You have heard of the iPhone 4 antenna issues. Apple’s answer is to offer free iPhone 4 cases to all customers. But, most people including myself are seeing shipping dates in September.

If you have been considering getting some kind of protection for the precious Retina display and the glass back for your iPhone 4, this is a great time to get invisibleSHIELD for the iPhone.

InvisibleSHIELD for iPhone 4 now ships with an antenna shield for the sides that could help prevent dropped calls and data connections.

You can also order the SHIELD for just the sides for $9.99 or get the full body coverage with the sides.

The best thing about InvisibleSHIELD? It’s the lifetime replacement warranty with free shipping. All you need to do is to order your replacement online and send in your old one once you have out on the old one. That easy!

Here is a short video showing the side shield that helps with the antenna issue.

You could also get ZAGG invisibleSHIELD for iPad – Scratch Proof Protection (Full Body) (APPIPADFB) only $21.39. And that is a steal!

Tip: Here is a less known trick. Before you purchase an invisibleSHIELD, go one of the above links and find a ‘Win an iPad’ label at the bottom right. Enter your email address in the drawing. You will receive an email with 10 to 50% off coupon code for entering. Plus, you have a shot at winning an iPad.

Full Disclosure: The post contains affiliate links for the product. We only endorse products that we love and care.

Apple is no exception and they sell their own warranty on its brand products as AppleCare.

You can buy AppleCare warranty for iPhone 4 for $69. The iPhone 4 comes with 1 year of manufacturers warranty and AppleCare extends this warranty by another year.

What AppleCare Covers?

• Manufacturing problems
• Tech support
• Diminished battery

What AppleCare Doesn’t Cover?

• Spills
• Drops
• Liquid damage
• Battery replacements
• Electronic failures
• Generally any of your clumsiness that damages your iPhone

Now, lets come to the point as to why we’d want to purchase warranty for iPhone 4. Any iPhone has been a sizeable investment in a smartphone that you hope to last for atleast 2 years.

Why iPhone 4 Warranty?

iPhone 4 is a beautifully designed phone. But, unfortunately it is pretty fragile because it has glass surface in front and back. We have already seen so many horror stories about people dropping their iPhone 4 to see the glass shatter easily.

But, Apple’s warranty doesn’t cover accidental drops or spills. That’s when I found out about SquareTrade.

SquareTrade iPhone 4 Warranty

SquareTrade offers warranty for iPhone 4 among other things. The thing that sets apart SquareTrade from AppleCare is that it covers accidental drops and damage due to spills.

You can see the difference in iPhone 4 warranty from different places

SquareTrade iPhone 4 warranty costs $99 (or $5.99/month) for 2 years (with curent 20% off offer) with a $50 deductible per claim. It costs $149 for phones older than 30 days.

You get $599 worth of coverage and amounts to covering 4 iPhone failures over 2 years.

Here is an excerpt comparing it to AT&T’s (Asurion) Mobile Protect that costs $11.99/a month.

SquareTrade’s iPhone protection plan costs $99 for 2 years with a $50 deductible per claim. 1 claim over 2 years would cost $149. AT&T’s MobileProtect plan has been reported to be $11.99 / month with a $199 deductible for an iPhone 32gb 3GS. 1 claim over 2 years would cost $487 ($11.99*24 + $199). AppleCare does not cover dropped, broken or other accidentally damaged iPhones. Price of MobileProtect last checked and accurate as of 6/24/10.

However, you have to be mindful that SquareTrade warranty does not cover loss or theft of iPhone 4 where AT&T’s warranty covers it. Most renters insurance offer some protection on this but they don’t cover accidental drops or spills.

Apple makes solid products and I believe we’d see any technical problems in the first year when it is covered by manufacturers warranty. I am more concerned about my own clumsiness where I might drop my iPhone 4 on hard floor breaking open the glass surface or drop it in toilet or a puddle of water.

In that event, all I need to do is use the free UPS return label from SquareTrade. If you have any mechanical or electrical issue from normal wear and tear then there is no deductible. If you damaged it accidentally, a $50 deductible applies.

They will either repair it or reimburse us upto $599 for the 32GB iPhone within 5 days of receipt.

So, I think the ST warranty is a better option and value for the iPhone 4 investment.

You can purchase SquareTrade iPhone 4 warranty for upto 90 days after purchase from an authorized iPhone outlet. You can even purchase it for iPhones purchased on eBay.

