Ěndeed, KPN have special sim-only plans specifically tailored to the iPhone. About a quarter of the iPhones in circulation in the Netherlands are not with T-Mobile, the official (and only) provider.

T-Mobile is having similar problems in the Netherlands, but mainly at very busy choke points such as train stations and Schiphol and along primary motorways. But they promise now that they are investing heavily in increasing capacity at such locations to improve the network. But maybe KPN is also indeed scared of the capacity problems, being the dominant player; might ruin their currently very well-liked network.

Is it possible/sensible to get the new iphone outside the U.S.? I'll be travelling through Korea and the Philiippines soon.

I read an interesting article, that I unfortunately cant find, that basically said Apple and Verizon are certainly in negotiations and have been and will continue to be. And that occasionally that kicks into these rumors. But it is probably impossible to tell if it will be happening in 2 months or two years.

I am not quite sure if I understand the reasoning behind your desire to get an iPhone someplace outside of the US. Though I will give a shot at answering this question best I can.

I think the only reason I would get an iPhone outside of my home country (which if the question is just are they available in other countries, then yes they are, check the Apple website for specifics), would be if I wanted to get the factory unlocked version at full retail price which is only available in certain countries (ie not the US). If you buy an iPhone abroad locked to another network you are usually stuck in a contract, the price of the actual phone may not be such a deal in the end because of FX rates, and it will be locked to a provider in another country until an unlock comes out.

I plan to by my factory unlocked iPhone 4 in Hong Kong as soon as they are available there. Also available in Singapore if I remember correctly.

Singapore, Thailand, HKG, NZ, and more ... http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1937

But not Korea or PI.

-David

Woops.

Consumer Reports just published their review and testing report on the iPhone 4. Not only do they recommend against buying the phone but they pretty much call Apples recent "explanation" BS.

CR iPhone 4 Review

"...we can't recommend the iPhone 4.

We reached this conclusion after testing all three of our iPhone 4s (purchased at three separate retailers in the New York area) in the controlled environment of CU's radio frequency (RF) isolation chamber. In this room, which is impervious to outside radio signals, our test engineers connected the phones to our base-station emulator, a device that simulates carrier cell towers (see video: IPhone 4 Design Defect Confirmed). We also tested several other AT&T phones the same way, including the iPhone 3G S and the Palm Pre. None of those phones had the signal-loss problems of the iPhone 4."

"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."

"The tests also indicate that AT&T's network might not be the primary suspect in the iPhone 4's much-reported signal woes."

Interesting that the iPhone 4 was the only phone they have tested to have this problem which undermines greatly Apple's claim that all cell phones have this problem.

Not to worry though, there is an immediate solution,

"We did, however, find an affordable solution for suffering iPhone 4 users: Cover the antenna gap with a piece of duct tape or another thick, non-conductive material. It may not be pretty, but it works."

So there you go, no problems. I wonder if Apple's next batch of phones will include a strip of duct tape?

What am I saying, "include". Packages of iTape will no doubt soon be available for purchase; three stips to a package for $29.95.

but did they make any calls in real world conditions?

the number of bars does not matter. what matters if the user can make and receive calls and in particular, whether they drop or not.

anandtech found that despite the iphone 4 showing fewer bars when held in certain ways, it was able to hold onto calls much better than other phones.

i'm also puzzled about their comment on other phones, because i can easily change the number of bars on pretty much any phone (not just iphones) depending on how its held.

consumer reports rated at&t last:
http://digitaldaily.allthingsd.com/2...ervice-survey/

and if the iphone is the problem, then why aren't there as many complaints in other countries for other carriers?

I suspect the reason in general that there aren't significantly more complaints than there already are is because the majority of iPhone 4 users likely buy a case for their phone.

But just because a case [or tape] might mask the problem doesn't mean that the problem isn't real.

I have seen a lot of speculation from the various tech sites that the reason Apple didn't see this problem coming was because the iPhone 4s used by their testers were all camouflaged inside an iPhone 3 case which also masked the problem.

I don't know if that is the case but it seems quite plausible.

Look, I think the iPhone 4 looks cool as hell, the screen is gorgeous would still consider buying one if Apple can solve this problem but it seems pretty clear that the 4 has a very serious hardware problem and no amount of fanboyism [currently running rampant on the web] is going to change that. Seems to me that Apple would be better served by engineering their way out of this one as opposed to releasing a bunch of missives from Steve Jobs telling his customers that there is no problem or if there is just spend another $30 on a case.

YMMV.

I reported above that my iPhone 4 purchased from Orange in France works just fine no matter how I hold it. Since that post I have traveled to Slovenia, the Netherlands & Belgium and have had zero problems with reception.

So either the batch sold in France doesn't have the supposed defect, or the networks in Europe are much better than AT&T's in the USA. Based on my not-so-scientific investigations.

Note: I will report I have had to reboot my phone 3 times since buying it a few weeks ago. But I blame that on IOS 4.0 which seems a bit buggy.

I wonder if the US 3G and GSM frequencies are an issue?

if they buy cases, then the issue is moot, isn't it?

but that still doesn't explain why there are more complaints with at&t than with overseas users.

it's very real, it's just that there are a lot of factors that affect reception. the antenna isn't necessarily the only issue.

that's very possible, or that they were aware of it and didn't think it was that big of a deal. other phones vary depending on how they're held too and some people don't see a problem at all, including,

I initially reported that I was not having the reception problem though I can now replicate it. The bars representation may not be the most obvious way to see if you are having problem as if you have a very strong 5-bar signal it will not drop to 4-bars until you lose a lot of reception. This is not necessarily a problem when you are talking in a voice conversation as it is hard to quantitatively describe the voice you hear/transmit. However, if you run a 3G speed test the problem for me is most apparent. I lose about 50% of my speed when I cover the gap and run a speed test. I am hoping Apple man's up and at least recognizes they are having a problem. I don't really want to put a case on my phone and I hope Apple does the right thing and fix the hardware, even if it will cost them millions. Another problem I am now having in some situations with my phone is that the proximity sensor is not sensitive enough and the screen keeps turning on while I am talking on the phone and accidentally hanging up on people I am talking to. I think this is more of a software problem that I hope can be addressed in the very near future.

I find this is the best way to SEE the problem.

I actually sent this video to CR last week, wonder if it pushed them to test the phone further. (prolly not)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H795Qz-PBQc

and the proximity sensor problem is TOO sensitive. that can certainly be fixed with a software update.

This issue, NO in my opinion

Maybe - in the same way that a 75-year old man with prostate cancer will likely die of natural causes before the cancer kills him but neither is a solution to the underlying problem.

This is what I don't get about hardcore Apple fans in general.

If you went out and bought a brand new $30,000 Honda Accord and the salesman told you that every time you came to a stop you had to put it in park and rev the engine to 5000 RPMs to keep it from dying - but otherwise the car was a real peach - or that you had to buy a separate $500 widget in order to start the thing in the first place - would you still buy the car and support Honda?

What's the difference?