'Antennagate' Reactions: RIM, Nokia, Taiwanese Animation

[SteveOutOfJobs]

How can RIM explain why when I hold their phone it drops in bars? They are liars.

Drink less.

 

[Jimrod]

As stated earlier, the only reason this has become such a big issue is because of Apple's profile. What other phone company do you know of that has shipped over 3m phones in 3 weeks, and not only that... but for a highly publicised phone.

I own the iPhone 4, and have had all other generations of the iPhone too... this issue is true... for ALL of them, even right back to my Sony Ericcson P900. I live in a very weak signal area in the UK, and the only way I can get a signal in my house, is to place my phone on the XStand, which for all other iPhones, I only used to get about 1-2 bars and often dropped the call as soon as I lifted the phone to answer a call. On the iPhone 4, yes, it does drop bars... but I'm now getting 3-4 bars, and once I'm on a call... it holds signal a lot better than anything else I've ever used.

From what I can see though, it takes a lot for a perfectionist company like Apple (I know they have a lot of flaws), to call a media event, and for Steve to stand in front of the press and admit to screwing up, be it in software related issues or whatever... I couldn't see many other companies willing to do that... they'd just bury their head. I don't think this would ever have been such an issue had they got their initial algorithm correct for displaying the proper signal strength.

As for comments to 'less support calls than what applecare were getting' in the reports, I don't know about you, but up until AppleCare was created... I'd be back banging on the door of where I bought the device. I hated the thought of having to phone a manufacturers support line, cause you often just got passed about, or got some foreign call centre with people you couldn't understand or couldn't understand you, so I could quite easily believe that support calls to the manufacturer were lower.

Well I live in a weak(ish) 3G area in the UK too - my old 3G gets 3-4 bars and drops one at most with hard squeezing of the entire phone, the iPhone 4 gets 1-3 bars (despite the improved antenna) and will drop to "no network" if I lightly touch the bottom left corner for 15 seconds or so - I now only use it on GSM because of this and always get 5 bars at home. It's definitely flawed in my personal experience of the matter, other's mileage may vary...

 

[dmelgar]

I think this problem exists with other phones but wasn't a problem until now because none of the other phone makers have the same level of mainstream coverage and rumour mill as Apple. So the iPhone 4's peculiar sensitivity to being touched at a particular point coupled with the sheer amount of publicity that Apple generate around a launch has led to the current situation.

Its something that may come back to harm Apple in future as they keep growing that all that extra publicity for the product also means extra publicity for the problems too.

Perhaps it is time to change the way the deal with the media and become a bit more open to the public about current products while staying secretive about the upcoming products.

Are folks seriously believing this line from Steve Jobs that all phones have this problem?

Are you really serious?

Can you really be that gullible? Do you believe any marketing spin you hear from Apple? Really?

Or are you just trying to come up with something to defend apple?

 

[MH01]

Reading both of those statements shows that niether manufacturer is denying the evidence that Apple put forward or that the same issue can can be seen with the handsets shown in the Apple's video. They are, in effect, agreeing with Apple.

Simple fact, if Apple claimed that the issue effected all smartphones and specifically mentioned three big competitors but were, in fact, not telling the truth, they would be recieveing letters from Lawyers demanding a retraction. Clearly they were not telling lies. RIM's reaction is shamefull in its twisted wording.

"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."

Note the words "appear to be". They're commenting on how you might percieve the presentation while sounding as if they're making a direct statement. Had they intended to state that Apple was attempting to distrtort the public's understanding then they would have just said that. They didn't because they know Apple was not doing that and, as such, that statement would have been a lie. They're basically agreeing that what Jobs said is true.

Lets all just stop freaking out now shall we? Jobs has said his piece, nobody is suing him because they know what he said was true. I can't wait until this has all gone away so we can get back to something that resembles the real world.

Sorry mate, but thats a load of rubbish. They are no suing him, casue these companies have some sense of credability. Just because you do not sue, does not mean you agree with someone. The only thing they agree with is that the iphone has a worse reception issue then thier phones, though if they publically came out and said that, Steve would sue them.

 

[mentholiptus]

Nokia,RIM et al...

are all 100% correct.

this is an Apple issue, no one else's

dragging other companies in is just pathetic, but typically Apple.

Feel better?

 

[Lord Vader]

Sorry mate, but thats a load of rubbish. They are no suing him, casue these companies have some sense of credability. Just because you do not sue, does not mean you agree with someone. The only thing they agree with is that the iphone has a worse reception issue then thier phones, though if they publically came out and said that, Steve would sue them.

