Spotify on Friday sent out press invites for a special announcement in New York City on April 18th. It’s not entirely clear what the event might cover, although recent reports have indicated the music streaming service may allow app and playlist recommendations from various brands in an effort to make the platform more attractive to advertisers. The company previously held a press event in November to announce its embedded applications platform.

T-Mobile on Wednesday sent out invitations to a special event that will allow attendees to “be amongst the first to experience the HTC One S,” suggesting the carrier will soon launch its flagship Android phone for the first half of 2012. The event is scheduled for Wednesday, April 18th, about a week before the handset is rumored to launch on April 25th. HTC unveiled the One S alongside the One X at the Mobile World Congress trade show in February. The device features a 4.3-inch qHD Super LCD display, a dual-core Snapdragon S4 processor clocked at 1.5GHz, 16GB of internal storage, the same stunning 8-megapixel camera found on the One X and Sense 4.0 atop Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich.

Samsung has confirmed that the company will not be holding a press event at this month’s Mobile World Congress trade show, reports to PCMag. At last year’s event the company introduced the Galaxy S II smartphone and in 2010 it announced its Bada mobile operating system. Samsung may still have product introductions at the show, however it will not debut them on the big stage. The company previously confirmed that the highly anticipated Galaxy S III smartphone would not be announced at the event, and BGR exclusively reported in December that Samsung has plans to unveil a new high-end tablet with a high-definition display at Mobile World Congress, though the status of those plans may have changed in light of this new development. The show runs from February 26th until March 1st.

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Apple may be working on bolstering its educational content in order to drive the adoption rate of iPads in schools. Apple is holding a press event in New York City tomorrow where we will no doubt hear more on what the company has planned for education. “Apple will raise a lot of awareness about digital textbooks and how education is going digital,” Osman Rashid, the CEO of e-textbook software firm Kno Inc. told Bloomberg. The latest reports suggest the Cupertino-based company will unveil “tools that make it easier to publish interactive textbooks,” Bloomberg explained. The new tools should allow writers to publish content on their own, which is similar to what Amazon’s self-publishing service currently provides. Sources speaking to Bloomberg said that teachers might be able to create lessons and workbooks for students and then have their classes complete the lessons on an iPad.

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HTC just sent us an invitation for a press event that will be held in New York City on September 20th. We’re not sure what will be unveiled; the company already announced two new Windows Phone devices, the Titan and the Radar, but it is certainly possible we will hear more about U.S. versions of those phones. Perhaps HTC will unveil the Vigor, which is supposed to be one of the first devices to come equipped with Beats Audio and will be sold with a set of Beats headphones. Of course, given the close timing to Fashion Week and the “celebrate in style” tagline, it is also possible HTC will unveil the Bliss, a device that is rumored to be targeted at women. We’ll be reporting live so be sure to check back on the 20th for all of the details as they’re announced.

Sprint and Motorola haven’t introduced a flagship product together in what seems like forever. Hopefully today, that will change. The companies are holding a joint press conference today and we’ll be covering it live from New York City at around 12:00 p.m. Eastern, so make sure to check back for our live coverage. Until then, feel free to let the rumors (and your imagination) run wild in the comments section below.

Bookmark this link and make sure to head there for our live coverage of Sprint and Motorola’s press conference! Coverage starts at or around 12:o0 p.m. EDT / 9:00 a.m. PDT.

Samsung has just confirmed that it is postponing a press event that was originally scheduled for May 24th in New York City. It’s unclear what Samsung was scheduled to announce, although we suspect it could have been a Galaxy S II U.S. announcement, or an announcement detailing carrier partners for its Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablet. Samsung says the event has been “postponed until a later date.”

Here we are again, at another CTIA Wireless conference and Sprint press event. The nation’s third largest wireless carrier set the industry on fire last year with the announcement of the HTC EVO 4G, and they are expected to introduce big things this year as well. Dan Hesse and company are backstage putting the final touches on their presentations right now — we’re getting our nimble fingers ready to bring you the news as it happens. Hit the jump to follow our live coverage and don’t forget to refresh the page for all the latest updates!

1:06PM:Hey look, two pedestals... I wonder what they could be for?

1:08PM:The event starts at 1:30 p.m. ET, just 22 short minutes from now. Buckle up.

1:22PM:T-minus 7 minutes. EVO, EVO, EVO!

1:31PM:Should be starting anytime now. We're being handed 3D glasses...

1:34PM:Two devices have just been put on the aforementioned pedestals. EVO EVO EVO!

1:37PM:Spint employees have stopped scurrying around, but still no word on when this 1:30 press conference might actually start.

