability.

The naysayers would argue that that the Android Market is filled with useless apps. We say, have you browse through Apple’s App Store? There’s a lot of bad, useless apps there as well. At least with Android, the choice is almost infinite, there are so much more you can do with an Android powered device.

Credit where credit is due, Apple changed the game with the iPhone, yes, they did that but everyone else has caught up. As much as Apple would like you to believe the iPhone 4 is revolutionary, the fact of the matter is it’s really just an improvement over the 3GS with a better screen, faster processor and a new UI with features that Android already has.

Please, don’t get us wrong, we’re not saying that Android is perfect but it is a great alternative. But what we’re saying is Apple and the iPhone does not have the much of a lead over the competition anymore. So everyone “relax, enjoy your family. It is just a phone. Not worth it.”

Back to the press conference this Friday. So will Apple issue a recall for the iPhone 4? Looking at things at the moment, we doubt it very much but it’s not impossible, though a recall would cost Apple and estimated US$1.5 billion and it’s an almost inconceivable scenario for Apple. Will Apple offer free Bumpers? Yet another possible but highly improbable scenario. So what will Apple announce this Friday? Guess we all will have to wait and see.