Research in Motion, Nokia, and HTC hit back at Apple Friday after chief executive Steve Jobs claimed that all smartphones have "weak spots" that could lead to the "death grip" problems witnessed on the Apple iPhone 4.
During a Friday press conference, Jobs insisted that holding a phone in a certain way will result in reduced connectivity on most phones – specifically mentioning those from Nokia, the BlackBerry Bold 9700, the HTC Droid Eris, and the Samsung Omnia II.
In a joint statement, RIM co-CEO's Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie said that Apple's accusations were "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," they wrote.
At Friday's press conference, Jobs acknowledged that Apple is "not perfect" and said the company would provide all iPhone 4 buyers with a bumper or case, which has shown to reduce the "death grip." RIM scoffed at that idea.
"One thing is for certain, RIM's customers don't need to use a case for their BlackBerry smartphone to maintain proper connectivity," Lazaridis and Balsillie wrote. "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."
RIM and Nokia both insisted that antenna design has been a core focus for their engineers.
"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," RIM said. "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."
"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," the company said in a statement.
During his presentation, Jobs discussed YouTube videos that show the reception problems affecting Nokia phones.
Nokia acknowledged Friday that "antenna performance of a mobile device/phone may be affected with a tight grip, depending on how the device is held." Nokia, therefore, "designs our phones to ensure acceptable performance in all real life cases, for example when the phone is held in either hand."
Nokia prioritizes antenna performance over physical design, the company said.
Jobs said Friday that about 0.55 percent of iPhone 4-related calls received by Apple Care have been related to antenna or reception problems. An HTC spokesman said Saturday that he checked into the antenna-related inquiries that HTC customer service had received about the Droid Eris, and that number is "less than two-hundredths of 1 percent," he said.
"At the end of the day, customers aren't seeing a problem with our device, and that's the ultimate measure," the spokesman said. "Are our customers happy? Yes, they're happy."
Samsung did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
|
 |