HTC, Samsung also take issue with Apple's antenna claims

Posted:
in iPhone edited January 2014
Smartphone rivals HTC and Samsung have both chimed in on Apple's antenna attenuation claims made last week, with both companies suggesting their handsets do not lose signal when held improperly.



As reported by The Wall Street Journal, HTC said on Monday that reception problems are not common on smartphones, regardless of what Apple said at its iPhone 4 press conference on Friday. HTC suggested that Apple should fix its own phone rather than bring competitors into the fray.



"The reception problems are certainly not common among smartphones," the company's chief financial officer, Hui-Meng Cheng, said. "They apparently didn't give operators enough time to test the phone."



But John Gruber of Daring Fireball also pointed out on Monday a screenshot from HTC's instruction manual for the Droid Eris. Page 13 includes an illustration of the Droid Eris, showing the portion of the phone where the antenna is located, and instructing users not to touch there.



"Avoiding contact with the antenna area when the phone is IN USE optimizes the antenna performance and the battery life," the manual reads.







In addition, Samsung also gave comment on Apple's claims, as the Cupertino, Calif., company specifically cited the Omnia II smartphone in a video showing signal attenuation. The company simply noted that it "hasn't received significant customer feedbacks on any signal reduction issue for the Omnia II."



The comments come after both Nokia and Research in Motion also issued official statements disputing Apple's statements from its press conference. RIM said the company's approach was an "attempt to draw RIM into Apple's self-made debacle," while Nokia did not specifically mention Apple, and instead called itself "the pioneer in internal antennas."



Since the iPhone 4 was launched and users discovered they could lose reception by holding it in the bottom left corner, Apple has maintained that any mobile phone experiences reception issues when held improperly. The company, on Friday, said it will address customer concerns with the iPhone 4 by giving away free cases for every customer through Sept. 30.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 240
    lilgto64lilgto64 Posts: 1,147member
    I noticed the other day with my iPhone 2G (which I am hoping to replace with iPhone 4 in the next couple weeks) that if I hold it at the bottom the signal is affected more so than if I hold it up higher - more loosely - or set it down. Not sure if the case I used to have made much difference - and I have had dropped calls with the phone in a cradle in the car with the top down. So just saying that although not as obvious or dramatic or easy to reproduce as the iPhone 4 signal bars lost - the iPhone 4 is certainly not the only phone with a similar problem and any statements along the lines of hey leave us out of this are likely to come back to bite those other folks. Should be fun to watch.
  • Reply 2 of 240
    I don't remember Steve Jobs specifically saying that mobile phones made by HTC and Samsung lose their signal when touched. His demo showed that the number of bars will drop when you hold the phone in a certain way. He did not say that this inevitably leads to a loss of signal and the inability to have a conversation.
  • Reply 3 of 240
    ivan.rnn01ivan.rnn01 Posts: 1,822member
    Admittedly, I don't see the connection between the necessity of presenting evidence in court, if a suite against Apple is still not dismissed, and handing the evidence out to ``retarded blogosphere' '.
  • Reply 4 of 240
    drdoppiodrdoppio Posts: 1,132member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Brometheus View Post


    I don't remember Steve Jobs specifically saying that mobile phones made by HTC and Samsung lose their signal when touched. His demo showed that the number of bars will drop when you hold the phone in a certain way. He did not say that this inevitably leads to a loss of signal and the inability to have a conversation.



    Exactly. There is a world of difference between dropped bars and dropped calls.
  • Reply 5 of 240
    seanie248seanie248 Posts: 180member
    "In addition, Samsung also gave comment on Apple's claims, as the Cupertino, Calif., company specifically cited the Omnia II smartphone in a video showing signal attenuation. The company simply noted that it "hasn't received significant customer feedbacks on any signal reduction issue for the Omnia II."



