RIM may take heat from critics and consumers often, and never seem to respond unless the media gets ahold of it (data outages, etc.) Tonight, they proved that they won't take any crap from other companies, however. This evening, after
accusing the Bold 9700, the current flagship GSM BlackBerry, among other phones, that they too lose signal upon the so-called "death grip", Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie, co-CEOs of RIM, came out with a joint statement:
"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."Clearly, RIM does not like being told by Apple how they make their antennas.
Nokia also had something to say to Apple as well, although less up front:
"[sic]...Nokia designs our phones to ensure acceptable performance in all real-life cases, for example when the phone is held in either hand."Personally, I'm very glad RIM did this, as Steve Jobs is attempting to spin the whole fiasco into an anti-all-cellphone manufacturer event.
