Nokia prioritize antenna performance over design

[slitchfield]

As a follow-up to Apple's emergency iPhone 4 press conference yesterday, in which Steve Jobs claimed that all smartphones suffered from similar reception problems when held tightly (and also erroneously quoted Nokias as having "stickers on the back that say 'Don't touch here'"), Nokia has apparently responded with a statement, quoted below.

Read on in the full article.

[Dazzy]

Steve think back to those phones that used to sit in a car cradle with the external aerial port on the back, did those not have stickers to that effect. Something like the 6310 maybe? would that be one?

[ironass]

So, the worlds most "magical, slimmest, smartphone" runs on a rubber band!

You couldn't make it up could you?

I can't wait for the steam powered iPhone.

I've never seen a sticker as mentioned on a Nokia handset.

Here is Steve's sticker: http://twitpic.com/25v8ky

[Ratkat]

Nokia prioritize antenna performance over design

And it shows doesn't it, the design team at Nokia who built the N97 with it's minuscule 'C' drive, inadequate RAM, and malfunctioning GPS should take a look at Apple and learn a few lessons.
If Nokia had come close to handling the situation with the 'unfit for purpose' N97 (as it was at launch) as Apple have with iPhone 4, then they might still have me and lots of others as customers.

[slitchfield]

Oh absolutely. What I want is a device with Nokia's RF expertise and camera (incl Xenon flash), plus Apple's processor and RAM - and interface, plus Motorola's metal build quality - and Samsung's screens.

Not too much to ask, is it???

[jamoiholland]

Originally Posted by slitchfield

Oh absolutely. What I want is a device with Nokia's RF expertise and camera (incl Xenon flash), plus Apple's processor and RAM - and interface, plus Motorola's metal build quality - and Samsung's screens.

Not too much to ask, is it???

Nope, sounds like a winning phone to me!!

I think the sticker that he was referring to is the basic "do not touch" stickers that are in user manuals. Just because most people don't bother to read them is no Steve Jobs' fault. However, while have multiple iPhones, I do feel that they will have to change the design. Not because of the intent of the design but because of the execution of the design. If Apple had gone with a simple covering of clear coat on the antenna, this would be a none issue, however they went with form over function.

Also, even with the flaw, polls have shown that people are happy with the iPhone, will still purchase an iPhone and are confident that in the end Apple will fix it. This is confidence that Nokia does not have. Never in product history has Nokia sold over a million "flagship" phones in less than 3 days. So even with a flawed design, bad PR, and stupid statements, Apple is still trumping Nokia where it counts. The consumers.

[mjbrown]

I think Jon Snow of Channel 4 news has the best solution (last night's broadcast) to the iphone 4 antenna problem...



(http://bit.ly/bbm77R)

He said it used to work a treat for the old Ford Cortinas!

[doonit]

Doen't matter what Nokia says in retaliation. Your iBunnies won't even read it!! Jesus Jobs will have the final word for his cult to swallow up.

[Ratkat]

Originally Posted by slitchfield

Oh absolutely. What I want is a device with Nokia's RF expertise and camera (incl Xenon flash), plus Apple's processor and RAM - and interface, plus Motorola's metal build quality - and Samsung's screens.

Not too much to ask, is it???

I'll go along with that, but I'll stick with iPhone 4's retina screen, it is boooootiful

Originally Posted by Unregistered

I think the sticker that he was referring to is the basic "do not touch" stickers that are in user manuals. Just because most people don't bother to read them is no Steve Jobs' fault. However, while have multiple iPhones, I do feel that they will have to change the design. Not because of the intent of the design but because of the execution of the design. If Apple had gone with a simple covering of clear coat on the antenna, this would be a none issue, however they went with form over function.

Also, even with the flaw, polls have shown that people are happy with the iPhone, will still purchase an iPhone and are confident that in the end Apple will fix it. This is confidence that Nokia does not have. Never in product history has Nokia sold over a million "flagship" phones in less than 3 days. So even with a flawed design, bad PR, and stupid statements, Apple is still trumping Nokia where it counts. The consumers.

Another stupid comment from an iSheep.
I wonder who's the most stupid here, you or Jobs.

FYI, Nokia's "user manuals" do not contain any "stickers", only "written" information .

For what it's worth, I just tried blocking the signal of my 5800 XM -- oddly enough, even after days of reading about the iPhone issue I never bothered to try. I could easily reduce it from full signal to about 20% signal by covering it tightly. Holding it in my normal fashion reduces signal only slightly (1 bar). This only happened in 3G mode; the first time I tried it, the phone actually dropped to 2G and I measured no signal drop whatsoever. Anyway, at least for 3G+5800XM I find it hard to believe that the average for a "death grip" would be one or two bars.

My ideal phone would use a high res transflective screen that is readable in daylight. The comparison between iPad and Pixel Qi screen is pretty convincing: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cgQuLPNP1QU

[Davescot]

Nokia prioritize antenna
performance over design.

I disagree with that. If that were the case they wouldn't have been stupid enough to place the X6's wifi antenna at the bottom left of the phone this results in the X6 having extremely poor wifi performance. I really am getting fed up with my X6 losing wifi signal in places where my N95 and N79 work fine. X6 in my back garden = no wifi signal, N79 in same place 40-60% strength. As for the X6's cellular performance' well thats even worse. It's quite normal for my X6 to drop from 5-6 bars down to no signal after picking it up. Bloody annoying. I disagree with antennas at the bottom of the phone.

[slitchfield]

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Anyway, at least for 3G+5800XM I find it hard to believe that the average for a "death grip" would be one or two bars.

I was just averaging what people have reported to me. The problem is that in a strong signal area (much of the UK) you'll hardly see any drop, whereas in weak signal areas the effect will be more dramatic - this much is true for any phone. The power bars aren't truly linear and there is headroom off the top of the full 5/6/7 bars, for example - plus, as people have pointed out, the effects are digital and not analogue in the first place. AND there are many other dependencies, not least hand capacitance, orientation in space and exact location...