Apple removes competitors' phones from iPhone 4 antenna page
Apple's iPhone 4 antenna page, which shows the great lengths the company goes to in order to test its handsets, no longer features videos of competing smartphones losing reception when held improperly.
The "death grip" videos previously posted at apple.com/antenna showed a number of handsets experiencing signal attenuation when held. Most recently, Motorola's Droid X had been added to the page.
The antenna information page had also previously shown Research in Motion's BlackBerry Bold 9700, HTC's Droid Eris, Samsung's Windows Mobile Omnia II, Nokia's N97, as well as Apple's own iPhone 3GS and iPhone 4.
Competing smartphone makers took issue with the fact that Apple had compared their phones to the iPhone 4. They argued that their phones did not experience the same level of signal attenuation as the iPhone 4, which can lose signal strength when the bottom left corner of the device is touched. But Apple's videos of the phones suggested otherwise, showing popular handsets losing signal when held in the hand.
The videos, however, remain on Apple's official YouTube channel.
The official antenna page still features one video, that offers an inside look at Apple's antenna testing labs. The company has invested more than $100 million in its advanced labs, which feature 17 different, state-of-the-art anechoic chambers designed to measure antenna and wireless performance.
The "death grip" videos previously posted at apple.com/antenna showed a number of handsets experiencing signal attenuation when held. Most recently, Motorola's Droid X had been added to the page.
The antenna information page had also previously shown Research in Motion's BlackBerry Bold 9700, HTC's Droid Eris, Samsung's Windows Mobile Omnia II, Nokia's N97, as well as Apple's own iPhone 3GS and iPhone 4.
Competing smartphone makers took issue with the fact that Apple had compared their phones to the iPhone 4. They argued that their phones did not experience the same level of signal attenuation as the iPhone 4, which can lose signal strength when the bottom left corner of the device is touched. But Apple's videos of the phones suggested otherwise, showing popular handsets losing signal when held in the hand.
The videos, however, remain on Apple's official YouTube channel.
The official antenna page still features one video, that offers an inside look at Apple's antenna testing labs. The company has invested more than $100 million in its advanced labs, which feature 17 different, state-of-the-art anechoic chambers designed to measure antenna and wireless performance.
Comments
I guess apple were the ones RECEIVING legal threats
Well, if Apple's videos showed the truth about the problem with other companies' handsets, what's there to sue about. I mean, the other companies were attacking the iPhone4 first.
I suspect it is probably more of a truce between the companies. We'll see in the following weeks if there is a lack of iPhone4 bashing.
Sued?
For what?
"Give me your tired, your poor,
Your death grip obsessed, whining masses yearning to be drop out free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore,
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"
I guess apple were the ones RECEIVING legal threats
Good. It was getting lame.
It was lame from the start. Smart move to remove.
I mean, the other companies were attacking the iPhone4 first.
They were and Apple has a right and duty to product itself, its products, investors and bottom line, but you get to a point when it’s no longer advantageous to do an attack ad, even if provoked. I suspect that hill60 is right in that news from outside the US is better than Apple’s defense in that it’s an independent 3rd-party reporting on the quality of the iPhone 4 and (likely) anyone who still thinks this is an iPhone 4-only issue causing a “short circuiting” of the antennas probably won’t be changing their stance on the iPhone or Apple anytime soon.
I guess the positive stories coming from the International launch are doing a better job at nullifying the damage being done by a pack of mainly American whiners than all the videos pointing out the truth were doing.
That sounds reasonable.
PS: Hulu Plus preview invites are being sent out now. Just signed up. Now to see how to compares to the selection and quality of other paid streaming services, like Netflix.
Good. It was getting lame.
Agreed,
PS: Hulu Preview invites are being sent out now. Just signed up. Now to see how to compares to the selection and quality of other paid streaming services, like Netflix.
Received mine about 3 weeks ago. In my opinion, Hulu Plus pales in comparison to Netflix in the movie section, but takes Netflix to task with it's tv section. I prefer movies over tv, therefore I consider Netflix the better of the two.
I guess the positive stories coming from the International launch are doing a better job at nullifying the damage being done by a pack of mainly American whiners than all the videos pointing out the truth were doing.
Sued?
For what?
"Give me your tired, your poor,
Your death grip obsessed, whining masses yearning to be drop out free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore,
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"
agree 100%
Well, if Apple's videos showed the truth about the problem with other companies' handsets, what's there to sue about. I mean, the other companies were attacking the iPhone4 first.
I suspect it is probably more of a truce between the companies. We'll see in the following weeks if there is a lack of iPhone4 bashing.
There has always been a certain jealousy when it comes to Apple products. Even going back to the Apple II and Commodore 64 days though it has gotten progressively worse in recent times. I believe that "antenna gate" could be used to show how media, public dissemination and the internet effect public perception.
Gizmodo did try their hardest though. But I think this is all behind us now. Good try gizmodo.
1) The fat rubber band that held the phone in place in one test seemed kinda low tech compared to all the whiz-bang technology around it. I am sure it worked just fine, but still rather incongruous.
2) As I read the last paragraph on the page I kept expecting to see "both in and out of cases" among the long list of variables. They didn't include it. I wondered if that was because they didn't test that (unlikely I think), or some legal reason (more likely). What do you think?
BTW, I continue to love my iP4 first without, then with, it's free Apple bumper.
Very Wise Move... It proved nothing and made Apple look like it was 'pointing fingers' at others rather than fixing the actual issues.
I agree somewhat, but to be fair, their competitors pointed first.
Well, if Apple's videos showed the truth about the problem with other companies' handsets, what's there to sue about. I mean, the other companies were attacking the iPhone4 first.
I suspect it is probably more of a truce between the companies. We'll see in the following weeks if there is a lack of iPhone4 bashing.
Honestly, it probably was because of legal threats. The videos may have been faked. They did not even bother to cover the antenna in the top of the Droid X for example, yet they show this mysterious video of its bars dropping, but no one can seem to recreate what Apple has done.
Honestly, it probably was because of legal threats. The videos may have been faked. They did not even bother to cover the antenna in the top of the Droid X for example, yet they show this mysterious video of its bars dropping, but no one can seem to recreate what Apple has done.
In my own "testing" I found that I couldn't even reproduce my own results. I tried holding the phone different ways both in and out of the case and found a inexplicable lack of consistency. In worst case scenarios I had bars go down one time, and up the next. There are so many variables in play that the best one can hope for are macro results. Zeroing in micro on one video of one instance is probably futile. Do enough tests and shoot enough video and you can make any phone do anything. Either way it helped Apple, I think. It instilled their own FUD about their critics.
Very Wise Move... It proved nothing and made Apple look like it was 'pointing fingers' at others rather than fixing the actual issues.
Do you have any empirical evidence to back this up, or are you, in your usual grand fashion, talking through your hat based on your feelings/surmise/biases? (Oh, don't bother linking to some silly tech article; I said 'empirical evidence.').
I agree somewhat, but to be fair, their competitors pointed first.
Unfortunate that people always get pissy when their fragile emotional bubbles are burst with actual knowledge.
It was a wonderfully informative reality check for the whiners, I'll miss those well-manicured, antennae-blocking hands.
I agree somewhat, but to be fair, their competitors pointed first.
I would say customers pointed first...