At the company’s Friday press conference, Apple (AAPL) asserted that the iPhone 4 is not the only smart phone that sees a drop in signal strength if you hold it the wrong way. The company even showed video of phones from HTC, Research In Motion (RIMM) and Samsung acting that way, and asserted that it was easy to find video on YouTube of Nokia (NOK) and Motorola (MOT) phones likewise experiencing signal drop from phones held in a “death grip.”
I don’t know if that section of the press conference convinced many people that the iPhone 4 has no antenna issues. but it certainly did irritate the competition.
Research In Motion co-CEOs Mike Lazarids and Jim Balsillie asserted in a statement that Apple’s move to drag the BlackBerry into the debate was simply wrong. Here’s their statement on the matter, courtesy of CrackBerry.com:
Apple’s attempt to draw RIM into Apple’s self-made debacle is unacceptable. Apple’s claims about RIM products appear to be deliberate attempts to distort the public’s understanding of an antenna design issue and to deflect attention from Apple’s difficult situation. RIM is a global leader in antenna design and has been successfully designing industry-leading wireless data products with efficient and effective radio performance for over 20 years. During that time, RIM has avoided designs like the one Apple used in the iPhone 4 and instead has used innovative designs which reduce the risk for dropped calls, especially in areas of lower coverage. One thing is for certain, RIM’s customers don’t need to use a case for their BlackBerry smartphone to maintain proper connectivity. Apple clearly made certain design decisions and it should take responsibility for these decisions rather than trying to draw RIM and others into a situation that relates specifically to Apple.
Motorola co-CEO Sanjay Jha was equally irritated:
“It is common knowledge in the industry that antennas on the outside of products have known issues, and despite the fact that they lead to smaller phones we have avoided them because consumers don’t like being told how to hold the phone,” Jha said in a statement late Friday. “While the whole industry has to deal with phones being held in different ways, it is disingenuous to suggest that all phones perform equally. In our own testing we have found that Droid X performs much better than iPhone4 when held by consumers.”
HTC claims that the number of customers who have complained about the Eris Droid is far lower than the 0.55% of iPhone 4 customers Apple said Friday have called with issues with the iPhone 4:
“Approximately .016% of customers” for the Eris Droid have called in with issues about the Phone, a spokesman for the company told the blog Pocket-Lint.com, adding that “we have had very few complaints about signal or antenna problems on the Eris.”
Samsung says they don’t have an antenna issue in their phones, the Wall Street Journal notes.
“Based on years of experience of designing high quality phones, Samsung mobile phones employ an internal antenna design technology that optimizes reception quality for any type of hand-grip use,” Samsung said in a statement Monday.
And Nokia likewise does not intend to get dragged into Apple’s antenna issues, issuing a statement asserting that they focus on antenna design over physical appeal is producing their phones.
“Antenna design is a complex subject and has been a core competence at Nokia for decades, across hundreds of phone models. Nokia was the pioneer in internal antennas; the Nokia 8810, launched in 1998, was the first commercial phone with this feature.
Nokia has invested thousands of man hours in studying human behavior, including how people hold their phones for calls, music playing, web browsing and so on. As you would expect from a company focused on connecting people, we prioritize antenna performance over physical design if they are ever in conflict.
In general, antenna performance of a mobile device/phone may be affected with a tight grip, depending on how the device is held. That’s why Nokia designs our phones to ensure acceptable performance in all real life cases, for example when the phone is held in either hand. Nokia has invested thousands of man hours in studying how people hold their phones and allows for this in designs, for example by having antennas both at the top and bottom of the phone and by careful selection of materials and their use in the mechanical design.”
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