1:38PM:Interesting choice of headwear.

1:41PM:I don't know what Sprint has planned, but I hope whatever it is will not require these 3D glasses for everyday use.

1:48PM:"Ladies and gentlemen, the program will begin in one minute." Let's do this thing!

1:49PM:Crisis averted. Glasses are for a show we're watching

1:51PM:Dan Hesse is on stage

1:52PM:"Today we're announcing the EVO 3D. 960 x 540 pixel that allows you to capture and watch 3D without glasses. It has a dual-core 1.2GHz processor and takes advantage of Sprint's great 4G network. It provides and experience second to none."

1:52PM:"It runs the fastest version of Android available, Gingerbread — Android 2.3."

1:53PM:"Today we're also announcing another addition to our EVO family, the EVO View 4G."

1:54PM:"With the EVO View 4G, you can make and receive video calls and use the innovative HTC's Scribe digital pen."

1:55PM:"Both the EVO 3D and EVO View 4G have HDMI-out port. With these additions, Sprint now has a record 22 4G devices. Not faux-G, 4G!"

1:58PM:HTC's Jason MacKenzie is on stage: "People love the EVO family because we've done all the small things that bring a smile to customers faces."

1:59PM:"We've redesigned the home screen to make it easy for our customers. You can go right to email or right to maps, you can go right to where you need to be."

2:00PM:"We didn't want to rush a tablet to market. We wanted to develop Sense because it's part of who HTC is."

2:01PM:Hesse: "This concludes the 2D portion of our event, please put your glasses on."

2:02PM:Sprint's head of product development is on stage, Fared Adib.

2:05PM:"We always focus on key market trends. 3D is a trend you are seeing everywhere, and we want to leverage and accelerate that. 3.2 million 3D TVs were shipped in 2010. 91 million are expected in 2014. ABI Research says mobile technology may be the best way to bring 3D to the big screen quicker."

2:05PM:"We agree mobile will be the best form factor to delivery 3D. We believe these devices really deliver a true 3D experience without glasses."

2:06PM:"You can connect the phone with an HDMI cable to your 3D TV and share 3D video with your friends and family."

2:10PM:"This device is not just about the 3D experience, it sets the benchmark for performance in 2011."

2:11PM:"We know that that the processor is the heart of a phone. That's why we have a 1.2GHz dual-core Snapdragon processor. They also run asynchronously. This is important. Both cores can run at independent speeds and this saves battery life."

2:11PM:"We also announced the EVO View 4G, and the device will launch with 2.3 Android and move to Honeycomb when it is ready."

2:14PM:"Thank you for being here today."

2:15PM:That's it folks, thanks again for following along. Be sure to check out our hands-on posts... they're already up on the homepage!

Apple will announce its next-generation iPad tablet at a special media event on March 2nd, The Wall Street Journal reports. The report, found on The Journal’s BoomTown blog, cites multiple sources with its claim and further supports an earlier report that the iPad 2 release will not be delayed. Apple will hold the event in San Francisco to announce its new tablet, as usual, and it is unclear whether or not Apple CEO Steve Jobs will be on hand to unveil the device. Jobs is currently on medical leave, so it stands to reason that he will not be in attendance. In that case, Tim Cook will likely run the show as he did during Jobs’ last medical leave. Press has not begun receiving invitations for the event yet, though they should begin arriving soon if The Journal’s report is accurate.

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We’re here and ready to go at Samsung’s Mobile World Congress 2011 event. While the Samsung Galaxy S II and Samsung Galaxy Tab II have popped up online, we’re sure there will still be a few surprises in store for us. Hit the break for all the live coverage!

12:26PM:We're here, front and center. The event should begin right around 7:00PM CET, 1:00PM ET.

12:28PM:Looks like a full house.

12:31PM:We should probably mention that Samsung decided not to provide Wi-Fi at this event. We, like the other 400 people here, are working off a mobile broadband card. *Fingers Crossed*

12:37PM:Not much to report. Nondescript rock music and black, underwhelming podiums.

12:48PM:Yup... still waiting.

12:56PM:Lights are down... HERE WE GO!

12:57PM:Gettings a countdown from 10... 9...

12:58PM:Corny videos? Check!

12:58PM:Cue the orchestra!

12:58PM:

12:59PM:If you can't tell, the left half of the orchestra is playing with Galaxy products... the right, actual instruments.

1:00PM:Sammy's really bringing the drama. No persons of relevance on stage yet.

1:01PM:Our MC for the evening is Kim Titus.

1:03PM:Mr. Titus is director of Public Communications (for those wondering).

1:03PM:Giving thanks to various groups.

