To address the iPhone 4 antenna issues, Steve Jobs announces free bumpers to all iPhone 4 owners during a statement today at the Apple Press Conference.  This is in light of the iOS 4.0.1 fixing the signal bar computation on iOS 4 phones.

In most cases, encasing the iPhone 4 in a bumper will shield the antennas from human contact and preventing signal loss. Although the iPhone 4 will still suffer some interference when you hold it a certain way, Apple clearly believes the free bumpers will address the issue for a large majority of users.

Steve Jobs during the conference, made certain to point out that the iPhone 4 isn’t the only phone having signal issues, showing videos to the press of numerous phones from other manufacturers dropping in signal when held in a certain way.

That’s probably the closest admission to the hardware problem that Apple will give.

Wondering if you’re viable for the free bumper?  Here’s Apple’s guidelines:

• If you have an iPhone 4, you can get a free bumper from Apple.
• If you want another case—or Apple’s bumpers are out of stock—you can pick another one from some options.
• If you already bought another case an Apple bumper, you get a refund on that.
• The offer applies until September 30. At that time, they will “examine” the situation again, and decide to extend the free bumpers or offer a different solution (hmmm, does that mean an updated iPhone then?).

While this fixes the antenna problem that the iPhone 4 is experiencing, it’s a silent admission from Apple that their shiny new product is indeed flawed.