RIM issued a joint statement from their half-CEOs, Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie, in response:
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.
MacDailyNews Take: The evidence on Apple’s website proves otherwise. And, yes, when it comes to running a smartphone maker, two heads obviously aren’t better than one.
Beleaguered Nokia also issued a statement:
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.
MacDailyNews Take: Again, the evidence on Apple’s website proves otherwise.
UPDATE: 9:40am EDT: Well, that didn’t take long. The sucker parade continues:
HTC CFO Hui-Meng Cheng:
“The reception problems are certainly not common among smartphones. They (Apple) apparently didn’t give operators enough time to test the phone.”
MacDailyNews Take: Again, the evidence on Apple’s website proves otherwise.
Jung-Ah Lee and Ting-I Tsai report for The Wall Street Journal that Samsung said “the company ‘hasn’t received significant customer feedbacks on any signal reduction issue for the Omnia II.'”
MacDailyNews Take: In other words, a non-answer. Here’s some feedback, Samsung: The laws of physics apply to everyone.
Apple has now successfully changed the conversation and already two four suckers have taken the bait, hook, line, and sinker. We await the rest of the also-ran smartphone makers’ responses or stony silences with bated breath. Better start looking for another FUD talking point, iPhone roadkill, present and future.
@Dpr1961
Apple is fixing it for free, if it’s that big a problem. You can return the phone for a full refund or get a free case.
Or, isn’t that free enough for you?
This is all BS anyways because there is another position in which you can hold any phone and lose signal. That is between your hand and your head.
Your head blocks a lot more RF than your hand. So why aren’t we talking about that? Because you can’t see the bars when your talking on the phone.
My iP4, at the suggestion of so many MDN contributors, is going back to the store today.
My reason for returning it is simple: it’s not the phone Steve Jobs described when he launched it at WWDC – it’s no better (in fact, as far as being able to support phone calls, it’s worse) than the others.
And, the others are cheaper to own, operate, and have more features. I’m not sure which one I’m going to choose, but I am already enjoying the process of decision making and feel strangely free of what I thought was a lifetime connection to all things Apple.
@Going Back You don’t own an iPhone troll so STFU
@ Huge Ass,
That is the best registered handle on MDN ever. It describes you perfectly. No need for a picture.
You are, indeed, a huge ass.
@Proud Puppy:
I agree with you: “Going Back” does not have an iPhone 4. If his saying were truth (“the iPhone 4 is not what SJ demonstrated at WWDC”) this would be a huge scandal.
Therefore, “Going Back” is a troll.
Shit happens, sometimes@
Agree with Hugh for the most part. Also be careful about statistics from any company tying to prove a point. If an iPhone 3GS dropped 4 calls out of 100, then that extra call dropped by the iPhone 4 is a 25% increase in frequency. Doesn’t sound too good now for a technological “improvement” does it? These numbers may even be less, affecting the percentage gains even more – it all depends where the test data comes from. I personally can’t even remember when my last dropped call on my 3G was, so a 1/100 would be a noticeable increase for me.
Apple’s design is excellent. It pushes forward when others simply copy.
Apple has proven that the iPhone 4 is an excellent phone and put up data. The rest is all based on repeated accusations that have no merit. The antenna design is not flawed.
The only problem is the weak media not a weak antenna.
@Hugh Jass
Sometimes “Uh, all similar products do this” is a justifiable response. If you complained to a car manufacturer that they were polluting the environment, and they could show that their emissions were in line with the majority of their competitors, would you complain that this isn’t a reasonable response? Sometimes “but everyone else is the same” is a good response, sometimes it isn’t. You can’t condemn someone simply for giving that response, without examining whether or not it’s justified in that case.
My cheap little LG Sprint phone (at least I think it’s LG–I don’t have it with me) has a label on the back instructing the user not to touch the antenna while making a call.
Yes, I get that when your hand touches the antenna (or very near it), you get attenuation. Yes, I get that this is physics. But…
From a design perspective, is Apple really telling us that the bottom left hand corner of the phone is the best place? Why not have two, one at opposite ends of the phone? Granted this is not my area, but it is a problem.
Apple should have done better.
With that said, other smartphones share the problem. So Apple is not alone. Thus, it is not an Apple-only problem, and cannot be Apple’s Vista.
I am disappointed, and this only reinforces the idea that a consumer should never purchase the first version of anything. Always smart to wait for the second. Yes, redesigns like the 4G count as a first version.