1:04PM:Talking about events Samsung has been running around Barcelona.

1:05PM:"I can promise that this will be time well spent. We're going to showcase a revolutionary product."

1:05PM:Here comes the President, JK Shin to tell us.

1:06PM:"What is driving Samsung's strategy in the short and long term?"

1:07PM:"Last year at MWC, I said 2010 would be remarkable year for mobile."

1:07PM:"In 2010 we sold about 25 million smartphones and tablets."

1:07PM:"Since launching the Samsung Galaxy S we've sold over 10 million units and become the #1 smartphone manufacturer in the world."

1:08PM:"From everyone at Samsung, thank you."

1:08PM:"Demand for smartphones and tablets will continue to grow steadily in 2011."

1:09PM:"Samsung aims enrich our lives with mobile. Making it easy enough for everyone to enjoy."

1:10PM:"2011 is the year of smart mobile devices."

1:11PM:"How do we create this new generation of smart mobile devices?"

1:11PM:"They need to deliver in three areas: screen, speed, and content."

1:12PM:"Samsung will deliver this with the Samsung Galaxy S II."

1:12PM:Super AMOLED Plus, faster dual-core processor.

1:13PM:"We're delivering an intuitive UI to fulfill the content piece."

1:14PM:Introducing four hubs: Reders hub, Game, Hub, Music Hub, and Social Hub.

1:14PM:"Powerful revolution of the original Galaxy S. Thinnest and lightest design ever and allows us to do more with less."

1:15PM:Mr. Shin is exiting.

1:16PM:Thomas Richter and Andrew Coughlin are up next.

1:17PM:"More with less is this years theme."

1:17PM:"Samsung will be making a statement tonight about the mobile evolution."

1:18PM:We keep hearing the same things over and over again... oh, here's a new one: 1,600mAh battery.

1:19PM:8.49mm thick and 116grams in weight.

1:20PM:We're seeing a video that doesn't tell us anything specific about the phone... other than its magical and thin.

1:20PM:"Your life is a Galaxy" seems to be a new slogan.

1:20PM:More user testimonial videos.

1:22PM:We've just heard, for the 8th time, it has a 4.3-inch Super AMOLED display...

1:23PM:0.01 millisecond response time on the Super AMOLED Plus display. IPS has a .25 millisecond response time.

1:23PM:Super AMOLED Plus has 18% power reduction over previous AMOLEDs

1:24PM:"All new customizable UX."

1:24PM:The Reader Hub will give users access to hundreds of magazines in dozens of languages.

1:26PM:David Wadhwani, Senior VP of Adobe, is on stage. Talking about collaboration with Samsung.

1:27PM:Ok, he's done.

1:28PM:Galaxy S II will have NFC technology embedded in it.

1:28PM:But will be available in non-NFC models as well.

1:30PM:We're seeing a gag-inducing video about "Jim in Pittsburgh"... also known as Mr. Cold (don't ask, just be thankful you weren't here to see it).

1:31PM:"8-megapixel camera with LED Flash."

1:31PM:"2 megapixel front-facing camera."

1:31PM:AllShare (DLNA) media sharing.

1:33PM:Sidebar: Samsung is wheeling out these marketing managers that are explaining (at an excruciatingly slow space) the features of the Gally S II around these user narratives. It's kind of whack.

1:34PM:With be an HTC-like web portal that will allow for remote tracking, locking, whipping, and tracking.

1:34PM:"Samsung will be offering a more personal and powerful cloud service later this year... look for it."

1:38PM:We just saw a video of a elderly woman who claims she was "living the best days of her life" thanks to her Galaxy S. Her name is Amy. The features we're focusing on are Samsung Voice Commander and social hub.

1:39PM:Google's voice translation system will be built into the Galaxy S interface.

1:43PM:"30fps encoding and decoding of 1080p video."

1:43PM:"Game Hub will give users access to networked games."

1:44PM:Okay, this is dragging. We're going to take a break and wait for the Tab II (hopefully it moves quicker).

2:03PM:aaaaaand we're back...

2:03PM:Introducing the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1

2:03PM:No specs... no nothing

2:05PM:We're being told we'll get to see it tomorrow on the show floor.

2:06PM:Here are the images we could grab...

2:07PM:Belkin is on stage talking about products they wil make specific for Samsung.

2:08PM:10.1-inch screen, 599 grams, 6,200mAh battery

2:08PM:WXGA screen, Android 3.0

2:09PM:Dual-core processor, 8MP main camera, 2MP front camera, full HD recording and playback. 1280 x 800 pixel resolution.

