Apple now has a new word out = AntenneGate ( remember watergate? ) lol! Apple claimed at its press conference Friday that virtually every competing smartphone faces the same antenna challenges as the iPhone 4, but three of its competitors — HTC, RIM and Nokia — have since stood up and challenged that claim. Apple used as an example the RIM BlackBerry Bold 9700, saying that holding it a certain way will cause signal degradation just as with the iPhone 4, but RIM’s Jim Balsillie and Mike Lazaridis were quoted by CrackBerry from the following 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. Nokia jumped into the fray too, bragging that it was the pioneer of internal antenna technology, and claiming that it has this all figured out while Apple is just playing the blame game for its foolish design decisions. Here’s its statement...... http://mashable.com/2010/07/17/htc-rim-nokia-apple-antenna/