Analyst says Apple has a hardware fix for iPhone 4

In a note sent out Thursday morning, Ashok Kumar, an analyst at Rodman & Renshaw, said the long-term fix is mechanical."Our supply chain checks reveal that Apple has instituted a design fix for the iPhone 4 that more adequately insulates the transceiver module," he wrote in the note. How, or when, Apple would implement a fix for existing iPhone 4 owners, however, is unclear. Ever since the iPhone 4 was released on June 24, some iPhone owners have complained that when gripping the phone around the lower left-hand corner of the device, the signal degrades or calls are dropped.The company has acknowledged an antenna issue but has said it is a software problem.Apple has also suggested that consumers should hold the phone differently. Another piece of advice from the company has been to buy its $29 rubber bumper to put around the phone to avoid covering up the antenna. Apple is expected to hold a press conference Friday that may address the antenna issue.Apple did not respond to a request for comment Thursday.

Kindle tablet to support streaming video

Code-named Hollywood, the new Kindle tablet would include a promotional video service with Amazon reportedly offering the same movie service that it now offers for free to its Prime customers. The service would be free to Hollywood buyers for a certain amount of time, according to Detwiler Fenton.The new Kindle would be powered by a more robust processor than is found in the smaller Kindle e-book readers and is expected to debut in time for the holiday season.E-book readers and rival tablets alike have faced strong competition from the iPad, but Detwiler Fenton said it believes Hollywood's $399 price tag should be low enough to give it some traction against the iPad. This could put pressure on more expensive tablets, such as Motorola's Xoom and RIM's BlackBerry Playbook, each of which is expected to sell around 1 million units this year,said the investment firm.It comes as no secret that Amazon has reportedly been busy readying its own lineup of tablets, according to various sources and some hints from CEO Jeff Bezos. One of the reports refers to "Hollywood" as the code name for a new 10-inch tablet from Amazon, to be powered by Nvidia's quad-core Kal-El chipset.