2:11PM:and that's it! we're going to try and get our dirty little mits on these new devices.

Sprint will unveil the industry’s first dual-display Android phone at a press event in New York City on Monday, The Wall Street Journal reports. Reports from earlier this morning stated that Sprint plans to reveal the Kyocera Echo at tonight’s press conference, but details about the device were unavailable at that time. The Journal is now chiming in with preliminary details, however, claiming that the device will be a dual-display Android phone. The Echo will supposedly feature two 3.5-inch touchscreen displays that can be placed side by side. Content can even be dragged from one display to the other, the report claims. The device will apparently also feature unique hinge mechanism that will allow one display to be folded beneath the other, creating a more standard look and feel when the phone is closed. BGR will be reporting live from tonight’s event beginning shortly before 6:00PM EST.

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Early next month, HP will host a press event that will focus on the webOS mobile operating system it now manages thanks to the Palm acquisition. While the event could cover anything from strategy to devices, some product-related goodies are likely a safe bet. After all, HP is due to release a host of devices this year, so it better start announcing them soon. Thanks to some loose lips, it now looks like a webOS tablet announcement is all but confirmed. Todd Bradley, EVP of HP’s Personal Devices Group, basically told CNBC in an interview that HP’s first iPad competitor will be revealed at the event next month. When asked questions regarding how future HP tablets might differentiate themselves from the iPad, Bradley responded, “you and I will talk about that on the 9th.” We read you loud and clear, Todd. Hit the break for a video of the interview with CNBC.

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Big Red officially kicked off CES with its keynote address earlier this morning, and now, Big Red it taking the stage for a solo press conference to pimp its new network, hardware, and solutions. You know your friends at BGR are in the house and ready to relay all the pertinent information to you by way of the live blog. Grab some popcorn, an orange soda, and hit the jump. Kickoff is just minutes away!

3:36 PM: We’re here!

3:38 PM: Lots of creepy faces and the color red. Feels like Amsterdam’s Red-light District in here.

3:45 PM: 15 minutes until show time. Commence playing Angry Birds in 3…2…1…

3:55 PM: 5 minutes… if another one of those green pigs wearing one of those stupid helmets winks at me one more time I just might lose it right here and now.

4:04 PM: People are still taking their seats. Verizon might be waiting until the place fills up a bit more…

4:09 PM: “Ladies and gentlemen, the event is about to begin.”

4:11 PM: “Verizon 4G will transform the world we live in.”

4:11 PM: “Mobile is in real time. Think it. Do it.”

4:11 PM: “Growth far beyond just phones.”

4:12 PM: Tony Mallone and Marni Walden entering stage left.

4:13 PM: It’s been just 32 days since the launch of LTE for Verizon. Today we launch 4G LTE for consumers.

4:13 PM: Partners on the screen include Moto, LG, Skype, and many more.

4:13 PM: Today they’ll be talking about network, applications, software, and mostly devices. DEVICES!

4:13 PM: Verizon will be opening an application center in San Francisco to support device app development (queue video from Verizon’s development partners).

4:16 PM: Peter Chou and others are on this video giving Verizon and LTE kuods. We’re not sure if this means they are not here.

4:18 PM: Video is Talking up Verizon’s 700MHz network, which is ubiquitous and allows for LTE to cover many more Americans. Rural initiative will allow Verizon to partner with smaller rural carriers to bring high speed data to smaller areas.

4:19 PM: Bluegrass Cellular was the first of many Rural Initiative partners. Tony Mallone is now speaking.

4:19 PM: “We believe it’s the right thing to do for our country.”

4:19 PM: “We are going to continue to make sure we deliver and provide the best network anywhere in the world.”

4:19 PM: “Our commitment to excellence is going to continue with our focus and our employees committed to delivering the best network.”

4:20 PM: Tony is going to make some “deeper LTE comments.”

4:21 PM: “We expected early speed bumps, but actual performance is exceeding their own expectations, and customer feedback is excellent.”

4:23 PM: We said 25-30 markets in 2010, but they hit 38 markets. We also hit download speed and latency benchmarks for 2010.

4:24 PM: Seeing LTE testimonials from users.

4:25 PM: Verizon says they will do the same thing with LTE that they did with 2G and 3G. In 36 months, the nation will be covered in LTE. In 18 months, double footprint from today. In 2011 alone, they will add over 140 LTE markets to the current 38, making 175+ markets of LTE.

4:26 PM: “Now we want to share the stars of the show.” DEVICES!

4:27 PM: We just had the wildest rolling-display intros ever. Smoke machines and flying tables!!

