If have you haven’t looked and any tech blogs, picked up a newspaper, or watched any news broadcast since last Thursday, you may not have known that Apple held a special press conference Friday to address reception issues that plague the iPhone 4.  Steve Jobs, for the most part, down played the issue kind of making it seem like it is more perception than reality (nothing shocking there), however, did address iPhone 4 owners concerns by basically giving all iPhone users a case.

Steve Jobs, however, didn’t stop there.  In a move that is pretty classless no matter how you look at it, he drug Research in Motion and Nokia into the conversation by, not only stating that handsets from both carriers suffer from the same type of problem plaguing the iPhone 4, but actually showing a video of a BlackBerry demonstrating the issue.  Needless to say, this did not sit well with RIM…

RIM Co-CEOs, in a joint response to Apple, had this to say:

“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.”

– Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie

I am probably making this next part up, but, I might of heard, unofficially, that Jim Balsillie said that he was going to kick Steve Jobs’ you know what next time he sees him in the street.

[Via CrackBerry]