Both Nokia and RIM have complained that Apple’s Steve Jobs made unfair comments on their antenna design on Friday, at an event designed to address the antenna problem affecting the iPhone 4.

During the press conference on Friday, Jobs said that the antenna issue that affects the iPhone 4 is “a challenge for the whole industry”. He also used the press conference to highlight the reception deficiencies of handsets made by RIM, Samsung, HTC and Nokia, a move which has sparked the ire of Nokia and RIM in particular.

False allegations?

“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’” said Jobs during the conference, much to the irritation of its smartphone rivals. Despite considerable effort, neither eWEEK Europe nor other sites have yet to find a convincing example of such a sticker on any production Nokia phone.

Niether Nokia nor RIM have actually accused Jobs of lying, but both say his allegations about their antennas are a dishonest way to avoid the issue of the iPhone 4’s problems. The joint bosses at BlackBerry maker RIM accused Apple of trying to deflect criticism from its antenna issue and the way it has been designed.

“Apple’s attempt to draw RIM into Apple’s self-made debacle is unacceptable,” said RIM’s Co-CEOs Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie. “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,” Lazaridis and Balsillie added.

“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,” Lazaridis and Balsillie said.

Nokia puts signals first

Nokia meanwhile opted for a more measured response compared to its previous satirical approach to the iPhone 4 Death Grip, reiterating the seriousnesses with which it takes antenna design. When the antenna problem first began to surface back in late June, Nokia poked fun at Apple and produced a tongue-in-cheek guide entitled “How do you hold your Nokia?”.

Now Nokia made clear that it “prioritises” antenna design over the physical design of the phone if it needs to.

“Antenna design is a complex subject and has been a core competence at Nokia for decades, across hundreds of phone models,” said the Finnish handset giant. “Nokia was the pioneer in internal antennas; the Nokia 8810, launched in 1998, was the first commercial phone with this feature.

“Nokia has invested thousands of man hours in studying human behaviour, including how people hold their phones for calls, music playing, web browsing and so on. As you would expect from a company focused on connecting people, we prioritise antenna performance over physical design if they are ever in conflict,” it said.

But Nokia knows that it is not infallible in this area and added that antenna performance can be affected by a ‘tight grip’.

Just as well, as a number of videos are on YouTube showing Nokia phone reception dropping when held in certain ways. These include videos of a Nokia E71, Nokia 6230, and Nokia 6720.

“In general, antenna performance of a mobile device/phone may be affected with a tight grip, depending on how the device is held,” said Nokia. “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.”