4:27 PM: Verizon is introing the first 10 LTE devices: 4 Smartphones, 2 tablets, 2 mobile hotspots, and 2 notebooks. All will be available by midyear.

4:28 PM: “It’s not just about doing things faster, it’s about doing things you couldn’t do before.”

4:28 PM: Key partners here to demonstrate the devices and apps include, LG, coming to the stage now. LG CEO Jong Seok Park is taking the stage

4:31 PM: “The future is here, and LG is very peoud to be part of this industry revolution.”

4:31 PM: Now Skype is on stage touting how well it works on Verizon’s LTE network: “low latency, and quality is all beneficial to Skype mobile users.”

4:32 PM: Video and voice calls will continue to improve over Verizon’s LTE network. Cross platform calling, from phones, to connected TVs, to tablets, and more.

4:32 PM: The new version of Skype mobile will be deeply integrated into all of the new Verizon handsets.

4:32 PM: Status and contacts will be available directly from the on-board address books.

4:32 PM: Rapid and smooth one-touch video chatting.

4:33 PM: The application will always be on.

4:33 PM: Skypes time is up. Peter Chou of HTC is up next. (start the Thunderbolt chant!)

4:34 PM: Peter Chou is talking in front of a shot of the Thunderbolt.

4:35 PM: “Now we are teaming up to launch Verizon’s first 4G LTE smartphone, the HTC Thunderbolt”

4:35 PM: “I’ve been testing and using Thunderbolt as my personal device, and let me tell you. It’s blazing fast!”

4:36 PM: Skype video chat is integrated into the HTC Sense interface. Video streaming over 4G is incredible. 4.3″ SLCD screen.

4:36 PM: Includes mobile hotspot to share 4G connection.

4:37 PM: Chou: “After working on smartphones for more than a decade, I’m super excited to see this mobile broadband experience from Verizon!”

4:38 PM: HTC’s time is up. Travis Boatman from EA is now taking the stage.

4:39 PM: We’re seeing a demo of a networked version of Rock Band.

4:40 PM: The concept is cool. The demo is uninspiring.

4:40 PM: Okay, EA has been ushered off the stage.

4:41 PM: Here comes JK Shin from Samsung Mobile.

4:42 PM: Shin: “I’m very proud to join in this historic moment. I am very excited that verizon has selected samsung to launch a wide range of products together.”

4:42 PM: “Today we’re getting a smartphone, a 4G LTE Galaxy Tab, and a 4G LTE mobile hotspot.”

4:43 PM: The Samsung 4G LTE smartphone is designed with a 4.3-inch Super AMOLED Plus screen.

4:43 PM: Rear facing 8MP cam, HD video, 1.3 mp front facing cam. Video conferencing is really the star here.

4:43 PM: The 4G Galaxy tab, which Shin just pulled out of his pocket, provides the true mobile tablet experience.

4:44 PM: 1.2 Ghz processor from Samsung, provides fully immersive netowkred ideo experience.

4:44 PM: Shin just went into his other pocket to pull out a mobile hotspot.

4:44 PM: It’s small enough for pocket or purse, and allows for up to 5 LTE connections at once.

4:45 PM: Shin: LTE provides “Speed, connectivity, and rich multimedia content!”

4:45 PM: Okay, Samsung is done. Marni is back on stage.

4:45 PM: Talking about HP Pavilion laptop with LTE embedded and a Novatel MiFi with 4G.

4:46 PM: Should have 10 LTE device in the first half of the year.

4:48 PM: Okay, time for Q&A. The press releases are starting to fly and we’re writing them up as we speak. Keep it locked on our home page. ETA 5 minutes.

4:50 PM:
Question about network loads slowing down user speeds.
Verizon seems confident that the network will be able to handle the increased load.

Question about battery life optimization for 4G stuff, and also whether global roaming will be enabled.
Once again, confident that battery life will not be a problem. Everything is optimized for long battery life and speed. As for roaming the devices will be able to take advantage of overseas networks.

4:51 PM: Verizon says they aren’t announcing any pricing today — for devices or for data rate plans. “The only thing is that today in the market place, there are two price plans for 5GB and 10GB, but they won’t comment on specifics for LTE.”

Okay, that’s it for us. You can check out Verizon’s official press release covering all that was mentioned today right here! Thanks for tuning in!

Rumor has it that Apple will be scheduling its annual iPod event for mid-September, which is a little bit later than in years past. This contradicts rumors from just last week that the event would be held in mid-August. Apple has held these iPod events every year since 2005. Last year, they announced their September 9 “Let’s Rock” event on August 31. With only a few days of shelf life left for this rumor, we’d expect invitations to start going out in the next few weeks.