    All 3 owners must be in good quality areas so......
  • Reply 6 of 240
    well |I just retired my 3g (after putting 4.0 on it ,, it lagged bad),,iphone 4 looks to apple restrictive,, went droid,, and the choices and layout is unlimited,, like a burden has been lifted, all web pages and emails open fully,,, i got the xperia x10,, ive tried everything to have signal drop,, no dice,, so my response to mr. jobs is that not all phones have the deficiencies of your product,, and your rush to make your products obsolete by rushing products out on one end and holding back other parts,,,



    the more this happens the more apple is going to get caught with there pants down,,



    im not a apple hater,,, but i am apple discouraged with the attitude of late
  • Reply 7 of 240
    drdoppiodrdoppio Posts: 1,132member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by northernale1 View Post


    well |I just retired my 3g (after putting 4.0 on it ,, it lagged bad),,iphone 4 looks to apple restrictive,, went droid,, and the choices and layout is unlimited,, like a burden has been lifted, all web pages and emails open fully,,, i got the xperia x10,, ive tried everything to have signal drop,, no dice,, so my response to mr. jobs is that not all phones have the deficiencies of your product,, and your rush to make your products obsolete by rushing products out on one end and holding back other parts,,,



    the more this happens the more apple is going to get caught with there pants down,,



    im not a apple hater,,, but i am apple discouraged with the attitude of late



    Well we all hope you're happy with your new phone, but you should have someone look at that keyboard -- seems like your comma key gets stuck too easily.
  • Reply 8 of 240
    hittrj01hittrj01 Posts: 753member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by northernale1 View Post


    im not a apple hater,,, but i am apple discouraged with the attitude of late



    This is my feeling exactly. I still love my Mac, and ironically, I still love my iPad, but their attitude and reaction to everything that is going on is a bit disturbing. Not to the point that I will stop supporting their products (as long as they are of the utmost quality), but now I am keeping a more watchful eye on the alternatives. We'll see if anything significant happens after that September 30th deadline, and is it's still underwhelming, Apple will have forced my hand into something else.
  • Reply 9 of 240
    g3prog3pro Posts: 669member
    RDF field is strong with this one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tn-YesqzvNk
  • Reply 10 of 240
    .

    Quote:
    Originally Posted by DrDoppio View Post


    Well we all hope you're happy with your new phone, but you should have someone look at that keyboard -- seems like your comma key gets stuck too easily.



    yes it doesss,, so does my sss sssomtimes,,, but this is on my mac,,, next time i will do on my xperi
  • Reply 11 of 240
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by northernale1 View Post


    well |I just retired my 3g (after putting 4.0 on it ,, it lagged bad),,iphone 4 looks to apple restrictive,, went droid,, and the choices and layout is unlimited,, like a burden has been lifted, all web pages and emails open fully,,, i got the xperia x10,, ive tried everything to have signal drop,, no dice,, so my response to mr. jobs is that not all phones have the deficiencies of your product,, and your rush to make your products obsolete by rushing products out on one end and holding back other parts,,,



    the more this happens the more apple is going to get caught with there pants down,,



    im not a apple hater,,, but i am apple discouraged with the attitude of late



    Awwwwww. Need a tissue? So glad the great burden of owning Apple products has been lifted off your back. Enjoy your delusional fantasy, er uh I mean unburdened escape from the clutches if the Evil Empire into the soft delicate hands of droid bliss.



    Everyone's Iphone 4's seem to be working fine with one caveat, the antennae. The phone is in no way defective, merely imperfect as all phone's *and all electronics) are in some way. The droid OS is terrible, HTC hardware is crap. Everything sucks on a droid.



    Iphone 4 owners have to have to use a case, hold it a certain way or turn off 3G. Not a big deal to me over the deficiencies of owning a craptastic droid. Especially 3G, eats too much battery anyway.



    Funny you didn't even bother to look at IP4. I am now waiting for mine since I realized (IMO) all of these stories are gross exaggerations, perpetuated by loud mouth, non expert, whiny bloggers throwing temper tantrums in an attempt to garner attention for their sad, sad blogging lives by spreading nothing short of propaganda, possibly cooked up by Apple's competitors when a fairly minor flaw was uncovered. Apple took a big chance at making a better antenna and it worked. Reception is better, but it also presented a flaw. How many times have we seen that in the tech business? Kudos for Apple taking a chance, sorry it didn't work out for everybody. Everyone else was happy with 3G phones that got worse reception than the clunkers from the early 90's, but obviously Apple wanted the best antenna they could make. In creating a new standard it introduced a problem they didn't see soon enough.



