RIM BlackBerry 9800 Shows Signs Of A Death Grip Issue

At Apple's event the other day, Steve Jobs went out of his way to tell the world, or at least everyone watching, why the iPhone 4 has been suffering from signal issues. And he did a good job of it, too. In fact, he did such a good job, that he actually managed to drag just about every phone manufacturer on the planet into the ring with him, and explain that it's not just an iPhone, or an Apple problem, but an industry-wide situation that someone (like an engineer at Apple, for instance) needs to figure out, pronto. Of course, those manufacturers didn't take this lightly, and we've heard from just about everyone that was called out by name by now. One of them, Research In Motion, was quick to say that they don't suffer the same issues. But, apparently they spoke too soon.

Unfortunately, the videos that showcase what we're talking about here have been pulled from YouTube. Why? Because apparently they violate some kind of terms of use. So, we'll just have to sit back and imagine the situation on our own. But, if you'll recall, the BlackBerry 9800 was showcased earlier today, when it was bragging about its brand new WebKit browser. Apparently, in those videos, when the device gets held in a certain way, sure enough the signal starts to take a hit. Just as Steve Jobs explained.

Right now, the BlackBerry 9800 is just a pre-release model, and there's still some time for RIM to make some changes, but it's pretty much firmly believed that this is indeed the final build. So, if this were to make its way out into the wild, and after that scathing remark to Apple, we can imagine how many of the industry's patrons would be pretty shocked. No matter how good that WebKit browser is (and it's pretty good), if you hold that phone in some way and it starts losing service, you better get ready to hear the cries.

[via Electronista]