Antenna Display Fine Engineering, Poor Usability
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Apple's engineers took an innovative approach to creating
antennas with good access to free space, appropriate physical and electrical
length for the frequencies required, and a robust physical design. It's much
better in many ways from the little wire pull-up antennas that used to plague
cell phones. It's also a more efficient design than those zig-zag antennas
buried in the innards of most other devices. But it is subject to user
interaction.
But user interaction is a factor in every phone,
regardless of maker or design. One way or another, users can find a way to
interfere with radio reception regardless of the phone. With the iPhone 4, you
can do it by putting your hand on that little black strip. With the Nokia 100
(this goes way back), you could do it by touching that little wire antenna that
stuck up from the top.
At this point, I'm going to totally ruin the day for
those iPhone partisans who are just waiting for an excuse to yell at me. When I
looked at the interior of the iPhone 4, I was struck by the elegance of the
device's antenna design. It was clear from the first glance that there would be
an issue with people touching the antenna, but it seemed to me at the time that
that risk was worth it given the efficient radiators that those outside strips
of metal had become.
From an engineering viewpoint, the iPhone 4 has a seriously
good antenna design. From a usability viewpoint, not so much. Perhaps the
inclusion of a thin layer of clear plastic might have helped, or even a sticker
with an arrow pointing to the gap and the words, "Don't hold phone here"
might have been enough. But once you know that when your hand covers that gap you
will get poor reception, then you will know not to do it.
Given the location of the iPhone 4's antenna, it was a
sure thing that the reception would have been affected by being held, if only
because the user's hand can change the overall capacitance of the system, and
that in turn can affect the efficiency of the antenna. Given the fact that the
design overall will result in better reception than if it had been placed
internally, it's a net gain. There's really nothing wrong with the iPhone 4's
antenna that a little knowledge about antennas won't fix.
Wayne Rash is a Senior Analyst for eWEEK Labs and runs the magazineÃÃÃs Washington Bureau. Prior to joining eWEEK as a Senior Writer on wireless technology, he was a Senior Contributing Editor and previously a Senior Analyst in the InfoWorld Test Center. He was also a reviewer for Federal Computer Week and Information Security Magazine. Previously, he ran the reviews and events departments at CMP's InternetWeek.He is a retired naval officer, a former principal at American Management Systems and a long-time columnist for Byte Magazine. He is a regular contributor to Plane & Pilot Magazine and The Washington Post.