    Not a perfect antenna, I Know, but I know how to mitigate the problem and I still have the better phone, the better camera, the better screen, the best ipod, video chat, the best apps, the best OS, the best book, tv and movie store as well. Oh well, enjoy the freedom to embrace mediocrity.
  • Reply 12 of 240
    qualarqualar Posts: 72member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by spliff monkey View Post


    Awwwwww. Need a tissue? So glad the great burden of owning Apple products has been lifted off your back. Enjoy your delusional fantasy, er uh I mean unburdened escape from the clutches if the Evil Empire into the soft delicate hands of droid bliss.



    Arrogant idiot.
  • Reply 13 of 240
    charlitunacharlituna Posts: 7,217member
    These folks can whine all they want but even before Jobs named checked them, people were posting sections from various instruction books not to touch here or there etc.



    Clearly there are issue spots on their phones or they wouldn't be saying in official instructions not to touch at certain spots.



    And all they are doing now is encouraging people to keep calling them out on this. I wouldn't be shocked if some site or blog has a complete collection by the end of the next day or two
  • Reply 14 of 240
    sensisensi Posts: 346member
    Oh Jeez, AI trying to make a ludicrous comparison between the odd possibility that you grap that HTC Droid Eris by the UPPER extremity of the phone to the -rather natural- BOTTOM left iPhone 4's death grip... I know that the ridicule does not kill, it can just makes you look silly and intellectually dishonest.
  • Reply 15 of 240
    bartbuzzbartbuzz Posts: 131member
    I knew Apple would catch hell for telling us that other smartphones can experience antenna interference. But Steve Jobs did make a point to say the other smartphones were fine phones. Nevertheless, this AI article proves that HTC lied. I'll bet we won't see any press coverage and user lambasting of the HTC lie. Poor Apple...they should have put a "do not touch here" page in the iPhone 4 manual. We all know it would have never stopped people from buying it. But it would have protected Apple from all the post-purchase whining.
  • Reply 16 of 240
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by spliff monkey View Post


    Awwwwww. Need a tissue? So glad the great burden of owning Apple products has been lifted off your back. Enjoy your delusional fantasy, er uh I mean unburdened escape from the clutches if the Evil Empire into the soft delicate hands of droid bliss.



    Everyone's Iphone 4's seem to be working fine with one caveat, the antennae. The phone is in no way defective, merely imperfect as all phone's *and all electronics) are in some way. The droid OS is terrible, HTC hardware is crap. Everything sucks on a droid.



    Iphone 4 owners have to have to use a case, hold it a certain way or turn off 3G. Not a big deal to me over the deficiencies of owning a craptastic droid. Especially 3G, eats too much battery anyway.



    Funny you didn't even bother to look at IP4. I am now waiting for mine since I realized (IMO) all of these stories are gross exaggerations, perpetuated by loud mouth, non expert, whiny bloggers throwing temper tantrums in an attempt to garner attention for their sad, sad blogging lives by spreading nothing short of propaganda, possibly cooked up by Apple's competitors when a fairly minor flaw was uncovered. Apple took a big chance at making a better antenna and it worked. Reception is better, but it also presented a flaw. How many times have we seen that in the tech business? Kudos for Apple taking a chance, sorry it didn't work out for everybody. Everyone else was happy with 3G phones that got worse reception than the clunkers from the early 90's, but obviously Apple wanted the best antenna they could make. In creating a new standard it introduced a problem they didn't see soon enough.