However, as a rumor recap, whenever the event takes place, there’s strong evidence to suggest that we’ll see an iPod Touch refresh. It is likely that we’ll see a high-resolution Retina Display, along with front and rear facing cameras (just like the iPhone 4). The iPod Nano is also expected to get the refresh treatment, and some are wondering if it receive tiny touch screens as well. You might remember those. There may even be some iTunes announcements as well (cloud-based music streaming, anyone?), even though there are whispers that Apple is scaling back its ambitions in that arena, for the time being. In any event, let’s hope this shindig happens sooner than later — we’re counting the days.

[Via MacRumors]

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Apple is just about ready to put an official spin all this iPhone4 antenna hoopla. Hit the jump for our live blog aggregation of what’s going down in Cupertino, CA. Enjoy!

12:58 PM: Oh hai kids! Our invitation to this little shindig in Cupertino must have gotten lost in the mail! Fear not, we’re going to aggregate all the live coverage we can get our hands on to keep you in the loop. Sit back, get your hand away from the lower left side of your iPhone 4, and enjoy!

1:02 PM: Rumor recap (things people are saying will happen): free bumpers for all, full recall of first batch of iPhones, “there is no spoon” we’ll send another software update, stop giving your iPhone 4 “the bad touch.”

1:05 PM: Ars Technica — Now playing the iPhone Antenna Song… I am not lying. It’s basically a big slam on the media. This is very odd.

1:06 PM: Engadget — Steve Jobs takes the stage.

1:07 PM: Ars Technica — Jobs: “We’re not perfect. Phones aren’t perfect either… But we want to make all of our users happy. We’re going to talk about how we’re going to do that today… but before we get into that I want to talk about theproblems and the data we’ve got so that we can make sure we make all our suers happy.”

1:08 PM: Ars Technica — Jobs: “iPhone 4 is best product we ever made. Sold over 3M in 3 weeks…Judged the #1 smartphone in a variety of publications.”

1:09 PM: Ars Technica — Jobs: “We started getting some reports of people having issues with the antenna system..People were touching this spot here.”

1:10 PM: Ars Technica — Jobs: “We’ve been working… we want to sahre what we’ve learned.”

1:11 PM: GDGT — Jobs: ““Antennagate’ — it doesn’t seem like a good idea if you touch your phone in a certain way and the bars go down. But one of the first things we learned: it’s certainly not unique to the iPhone.”

1:11 PM: Ars Techncia — Showing a shot of the blakckberry and the bars shrinking because of the way you grip it.

1:12 PM: GDGT — We did our own testing — let me show you an example of some other smartphones. First, BB Bold 9700, perhaps the most popular business smartphone.” Video showing the bars — they drop from four or five to one. “Pretty much identical to the videos on the web about the iPhone 4.”

1:13 PM: Jobs is doing this song and dance with the death grip on the HTC DROID Eris and the Samsung Omnia 2.

1:14 PM: Ars Technica — Jobs: “We could’ve gone on and on… most smartphones behave the exact same way.”

1:14 PM: Ars Technica — Jobs: “This is life in the smartphone world. Phones aren’t perfect.”

1:15 PM: Ars Technica — Jobs: “It’s a challenge for the whole industry, and we’re all doing the best we can, “but every phone has weak spots.”

1:15 PM: Ars Technica — Jobs: “We went to a lot of trouble to put this beautiful line in the stainless steel to say here’s where you touch it everybody… and we had incorrect bars, so when it did drop the drop looked far more catastrophic…but we screwed up on our algorithm. Our choice is to put the correct algorithm in which we’ve just done.”

1:17 PM: Engadget — Jobs: “You’ll still see a drop… we haven’t figured out a way around the laws of physics yet.”

1:18 PM: Ars Technica — Jobs: “So, what have we learned? Smarphones have weak spots…not unique to iPhone 4… they all have weak spots.”

1:19 PM: Engadget — Jobs: “We knew that you could see bars drop on the phone when you hold it in a certain way, it’s a fact, phones aren’t perfect. But people are reporting better reception with this antenna than they’ve ever seen before.”

1:20 PM: Ars Technica — Jobs: “One-half of 1% have called AppleCare for this. AT&T return rates: iPhone 3GS 6%, iPhone 4   1.7%.”

1:22 PM: I wonder why they don’t do the return rates for the Apple Stores?

1:23 PM: GDGT — Jobs: “One more data point. AT&T has given us the early call drop rate just a couple days ago. They log call drops, it helps them improve their network. AT&T won’t give out the absolute call drop data for competitive reasons, but they’ll let us release the delta. But how do the call drops on iPhone 4 compare to 3GS a year ago per 100 calls? The iPhone 4 drops less than ONE call per hundred than the 3GS. Less than one.”