No, iPhone 4 reception is allegedly worse only because there are 3 000 000 of them out there in just 3 weeks. Do you think it's the only phone people have reception problems with? You know i know at least 3 phones that have bad reception where i live and i personally had the "honour" to be a "proud" owner of two such phones.

 

[mentholiptus]

Sorry mate, but thats a load of rubbish. They are no suing him, casue these companies have some sense of credability. Just because you do not sue, does not mean you agree with someone. The only thing they agree with is that the iphone has a worse reception issue then thier phones, though if they publically came out and said that, Steve would sue them.

Right now, they're all afraid of people throwing their devices under the same microscope Apple devices are usually under, and they don't want the same negative press. It's pretty clear they're sweating it.

I just did the same thing to my co-workers incredible. 4 bars down to none, and the "3G" indicator went blank. Care to explain that away?

 

[MH01]

Are folks seriously believing this line from Steve Jobs that all phones have this problem?

Are you really serious?

Can you really be that gullible? Do you believe any marketing spin you hear from Apple? Really?

Or are you just trying to come up with something to defend apple?

For the apologiests on this site the answer is Yes Yes Yes Yes. Just wait for the replies on this forum, a bunch of them still believe there is no issue at all, and that's it's isolated to a very very very small % of phones. Its not isolated to the iphone, look at all the other sections of the site, the number of people who do not own the actual the product in question but defend it, is disgraceful. And really sad, when people join this site with issues, asking for help and these apologist trolls flame them for being trolls.... ironic really.

 

[buc]

Lawsuit happy americans are funny. Sometimes, there's no need to sue. Looking back in disgust is a proper answer. Why waste money on lawyers for something that is obviously bogus ?

Nokia is from Finland, RIM is from Canada. Neither country have a lawsuit prone culture.

Your conclusions are thus wrong that no lawsuit = Apple didn't distort the truth.

It's refreshing to see there are some people still this naïve out there somewhere.

 

[mentholiptus]

Drink less.

Join date: July 2010

 

[Thex1138]

Location Location Location

So it looks like they're jumping out of a window with a view of the city of Sydney Australia... never knew Apple had a Taiwanese workshop in my town???

 

[themacuser]

Shame on you Gizmodo, this is tasteless!

I wish Macrumors will not link to this stupid video from Gizmodo. I am surprised that no one has mentioned this. Jason Chin is a Taiwanese American, so it's no great surprise that we see a Taiwanese video. Gizmodo is not even a news website. Anyone who buys stolen property should be prosecuted.

If you loose something and someone "found it." and took it apart and broke it, then finally return it back to you, how would you feel about it? The loser (Jason Chin) knows the prototype is from Apple, and therefore he paid thousands of dollars for it. Now that he is under investigation, he is doing everything he can to try publish negative news on Apple. They are probably the people behind all the negative Antennagate stuff. The video is tasteless, I don't find the cutting off of people's fingers to be humorous. Anything Gizmodo publish is pure trash.

 

[MH01]

No, iPhone 4 reception is allegedly worse only because there are 3 000 000 of them out there in just 3 weeks. Do you think it's the only phone people have reception problems with? You know i know at least 3 phones that have bad reception where i live and i personally had the "honour" to be a "proud" owner of two such phones.

Actually, one or three million is irelevant. The problem is with the fundemental design, which is the same in all three million. If your in an area of bad reception, heck call AT&T or whoever, this is issue is about Antenna design, and not where we live and what reception we get.

 

[Stiss]

RIM are only hacked off because they have been found out.

In actual fact there antenna is WORSE than Apples. There signal strength can be lowered without actually touching the antenna itself, just by touching the plastic chassis.

That just goes to show how good the Apple antenna is in terms of it's strength and how it holds a signal. Not saying it's a good design but the actual antenna itself is very good.

 

[aughsum]

the video was kinda amusing..

again, my ip4 works perfectly.

 

[Lord Vader]

Actually, one or three million is irelevant. The problem is with the fundemental design, which is the same in all three million. If your in an area of bad reception, heck call AT&T or whoever, this is issue is about Antenna design, and not where we live and what reception we get.

I'm not from America and it's more than relevant (units sold i mean).

 

[macdim]

Drink less.

