Apple Drops Attack Videos From iPhone 4 Antenna Page

Apple's Web site sure makes it seem that way: gone -- at least from immediate view -- are the videos Apple posted detailing how other smartphones, such as Droid X, lose signal bars when held a certain way.

Granted, viewers can still find several of the videos on YouTube, but Apple's antenna landing page itself touts Apple's own engineering feats for antenna design on iPhone 4, and downplays the comparisons that earned Apple plenty of ire from Motorola, Research In Motion, HTC and other smartphone makers.

To recap: Apple made a big deal in last month's iPhone 4 press conference about how other smartphones experience antenna issues similar to the ones iPhone 4 experiences when held a certain way. During a presentation, Jobs aired videos showing similar antenna issues with the HTC Droid Eris, RIM BlackBerry Bold 9700 and Samsung Omnia II when gripped in the same fashion, describing the issues as "an industry-wide problem."

That suggestion, however, prompted a firestorm of responses from Apple rivals around the world, especially from BlackBerry maker RIM, whose co-CEOs said that "Apple's attempt to draw RIM into Apple's self-made debacle is unacceptable." Motorola, for its part, launched an ad campaign last week for the Droid X, whose main message -- "no jacket required" -- was an unmistakable jab at Apple's bumper case fix for iPhone 4.

Apple's working hard to put Antennagate behind it, and despite a few public relations black eyes, iPhone 4 antenna issues appear to have had little material effect on Apple's continued dominance. But for a company as scrutinized and speculated over as Apple, any move is open to interpretation, and the company appears to have handed yet more ammunition to rivals.