Speaking at Apple's Cupertiono, California headquarters this morning, CEO Steve Jobs announced the company will be providing free cases to iPhone 4 buyers. The cases are intended to address a growing controversy over the phone's design flaw, which can cause dropped calls when it is held in a particular way.

Although the problem has only affected a small percentage of users, the controversy surrounding Apple's response has been a PR disaster.

While still not admitting there is anything wrong with the phone's design, Jobs did admit that iPhone users on AT&T have experienced slightly more dropped calls with the new model compared to the previous one.

The increase isn't anywhere near what you might expect given the amount of coverage this issue has received. However, it does seem to contradict Apple's claims that, "the iPhone 4's wireless performance is the best we have ever shipped."

Regardless, the most important thing for Apple is their decision to address the problem in a meaningful way.

Many people were calling for, or even predicting, a recall of the phone and no doubt some will complain loudly that providing cases isn't enough. But considering the high cost of a recall compared to simply giving away cases, that would probably be as irresponsible as doing nothing.

Providing free cases seems to strike a reasonable balance. It should be effective enough, available as soon as possible, but still have the smallest impact on Apple's bottom line.

So far specifics on getting cases in the hands of existing iPhone 4 owners or reimbursing them for cases they've already paid for are a little vague but there will be more information, as well as an application to receive a free case (or bumper), next week.

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After yesterday's report from Bloomberg saying Apple was aware of the iPhone 4's antenna issues last year, Apple has denied the claim.

A company spokesman told the Wall Street Journal, "We challenge Bloomberg BusinessWeek to produce anything beyond rumors to back this up. It's simply not true."

As with many Apple statements, this one doesn't necessarily mean what it appears to on the surface.

For starters, Apple doesn't allow employees to disclose what goes on inside the company. In particular, they declined any comment on the story when approached by Bloomberg & denied their request for an interview with the antenna engineer who supposedly reported the issue to Apple management.

Apple's claim is disingenuous at best, & perhaps downright dishonest. It would be impossible for Bloomberg, or anyone else for that matter, to prove much of anything that goes on behind the scenes at Apple thanks to their nigh impenetrable wall of non disclosure agreements.

On the other hand, if you believe their denial it really just makes Apple engineers look like a bunch of amateurs. In fact the problem has been reproduced, documented and detailed repeatedly by actual amateurs, so perhaps even that's too generous a description.

Apple's insistence on secrecy from employees, business partners & suppliers practically guarantees nothing they are involved with can be proven conclusively. Contrary to what they seem to be implying though, absence of proof isn't proof of absence.

We've seen in the past how Apple's secrecy can generate excitement for products no one has seen which may not even exist yet - or ever.

But as the continuing saga of the iPhone 4 antenna shows, the philosophy which keeps their perceived successes on the front pages of tech publications and blogs around the world can do the same for their perceived failures.

Live by the sword, die by the sword.

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