RIM Responds to Steve Jobs Over Smartphone Claims: Baloney
No, we don't all have all that problem.
That was the gist of a message from RIM co-CEOs Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie responding to Steve Jobs' assertion during a Friday press conference to the effect that antenna reception problems are a regular fact of using smartphone devices.
Reporters had been summoned to Apple headquarters in the wake of mounting complaints about antenna reception issues with the iPhone 4. Earlier in the week, Apple suffered a PR setback after the consumer watchdog publication Consumer Reports said it could not recommend buying the iPhone 4 until Apple cleared up the matter.
During his presentation, however, Jobs claimed that the problem was not unique to Apple. What's more, he specifically pointing to devices such as the BlackBerry. "The same thing is happening there too," Jobs said, adding that such was "life in the smartphone world," where "every phone has weak spots."
That didn't sit well with Research in Motion which has since issued its response. As published by the blog Crackberry,, the company's top duo bluntly whistled Apple's CEO for an infraction.
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.RIM's rejoinder follows a similar slapdown issued Friday afternoon by Nokia. Although Nokia does allow that that a "tight grip" can impact performance, the company goes on to describe how its labs came up with ways to design its smartphone antennas for optimal performance:It also politely tweaked Apple's designers by underscoring Nokia's decision to "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.For the record, Consumer Reports says it's still not able to recommend the iPhone 4, even after Apple's offer of free protective cases.