Apple calls surprise iPhone4 Press Conference

Apple has called a surprise new conference for Friday 16th July to talk about the iPhone 4.  The company has refused to give details about whether they will talk about the antenna issues that have plagued the phone's users and that have resulted in a great deal of criticism for Apple.

The BBC has reported that industry watchers have claimed Apple is at risk of losing it's "Rock Star" image over the affair and that they need to act quickly to solve it for consumers.

"There are so many conflicting reports about this issue and a lot of confusion in the marketplace. They need a plan of attack. Today's companies have to react quickly before chatter on Facebook or Twitter turns into news headlines as is the case here," Mr Kereley told BBC News.

It's still unknown whether Apple could recall all the devices, though this would cause significant logistical problems as well over a million have already been shipped.  There's also the question of what consumers do for a phone while theirs is in for repair.  Apple may however simply issue a software patch that will get around the signal problems, though it would seem unlikely that they would call a snap press-conference just to announce this.

Analysts have estimated that a product recall could cost Apple as much as £1.5bn (£1bn) whereas the cost of issuing free rubber bumpers to aliviate the problem would only cost $180m (£118m).  This would be similar to the move Nintendo made when they issued existing Wii owners with free wrist-straps after reports that controllers were slipping out of peoples hands and smashing their TV screens.

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