I live in a cell black hole… every mobile phone that I have owned has been hit with the “where the phuques the signal” problem… EVERY PHONE… We get the iPhone 4 in 10 days. I will own one. Why? Because after the latest iPhone S/W – F/W updates – I have better reception than with any mobile phone I have ever owned.
There are parts of my house where I do not see any bars – before. Now, I can talk walking all over my house with my iP 3GS.
Signal drop happens with every phone. Period. Apple has the balls to discuss and do its best to help it customers because they see our value and they love us.
And I am not being sarcastic when I say that.
Cheers.
What is going unsaid is that fat people are more likely to attenuate any phone because higher bodyfat and higher ph produces a higher level of impedance.
Ballmer could attenuate a Rhino.
Our LAN admin just showed me his BlackBerry smartphone does lose bars when held in a normal manner. RIM’s antenna design is no better or worse.
Their CEO’s are clueless.
RIM’s statement, like the others, was nothing but a non-denial denial. http://post.ly/nXPx
Let’s keep in mind that Apple can’t meet the iPhone 4 demand, so if you got a problem, then return it and zip it. It won’t hurt Apple’s sales numbers, instead, it will give them some relief meeting demand.
The 40 billion in cash reserve is preparation for inevitable things like this, so the bumpers will be pocketchange.
And WHO in their right mind doesn’t already have a case to keep it from getting scratched up anyways???
I have a battery powered radio in the bathroom and the signal changes depending on where I stand…anyone complaining about that?? It’s the same radio signal interference coming from my body.
RIM, Samsung, Nokia, Goooooogle & Others …. Let’s face it Guys ….. you’re just a bunch of whinging go nowhere LOSERS with low end products to match!
I repeat, anyone who uses the iPhone – whatever model – is wise to use a case/bumper to protect this slippery little gem from accidental drops or skidding off your desk. Vanity is most likely the key reason for not doing so.
It is an interesting contrast…
Apple’s CEO Steve Jobs, was down to earth, clear, concise and factual (at both the ‘antennagate’ press confrence and at the all things digital conference where he was interviewed a few weeks ago)
The CEO’s responses here are full of the buisness as usual corporate double-talk and half truths (notice none of them actually said they phones don’t suffer from the same thing, they just led you to believe that, that is the true mark of marketing doubletalk)
On the Mopto droid X The antenna is in the top of the phone so your hand isn’t next to it which minimizes proximity interference, unfortunately you brain is (and as several have mentioned that is not a good thing)
It is not trivial (at all) it is doubtful that moto could get that phone approved in europe where standard’s for microwave radiation to your brain are much stricter than the US standards
Question with the droid X- do you want a phone that can’t (and I don’t know that it can’t but I don’t think there is a top antenna candy bar phone that can) pass Europe’s stricter standards for microwaving your brain?
On the other-hand, I guess it fits the apparent moto ‘roid ad’s target demographic.
every single mobile (cell) phone I have owned since 1994 has had a case. Phones are expensive things – why risk damaging them? What is so different about the iP4 that people are complaining about using a case? And I am sure many of my cases have cost $20-50.
Mac Daily Stop being so defensive, there is a problem with the I phone, just enourage apple to fix it. In my apt i use my blackberry ATT phone and make a call and it goes through, with my I phone that I tried out for 20 days, i dialed the same number, it never rang never connected. There is a problem, denying it will only makes things worse.
All those devices had the same issue. Apple was not in the wrong. I too tested my 2 blackberries to see for myself. Sure enough just as Steve showed, signal went down from about 4 to 2 while gripping it. They can’t complain about facts.
Despite the fact that I know the ‘Death Grip’ is very real in some low reception areas, I don’t think anyone needs to be a ‘fanboi’ to recognize that Apple’s videos proving signal attenuation of other smartphones are entirely real.
Boohoo RIM, Nokia, et al. You’ve been slapped. Deny it all you like, but Apple’s hand print is on your face.
Thanks for u r information
its very useful
I suppose on a site called Mac Daily News, anything other than unquestioning acceptance of whatever Apple says is heresy. Of course all phones can be affected by grip as well as a variety of other things. But to say that this proves that the other phones have a problem as bad as the iPhone 4 is ridiculous. Perhaps the iPhone is not worse but the fact that all phones experience some effects is not proof. Claiming that the videos prove that other phones have as big a problem is also absurd. It shows that they are all affected but it doesn’t tell you anything useful like what do the bars really mean on each phone and which phone will actually drop a call.
Think about it. Apple admits that the iPhone 4 drops more calls that its predecessor. If you used Apple’s “proof” it would show that both the old and new phones reception are changed by how you hold them. Therefore they must be equal in performance – but they are not.