    Not a perfect antenna, I Know, but I know how to mitigate the problem and I still have the better phone, the better camera, the better screen, the best ipod, video chat, the best apps, the best OS, the best book, tv and movie store as well. Oh well, enjoy the freedom to embrace mediocrity.



    wow.. i had the same exact feelings as you tile my friend got a droid,, and i took the blinders off and tried it,,,,and well the rest is history,,, open source coding,, or apples do it my way,, IE: as much as adobe flash may not be the future,, it is out there,,on alot of websites,,i do believe the ip4 will be a above the bar product but so are alot of the droid phones,,

    and ya it is great for apple to try new things,, im all for that,, but when R&D misses something that simple.,, i say it was a rush to deliver what wasnt ready,, but i guess in 4 months they can release the iphone4gs,, btw the first rule of marketing never show what your competitor is or has done wrong, show what you are doing right,, jobs should have left it that the bumper corrects it and we will give you one,,,
  • Reply 17 of 240
    berpberp Posts: 136member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by northernale1 View Post


    well |I just retired my 3g (after putting 4.0 on it ,, it lagged bad),,iphone 4 looks to apple restrictive,, went droid,, and the choices and layout is unlimited,, like a burden has been lifted, all web pages and emails open fully,,, i got the xperia x10,, ive tried everything to have signal drop,, no dice,, so my response to mr. jobs is that not all phones have the deficiencies of your product,, and your rush to make your products obsolete by rushing products out on one end and holding back other parts,,,



    the more this happens the more apple is going to get caught with there pants down,,



    im not a apple hater,,, but i am apple discouraged with the attitude of late





    Congratulation, you bought yourself more than a smart phone here. You bought yourself a cozy relationship with a new life supervisor and editor a lot smarter than you and your phone will ever hope to be.



    Welcome to Google's free lunch program for the consuming impaired...! Their tutoring is ground breaking and well thought of by the ever so credible and highly consistent 'Consumer Report'. They leave no consumer buying habits behind and will take good care of yours, no doubt.
  • Reply 18 of 240
    maxtoshmaxtosh Posts: 17member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by northernale1 View Post


    wow.. i had the same exact feelings as you tile my friend got a droid,, and i took the blinders off and tried it,,,,and well the rest is history,,, open source coding,, or apples do it my way,, IE: as much as adobe flash may not be the future,, it is out there,,on alot of websites,,i do believe the ip4 will be a above the bar product but so are alot of the droid phones,,

    and ya it is great for apple to try new things,, im all for that,, but when R&D misses something that simple.,, i say it was a rush to deliver what wasnt ready,, but i guess in 4 months they can release the iphone4gs,, btw the first rule of marketing never show what your competitor is or has done wrong, show what you are doing right,, jobs should have left it that the bumper corrects it and we will give you one,,,





    I have 3 friends with Droids...on loves it and the two others hate it. Granted the Droid lover HATES anything Apple, so his joy may be a bit tainted. The two others have had serious freeze up issues and one was given a new phone....and it was a refurb. Customer service seems lacking...one thing Apple excels at in my opinion. I hear the app store for the Droid is almost 50% porn and poorly organized.
  • Reply 19 of 240
    hill60hill60 Posts: 6,992member
    So when's SonyEricsson updating the Android 1.6 that it ships with?



    When you have Android 2.2 and can install Flash then you'll be able to leave the restricted Internet you currently share with iPhones.



    Maybe you can jailbreak (root) it if you get sick of waiting for SonyEricsson or your network.



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by northernale1 View Post


    well |I just retired my 3g (after putting 4.0 on it ,, it lagged bad),,iphone 4 looks to apple restrictive,, went droid,, and the choices and layout is unlimited,, like a burden has been lifted, all web pages and emails open fully,,, i got the xperia x10,, ive tried everything to have signal drop,, no dice,, so my response to mr. jobs is that not all phones have the deficiencies of your product,, and your rush to make your products obsolete by rushing products out on one end and holding back other parts,,,



    the more this happens the more apple is going to get caught with there pants down,,



    im not a apple hater,,, but i am apple discouraged with the attitude of late



  • Reply 20 of 240
    plovellplovell Posts: 824member
    If you read the press releases etc from the other phone makers, none of them - not one - denies the claims made by Apple.



    A very misleading piece of Legal/Marketing work
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