The easiest way to buy a SquareTrade warranty is from Protect iPhone 4less iPhone app.

The app is pretty simple in functionality. You get some information on the warranty from the app. You can also contact SquareTrade from your iPhone with this app.

You have to watch out for certain gotchas about SquareTrade warranty

• Does not cover unlocked phones – jailbroken iPhones ok
• Does not cover loss or theft
• Coverage not available in WI, ME or outside the US

Comparing it to AppleCare, AT&T’s Asurion, Best Buy’s offering, I believe SquareTrade offers a unique and reasonable warranty. Plus, they have been getting rave reviews from customers as well.

I was surprised to see that SquareTrade’s coverage for a huge selection of household electronics such as LCD/LED TVs, Digital Cameras, Computers, etc.

If you have an iPad, SquareTrade also offers a similar Apple iPad warranty for 2 years.

Full Disclosure: We were provided with a review copy by SquareTrade. The post contains affiliate links that give you $25 discount. We never recommend a product that we don’t like and use ourselves.

But, you don’t get to order it from the online Apple Store.

You use your iPhone 4 to download Apple’s own app – iPhone 4 Case Program from the App Store.

You then use the app to view and select a free case from their offering. 

Here are a few of the cases available for you to order

1. Apple’s Bumper Case – Black
2. Incase Snap Case – Smoke
3. InCase Snap Case – Clear
4. Belkin Shield Micra – Clear
5. Griffin Motif Diamonds/Smoke
6. Griffi Revela Etch – Black/Black Graphite
7. Speck Fitted Case – Black Tartan
8. Speck PixelSkin HD

I am glad that Apple made this order process easy and I was able to order mine in under a minute. I was a little bummed that the Bumper Cases wasn’t;t available in multiple colors. I am also intrigued about offering just 8 different cases. But, it could also be that this offering could keep changing as they sell out of certain cases. We’ll have to wait and see.

Let us know in the comments if you are seeing a different set of cases while you try to order. Another thing to note is that it’s going to take 3-5 weeks for the case to ship!

iPhone Case Program iPhone App {iTunes link}

Most of us predicted that Apple would giveaway free Apple Bumper case but Apple can’t make them fast enough to match their iPhone 4 sales.

(image credit: Engadget)

So, instead they will allow you to choose any case from their Apple Store offering. We are supposed to be able to order a free one by the end of next week.

We will come back with more details as soon as we learn it.

iPhone 4 Proximity Sensor & Antenna Issue Fix

Steve Jobs said that they have invested over 100 million dollars in antenna testing facility and that the complaints they have received through AppleCare is actually negligible.

Apple is not sure what they are going to about the antenna design. Even the Consumer Reports decision got a mention.

But, the proximity sensor issues are to be fixed with an upcoming software update. If you have been bogged down with iPhone 4 won’t turn on issue, take a look at that link.

Do you know the best station to transmit on, even when travelling? I do!

ClearFM iPhone app is a simple, time saving solution to determine the best station to transmit on in a given area. Just input your current city and state and this app will tell you what stations are optimal for broadcast clarity, it even has a visual graph that shows the predicted signal strength across the band.

Tune your transmitter to transmit on a vacant station and enjoy knowing you will have the least interference. I’ve used this on a few road trips and its been very handy. Being free to download from the app store, it’s hard to go wrong here.

Getting your transmitter to work with and charge your phone, while not getting annoying error messages, is another story.

Guest Post by: Drew Lane (twitter: @Phorz)

The Munkey is a mobile device stand that works with a variety of phones including the iPhone and iPod Touch.

Munkey was designed to give consumers a sturdy stand for their mobile devices so they can watch videos on them without looking down on it. Munkey also stands out from the rest as it comes with a strap that enables you to secure it to an airplane seat headrest or a car seats headrest.

Munkey is comprised of 3 components

1. Anodized lightweight formend aluminum frame
2. 1” x 24” side release polypropylene buckle strap
3. Protective carrying pouch

The frame feels really solid in my hand and sits well on the desk. It is made of solid aluminum frame and is pretty sturdy. Also, it is designed to work with multiple mobile devices so it actually fits my iPhone 3Gs even with DLO silicone case. Some of the stands I have seen are designed for naked iPhones and many of us protect it with some kind of case.

You can use the Munkey without the strap as a stand in your desk or night stand. Or you could use it with the attached strap on a car seat or flight seat with the strap harness. However, you can put your iPhone or iPod Touch only in the landscape mode.