1:26 PM: Ars Technica — Jobs is saying that only 20% of iPhone users are buying a case at the Apple store, whereas 80% of 3GS users got a case.

1:27 PM: Ars Techncia — So he thinks that may be the source of the increased iPhone 4 call drops vs. iPhone 3GS.

1:28 PM: Ars Technica — Jobs has gotten over 5K emails from uers telling him that the iPHone 4 wokrs perfectly.

1:28 PM: I want to know how many he’s gotten saying it doesn’t work perfectly.

1:29 PM: Engadget — Jobs: “Now when we look at this data, it’s hard to escape the conclusion that there is a problem, but that problem is affecting a very small number of users.”

1:30 PM: GDGT — Jobs: “Yesterday we released iOS 4.0.1 that fixes some of these bugs with our algorithm. We recommend every iPhone owner update to it.”

1:30 PM: Engadget — Jobs: “A free case for every iPhone 4 buyer. If you got one, we’ll give you a refund.”

1:31 PM: Ars Techncia — Jobs: “But we can’t make enough bumpers, so we’ll source some other cases and give users a choice. Starts next week.”

1:32 PM: GDGT — Jobs: ““And, if you’re still not happy even after getting a case, you can bring your iPhone 4 back undamaged for a full refund. We are going to take care of everyone.”

1:33 PM: GDGT — Jobs: “So, I’ve got some other updates. We’re tracking some problems with the proximity sensor, we’ll have that in the next update. White iPhone: lot of people are waiting for it, and they’ll start shipping at the end of July in limited quantities.”

1:33 PM: GDGT — Jobs: “On July 30th we’re going to bring the iPhone to 17 more countries — these are the same we announced before.”

1:34 PM: Ars Technica — Jobs: “We love our users. We try very hard to surprise and delight them. We work our asses off, and we have a blast doing it.”

1:35 PM: Sounds like Steve is wrapping things up. What do you think? Is a free bumper case and a demo of other smartphones doing a similar thing sufficient?

1:36 PM: GDGT — Jobs: “So we do all this because we love our users. And when we fall short — which we do sometimes — we try harder. We pick ourselves up, we figure out what’s wrong, and we try harder. And when we succeed, they reward us by staying our users, and that makes it all worth it.”

1:37 PM: Ars Technica — Jobs: “We think we’ve gotten to the heart of the problem, and the heart is that smartphones have weak spots. And so for those small number of customers that are having problems, we’re going to give them cases, and for those that are still unhappy we’re going to give them a full refund.”

1:38 PM: Tim Cook and Bob Mansfield are now on stage for Q&A.

1:39 PM: Ars Technica — Q: Steve how’s your health? A: Doing fine…interrupted my vacation in Hawaii for this.

1:40 PM: GDGT –Q: Any changes for future antenna designs in iPhone? A: We’re still working on this — we’re happy with the design. … we’re getting a lot of reports from customers that it’s way better than the 3GS. I don’t know what our next antenna design will be — maybe our wizards in the antenna lab will come up with something better. But looking at the data, we don’t think we have a problem.

1:42 PM: Ars Technica — Q: Your demo shows a vise grip on the phone to make the bars drop, but online we’ve seen that youc an touch with a single finger? A: Your body is a pretty effective signal absorber, on any phone when you make contact with that phone, its performance is less than its free space performance.

1:43 PM: Ars Technica — Q: Were you told about the concerns about the design early? A: The Bloomberg article “is a total crock.” We’ve charged Bloomberg to come up with evidence that this is true but they can’t.

1:46 PM: GDGT – Q: Your investors seem to want you to make an apology of some sort — would you be willing to do that? A: [Long pause] To our customers who are affected by the issue, we are deeply sorry, and we are going to give you a free case or a full refund. We want investors who invest in Apple for the long haul, because they believe in us. To those investors who bought the stock and are down by $5, I have no apology. If we hit a bump in the road, it’s like having kids.

1:50 PM: GDGT – Q: Do Apple customers have to choose between form and function? A: No. The Retina Display in the iPhone 4 is being widely hailed as the best display ever created. … We try to have our cake and eat it too, we try to have great design and great performance. If you look at our products, that’s what we deliver.

1:51 PM: Engadget – Q: Will there be refunds for AT&T contracts? A: I believe so, yes.

