I have had my iPhone for a few days now and every time I get an email or a phone call (and the phone is pointed at a speaker 4-5 ft away), I get these beeping and buzzing noises coming from the speaker.
It is so bad I can't even sleep with the iPhone in my room, as it does the same with my alarm clock.
Has anyone else experienced this? Should I have it replaced?
If the signal is so strong, how safe is the iPhone? The little book that comes with it has 2-3 pages warning about being within 2 cm of the phone, as beyond FCC regulations.
I'm not sure I feel safe walking around with it in my pocket anymore.
Totally normal.
Don't sweat it. It is the phone polling--looking for text messages, email, receiving an incoming call. You'll notice that it will happen if you send a text, email or make a phone call as well.
All cells phones do this, some are more noisy than others. AT&T's system is particularly noisy. Just keep the phone away from land-line telephones, radios, computer speakers, etc., and you won't hear a thing. Don't set it near the radio by your bed, keep it someplace else (you can keep it within a few feet) and it will be silent.
My buddy has a Nextel phone. It does the same thing, but the sound it produces is totally different that the sound that AT&T phone produce. Verizon phones make no noticeable noise (at least I can't hear any).
I mount my phone in a ProClip holder in my car while I am driving. My phone is near my stereo and it makes all kinds of noise. It's not too bad if I am listening to something (it helps drown out the sound), but if I, say, select "Aux" as the source on my car stereo and am not actually using my iPod (meaning that the stereo is ON, but no sound is coming out of the speakers) and a call starts to come in, just before that call comes in, it sounds like the world is coming to an end. It's funny as crap, actually. If I turn my stereo off totally, I hear nothing at all.
Anyway, long story short: It's annoying, but normal. It's AT&T, not the iPhone. My Sony Ericcson and Treo both did the same thing. Keep it away from the items listed above and you won't hear a thing.
Hope this helps.
Rumpelgeist