Also it comes with a carrying pouch that doubles as a seat pouch where you can hang your Munkey.

Munkey offers support for upcoming iPhone 4 as well. So, your investment is protected even if you are purchasing it for the current version or if you ever switch to another smartphone. It supports Motorola Droid, HTC Hero & Imagio, BlackBerry Storm, & Zune HD.

Munkey is a well designed and a thoughtful product and I like it. I especially love the harness that makes it so much more useful on an airplane or a car’s back seat.

The Munkey sells for $29.99 (+ tax & shipping) and is available in 5 colors – yellow, red, black, green and white.  The product we reviewed was black and it had a nice brushed metal feel to it.

The Munkey Giveaway

The seller of Munkey provided an extra ‘Munkey’ for a lucky Top iPhone Resource reader to win in a giveaway. However, unfortunately this giveaway is open only to folks in the U.S. for shipping reasons.

You can do one of the following or all to enter the giveaway

• Leave a comment  in this post (with a valid email address so I can email you the code)
• Tweet this message on Twitter
  ”Retweet this for a chance to win the Munkey iPhone stand from @TopiPhone http://bit.ly/aAGbDd “
• Become a fan on TiR Facebook page and leave a comment there mentioning you want to win this app.

We’ll announce the winner by the end of the day on June 17.

Winner Announced

Congratulations @cit0boi.

Thank you for all the entries. We bring giveaways such as these all the time so stay tuned here and on Twitter @TopiPhone.

InvisibleSHIELD is made high quality nearly indestructible materials that they offer free lifetime replacement. I had put my SHIELD on my iPhone 4 & 3GS as soon as I bought it and the front and back are still intact. The sides are peeling off only after a year and all I have to do is to order a replacement from their website.

?

And it’s a FREE replacement.

I just need to send the one my phone back to them within 6 weeks of getting the replacement. Nice deal, eh?

If you ore planning on ordering your iPhone 4, you can place your order right now for your InvisibleSHIELD.

As you probably heard, the new iPhone 4 is glass on both front and back. Previously, you might have gotten away with just the front screen protection but I highly recommend going ‘full body’ protection with the iPhone 4 InvisibleSHIELD.

Are you ordering an iPhone 4?

Tip: On Zagg’s site, there is an iPad giveaway going on. before you order, enter your email address there and you will instantly get a 20-50% off code you can use to get an InvisibleSHIELD.

Zagg has extended the sale for another day and it ends tonight.

So, if you missed the sale or procrastinated this weekend, you still have a chance to buy some Zagg stuff at an awesome price.

Zagg makes InvisibleSHIELD for iPhone, iPod Touch, a ton of other mobile phones, laptops, Apple iPad, etc.

You can project images and movies from your iPhone and iPod Touch to upto 60 inches. Optoma EP-PK-101 PICO Pocket Projector weighing just 4oz (including battery) can be an incredible travel companion.

It uses the DEL Pico technology and has a vivid 1000:1 contrast ratio. The LED light source lasts over 20,000 hours compared to the traditional projector bulbs.

The PICO projector battery can be recharged via USB or the included AC power adapter.

Amazon sells the Optoma EP-PK-101 PICO Pocket Projector for $197.98 with free shipping. (has 4 stars from user reviews)

If you are looking for a pocket projector to use with your iPhone or iPod Touch, this might be the way to go.

While you can’t expect to get HD quality video from this tiny projector, it will beat showing off your pictures or videos from your iPhone to a group of people hunched over a laptop.

Being so portable (weighs only 4oz with battery), it’s uses are only limited by your imagination.

You can also browse the ‘Pocket Projectors’ section in the TiR Amazon store for more options in this category.

Do you own one of these or have a similar projector you use with your iPhone? Let us know in the comments.

(Note: Using our Amazon links helps us run this site. You can also show your support by visiting our TiR Amazon store.)

InvisibleSHIELD is my favorite way of protecting iPhone and iPod Touch. It is hands down the best protection for our iPhone.

You can barely tell you have a shield on your iPhone and in fact it improves the grip and protects from easily sliding off your palm.

You can also get InvisibleSHIELD for a variety of devices like your MacBook, IPod Touch and pre-order for the upcoming iPad shortly too.

Zagg also makes other cool products such as ZAGGskins™, Z.buds, etc.

And don’t forget to check out the ever popular top iPhone gloves article.