Hold on to your Ray-Bans, Echo Park hipsters: The iPhone 4 has been declared a FAIL by Consumer Reports magazine (via LA Biz Observed).

It wasn't AT&T's new reaming digital data plan that will certainly put most monthly iPhone bills above $100. It wasn't the fact that the new phone is only playing catch up with other smart phones in terms of features (high quality photos, tethering). It wasn't even the fact that the iPhone 4 isn't actually a next-generation 4G phone that made Consumer Reports' editors wince. No, it was …

… that reception problem foreshadowed by Steve Jobs himself at last month's rollout of the the iPhone 4. When he couldn't get online during a demo, Jobs said too many people were using the network in the room at the time.

Later, Apple blamed software and stated an update was coming. Now Consumer Reports states:

… There is a problem with its reception. When your finger or hand touches a spot on the phone's lower left side–an easy thing, especially for lefties–the signal can significantly degrade enough to cause you to lose your connection altogether if you're in an area with a weak signal. Due to this problem, we can't recommend the iPhone 4

.

Bad news. A group of consumers is already suing Apple over the flaw. And other problems with the new iPhone have been reported, prompting at least one blogger to ask, Was It Rushed?

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