Judge applies class action status to lawsuit against Apple, AT&T

The Associated Press reports a federal judge will allow a lawsuit filed against Apple and iPhone wireless carrier AT&T to proceed as a class action. At issue is Apple's control over what applications can be installed to the iPhone as well as their exclusivity deal with AT&T. The lawsuit alleges actions taken by the two companies is hurting competition, says AP. The lawsuit also claims the following, from the AP:
"Apple secretly made AT&T its exclusive iPhone partner in the U.S. for five years. Consumers agreed to two-year contracts with the Dallas-based wireless carrier when they purchased their phones, but were in effect locked into a five-year relationship with AT&T."

The lawsuit seeks an injunction to stop Apple from selling iPhones locked into AT&T's network and more freedom for installing software to the smartphone. Apple did comment to AP, disputing the impact on competition in the market.

Consumer Reports gives thumbs down to iPhone 4 reception woes

At first, Apple said there was a simple fix for the iPhone 4's reception problems -- hold the phone differently. Then it said it was working on a software fix to make it better.Now the venerable Consumer Reports says that because of the reception issues, it can't recommend the iPhone.

"Our findings call into question the recent claim by Apple that the iPhone 4's signal-strength issues were largely an optical illusion caused by faulty software that 'mistakenly displays 2 more bars than it should for a given signal strength'," writes Consumer Reports in a blog post. "The tests also indicate that AT&T's network might not be the primary suspect in the iPhone 4's much-reported signal woes."

The issue: touch the new antennas on the side of the iPhone and the signal can easily get either lost or weakened. Consumer Reports said it tested three iPhone 4s in the New York area, and compared it to the earlier iPhone 3GS model and the Palm Pre, neither of which had signal loss issues.

Apple initially recommended that consumers buy cases for the iPhone to cover the antenna and shield it from your hands. Consumer Reports also suggests duct tape "may not be pretty, but it works."
Despite its qualms, Consumer Reports still loves the iPhone, saying it has the "sharpest display and best video camera we've seen on any phone," and beats previous models with better battery life.

"But Apple needs to come up with a permanent -- and free -- fix for the antenna problem before we can recommend the iPhone 4."