[stevejonathan10]

Apple’s iPhone 4 is under fire with Consumer Reports saying they can’t recommend it to buyers considering the tests that confirmed the well-publicized reception glitches of the device.

The influential nonprofit organization, which publishes guides on everything from cars to TVs, put the sensational iPhone 4 to a trial and came out with this report on Monday to say that none of the other tested phones (including the iPhone 3GS and Palm Pre) had the signal-loss problems as that of iPhone 4.

Apple’s latest iPhone, which sold 1.7 million units in its first three days on the market, has been beset by complaints of poor reception, this report being the latest blow.

"When your finger or hand touches a spot on the phone's lower left side -- an easy thing, especially for lefties -- the signal can significantly degrade enough to cause you to lose your connection altogether if you're in an area with a weak signal," said Mike Gikas, a contributor in a report on the Consumer Reports website.

Apple shares were down 1 percent at $257.06 on Monday afternoon on the Nasdaq. The company has already been sued in at least three complaints related to antenna problems.

No response as of yet by Apple on Gikas’ statement. He said, "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.” He suggested fixing the fault by covering the gap in the wraparound antenna with duct tape or some other non conductive material. Withal, he said in his blog post on ConsumerReports.org, "Apple needs to come out with a permanent -- and free -- fix to the antenna problem before we can recommend the iPhone4.”

On the flip side, however, Consumer Reports said the iPhone scored high on other testing grounds such as battery life, sharp display, and high-quality video camera. Still with Gikas giving the signal problem as the reason for the iPhone 4 not to be classified as a “recommended” device in Consumer Reports’ smartphone ratings, it can be seen how hard iPhone 4 is taken on by them.

This stance of a reputed publication like Consumer Reports could have a negative impact on iPhone sales.