1:52 PM: GDGT – Q: Is there anything you could have said in the launch keynote to lower expectations? A: I’ve thought about that a LOT. We didn’t fully understand if there were problems at that point. We might have set the expectation that smartphones have weak spots… but the fact is, most smartphones seem to have the same characteristic as the iPhone 4. If you grip them in a certain way they lose signal strength dramatically, especially in a low signal strength area. And one of the things we’ve learned is that as a leader in the smartphone world now, we need to educate. So what we need was data. And now we’ve got some and we’re sharing it now.

1:54 PM: Ars Technica — Jobs says no refund for third-party cases.

1:55 PM: GDGT – Q: After September 30th, is it because after then you expect people to buy a free case? A: It’s so we can reevaluate this in September, I have no idea what solutions may come up.

1:58 PM: Ars Technica — “John Gruber asks if anyone (on stage) carried an iPhone 4 with a bumper. They (the Apple executives on stage) all pulled their phones out and none had cases on their iPhone 4s.” The crowd lolz.

2:00 PM: GDGT – Q: What have you learned here? A: There are some things we know that we did learn here. One thing is how much we love our customers and how we are going to take care of them. We were stunned and upset and embarrassed by the Consumer Reports stuff, and the reason we didn’t say more is because we didn’t know enough. If we’d have done this event a week and a half ago, we wouldn’t have had half the data we have today.

2:04 PM: GDGT — Jobs: “I guess it’s just human nature, when you see someone get successful you just want to tear it down. I see it happening with Google. Google is a great company. Look at everything they’ve created. Would you prefer we’re Korean companies? Do you not like the fact that we’re an American company leading the world right here? Of course we’re human, of course we’ll make mistakes. But sometimes I feel that in search of eyeballs for these web sites, people don’t care about what they leave in their wake.” Jobs continues, “I look at this and think wow. Apple has been around 30 years. Haven’t we earned the credibility and trust that we’re going to take care of our users? … we weren’t just innocents in this. But the reaction has been so overblown… we could actually use your help here.”

2:09 PM: Ars Techncia – Q: someone asking about return rates at apple stores and how that compares to 3GS. A: It’s been extremely small… almost unmeasurable.

2:11 PM: GDGT – Q: Did you consider a recall? Steve: When you love your customers, nothing is off the table. But we want to be data driven. We send engineers to people’s homes with test equipment and take logs… Bob: For the record, we told them we were coming. Steve: And we didn’t bash down any doors! [Laughs.]

2:12 PM: GDGT – Q (Josh, Engadget): NY Times says this might have a software fix, is this something that can be helped with software? Steve: We just spent the last hour going through how the iPhone 4 drops only 1 more call per hundred than the 3GS. … Go talk to the Times, because you guys talk to yourselves a lot, and they’re just making this stuff up.

2:15 PM: GDGT – Forstall jumped up on stage: “That statement is patently false. Can we continue to tune the way the baseband interacts with the network? Yes, and we do this all the time. But that statement is untrue.” Steve: “One many statements lately that fall into that category.”

2:18 PM: GDGT – Q from Markoff: I’ve used my iPhone on a heavily congested cell in SF. I’d like to know if the handset has any role in congestion management. Does the stack play no role in congestion? Steve: I’ll let Scott answer, but I have something that’s a higher-order bit. When AT&T wants to add a cell tower in Texas, it may only take 3 weeks. But in SF, on average, it takes 3 years. No one wants a cell tower in their back yard, but everyone wants perfect reception.

2:22 PM: Engadget – Q: You released a software update for the iPhone about two years ago which improved the signal. You say now you’ve got a long-standing bug that doesn’t show the right bar data. Can you square those two things? Steve: Well let me say something about Apple. We didn’t want to get into any business where we didn’t own or control the primary tech, because if you don’t the people who do own it will beat you. Our big insight about 8 years ago, was that it was going to shift from big displays or optical pickup heads, or radios being the most important component, we thought it was going to be software. And we’re pretty good at making software, we showed that in the iPod… other people are good at it too, like Palm, but we brought great software to the smartphone space. We’ve been able to create and distribute major updates to this software since the iPhone was released, and we’ve made the product better and better for free. Everyone is copying us now, but we were the first ones to do it. To answer your question, the formula we use the calculate bars has been off since the beginning, and the new update fixes that for the iPhone 4, 3G, and 3GS… I don’t know if I understand the other part of your question?

2:25 PM: Ars Technica — Jobs just said that he thinks people posting his emails on the web are a little rude. Yeah, who the hell would do…oh, wait…

Well it looks like the fun is now over. There you have it. Free bumpers for all iPhone 4 owners until September 30th, a refund for those who already bough bumpers, a software update to further tweak issues, and a full refund within 30-days of purchase…and the media sucks.  Have a great day everyone!