Robert,

It's hard to tell what the "truth" of the matter really is. Is it how they display the signal? Is it like this on all phones?

I really don't know. I haven't actually used one so it's hard to say. I'd like to see a side-by-side comparison of actual call quality.

I spoke with Layne the other day and he was coming through loud and clear on his iPhone 4. No connection issues there. :-)