Both BlackBerry holding company RIM and Nokia have responded to swipes that Apple took at them during its iPhone 4 news conference on Friday.

 

According to RIMarkable, Jobs showed a video to demonstrate how even BlackBerry devices suffer from the same type of reception predicament than the iPhone 4 does. The two CEOs of RIM, Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie, responded with a statement following Apple’s news conference.

 

“Apple’s attempt to draw RIM into Apple’s self-made debacle is unacceptable,” the statement read. “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.”

 

According to The Nokia Blog, Jobs also stated that “You can go on the web and look at pictures of Nokia phones that ship with stickers on the back that say ‘don’t touch here’.”

The Finnish manufacturer released a statement shortly thereafter in response to Jobs’ statement.

 

In the statement the company asserted that “Antenna design is a complex subject and has been a core competence at Nokia for decades” and that it will “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.”

 

Apple promised free casings to iPhone 4 owners that alleviates the iPhone 4's reception problem.