Mhmm... That's why I can make bars drop from 3 to 0 in a matter of seconds on a Blackberry Curve by holding the bottom part of the phone with 2 fingers. My father was actually asking me about the whole iPhone signal drop thing he had heard on the news and I showed him how his BB does the exact same thing.

 

[MH01]

Right now, they're all afraid of people throwing their devices under the same microscope Apple devices are usually under, and they don't want the same negative press. It's pretty clear they're sweating it.

I just did the same thing to my co-workers incredible. 4 bars down to none, and the "3G" indicator went blank. Care to explain that away?

Yeah, hold the Incredible in a natural position as show in the Apple ads, and see if you can replicate. There you go solved your problem. Its the placement of the antenna....

 

[aughsum]

Are folks seriously believing this line from Steve Jobs that all phones have this problem?

Are you really serious?

Can you really be that gullible? Do you believe any marketing spin you hear from Apple? Really?

Or are you just trying to come up with something to defend apple?

I think it's a matter of volume.

.55% of IP4 owners have called into Applecare about the "issue" and, while not everyone called Applecare about their reception problems, .55% of the iPhone launch is much different than .55% of the launch of any other phone... a nokia sells 100k in its first month, .55% of users experience issues and are very vocal about their complaints - noone notices; Apple sells 3million ip4s, .55% of users experience issues and are very vocal about their complains - everyone notices.

again, my ip4 works perfectly.

 

[aughsum]

Yeah, hold the Incredible in a natural position as show in the Apple ads, and see if you can replicate. There you go solved your problem. Its the placement of the antenna....

So basically, hold a HTC differently=solution, hold Apple differently=@**!#?!&!!!

 

[Anuba]

that video is AWESOME!

Indeed. I want all news presented this way now. Imagine their take on the BP oil leak and the feeble attempts to stop it.

 

[Max(IT)]

Can we all just get free bumpers

{QUOTE davesw ]
Videos: death grip on EVO, Droid Incredible, Nexus One, Galaxy 1, G1, etc.

* http://www.metacafe.com/watch/yt-kFc..._with_droid_x/

* Samsung I9000 Galaxy S: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LROTHrTR92k

* HTC Evo Signal Attenuation: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2pj2YBYTbag

* Samsung Galaxy 1:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=

* Samsung Galaxy 2:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oPCQdYtPihg

* Droid Incredible: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eaDE941PzQk

* Droid Incredible (With Network Extender in Room): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VpEQH...eature=related

* Nexus One: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qEIA_lMwqJA

* Nexus One vs. iPhone (start at 1:29): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NvMoV4_C4aA

* http://www.metacafe.com/watch/yt-kFc..._with_droid_x/

* Nexus One: http://posterous.com/getfile/files.p...n_-_iPhone.m4v

* Nexus One (after Google's update to correct): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x2g5J4qPp54

* Nexus One: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=deCkjeHYT-g

* Android G1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3CDaxhjUs9M

* "Major signal degradation when Nexus One is picked up" (N1 Thread on On this Problem): http://www.google.com/support/forum/...9184c33e&hl=en

And then, RIM, explain those videos instead of writing BS ....
But no, they are not going to explain anything, while Apple did, in a way ...

And I could easily add quite a lot of videos regarding Nokia phones ...

 

[Stella]

I just did the same thing to my co-workers incredible. 4 bars down to none, and the "3G" indicator went blank. Care to explain that away?

I can death grip my nokia around the antenna, very little signal loss. Care to explain that?

 

[mentholiptus]

Actually, one or three million is irelevant. The problem is with the fundemental design, which is the same in all three million. If your in an area of bad reception, heck call AT&T or whoever, this is issue is about Antenna design, and not where we live and what reception we get.

Then why does mine function perfectly? If I have 3 bars, I can cover the entire antenna with my hands while administering the "death grip" and not drop calls.

You're wrong.

 

[Manzanito]

It's refreshing to see there are some people still this naïve out there somewhere.

Why is he being naïve? I agree with him, not sueing doesn't translate to Apple not "distorting" reality.

Apple is not lieing, since the vids they showed were real, but it's not the same problem: with iPhone 4 touching one precise spot can drop a call, whereas with the other phones you have to hold them real tight.

Otherwise, I'm sick of all this Antenna thing. Anyone unhappy with the iPhone should return it and be done with it.

But for the record I don't like one bit what Apple is turning into. I didn't expect Jobs to apologize or something, but starting yet another war is not exactly the way out of this mess. The vids of other phones were uncalled for and unnecesary, in my humble opinion.