Jim Balsillie vs. Steve Jobs: The Battle of the Smartphone
As the large majority of cell phones users begin to make the switch from the generic 12 key phone to the new wave of smartphone, the debate of which smartphone to purchase grows rabid.
As of right now, according to Reuters, the two biggest contenders in this fight are Jim Balsillie’s RIM Blackberry and Steve Job’s Apple iPhone. The feud between these two men has been raging on for the past few years as the Blackberry has long since been the dominant smartphone device, focusing mainly on the businessman demographic. In recent times, as the demand for these smartphones has grown, new competitors such as Apple’s iPhone have become the next big thing on the block.
These two CEO’s (Balsillie and Jobs) have definitely exchanged blows with each other. During Steve Job’s July 16th news conference on the iPhone’s reception problem, he publicly bashed the Blackberry 9700 saying:
“The BlackBerry Bold 9700… let’s see what happens when you hold it in a normal way… 5 bars… and now on holding the left side. The bars go down.”
As anyone would expect, Jim Balsillie was not in the slightest bit pleased with what was said by Steve Jobs. He responded by questioning the integrity of the technical decisions and marketing ploys of Apple;
“Apple’s attempt to draw RIM into Apple’s self-made debacle is unacceptable. 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. 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.”
On August 3rd RIM will unveil what is speculated to be big changes to its Blackberry product as the new Blackberry 6 operating system will come into effect (as seen in the photo below)
The new operating system is dangerously similar in its style to the iPhone’s operating system. Despite this, many people are praising it, saying that it is the beginning of bigger and better things for the Blackberry. The new operating system will be run on the latest Blackberry installments which include, the 9800 touch with slide out Qwerty keyboard, 9780 and 9670 Clam Shell (as seen below).
With the iPhone’s recent Antennae troubles and the Blackberry’s new lineup ready to be unleashed, the possibilities on what will happen next in this heated battle are endless…
What do you think? Blackberry or iPhone?
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