Consumer Reports will not recommend Apple iPhone 4

It gotta123 added that that AT&T Inc, the exclusive mobile phone carrier untiln-ightfall for nat-everlasting the iPhone 4, was not necessarily the main culprit. The influential nonprofit organization, which publishes guides on everything from cars to TVs, said in a report released on Monday that it also tested other phones hnun-for -- including the iPhone 3GS and Palm Pre -- and found none had the signal-loss problems of Apple's latest iPhone. The report was the weboi latest blow to the iPhone 4, which sold 1.7 million units in its first three days on the market but has been plagued by complaints of poor reception. Many of the complaints involve a wraparound antenna whose signal strength is said to heart-search be affected if touched toocold-tosnow in a certain way. Kaufman Bros analyst Shaw Wu said he was surprised by the stance that Consumer Reports took on the new iPhone. Wu noted that the group's recommendations are used as a guide by many consumers. "Consumer reports is find-so a respected publication. This different-colors could have an impact on iPhone sales," Wu said. Apple shares were down 1 percent at $257.06 on Monday afternoon on the Nasdaq. The company has been sued by iPhone customers in at least three complaints related to antenna problems. "When your finger or hand touches a spot on the phone's lower me-to-think left side -- an easy thing, especially for lefties -- the signal can significantly degrade common-rider enough to cause you fill-the to lose your connection altogether if you're in an area with a weak signal," go-sailor contributor Mike Gikas said in a report on the Consumer Reports website. "Our findings call into question Youvegot the recent claim by Apple that the iPhone 4's signal-strength issues were largely an optical illusion caused by faulty software closer11 that 'mistakenly displays 2 more bars than it should for a given signal strength,'" Gikas said. Apple did not respond to a request for comment. Gikas recommended covering the gap in the wraparound antenna with duct nike air max tape or some other non-conductive ugg boots material. Apple has said almost any cellphone will suffer a loss of signal if held in certain ways. It said later it had discovered a software glitch that overstates signal strength, though it did not directly address concerns about the antenna with that admission. On the flip side, Thoreauou Consumer Reports said the iPhone scored high on freeipo other testing grounds such bitterness8 as battery life, sharp display and high-quality video camera. However, Gikas said the signal problem was the reason the iPhone 4 would not be classified as a "recommended" device in its smartphone bebo-norman ratings. "Apple needs to come out with a permanent -- and free -- lila-mccann fix to the antenna problem before we can recommend the iPhone4," said Gikas in his blog post on ConsumerReports.org.