There are plenty of design issues with mobile phones that certainly could use being addressed, and none of these universal concerns need to be urgently fixed.

Apple, however, certainly believes that they are not alone when it comes to suffering from an antenna issue. Steve Jobs stated that the issue is a challenge to the whole industry. What Apple seems to have forgotten is that with the literally thousands of unique handsets out there, only they are suffering from an antenna issue.

Sure, other mobile phones will lose a bar of signal, or even two, if it is held in a unique way. But none of these devices would actually drop user calls. The iPhone 4 however, is likely to drop a call if held in the left hand –a position where the exposed antenna strip is located. To state that the issue is an industry challenge is a long stretch, even for a company as Apple.

To further support their claim, Steve Jobs has also pointed out several mobile phones which are apparently suffering from antenna issues as well. Included in the presentation was the BlackBerry Bold 9700, the Samsung Omnia 2 and an HTC Android smart phone.

However, none of these devices have a history of massive call drops similar to what the Apple iPhone 4 is suffering from. And the makers of the various phones are not too happy being dragged into the mess that Apple is already into.

Research in Motion, creators of the BlackBerry, is among the first to speak up about the matter. They released an open letter that directly addressed the issue of antenna performance and clearly stated that no BlackBerry handset requires the use of a casing to be used properly.

They are quite right, in fact, aside from the iPhone 4, there is hardly any other device that requires a casing to function right.

Fans of the BlackBerry (and mobile messaging enthusiasts), are rejoicing the arrival of the Bold 9700, this impressive little 3G wonder brings together high speed internet and ergonomic for the ultimate experience of messaging on-the-go.

Succeeding the Bold 9000 and the Curve, this mobile phone brings the best features of both with a few extra improvements. The most noticeable trait for BlackBerry fans would be the use of the BlackBerry track pad. While many have become attached to the then-successful track ball, BlackBerry has, without a doubt, delivered a much better input system in the form of the track pad.

Bold New Features

The BlackBerry Bold 9700 features a full QWERTY keyboard on the face of the phone. This cramps the screen up a little, but the layout of the phone looks very relaxed and well put together. Thanks to the tapered lines and the form of the device, it not only looks good in the hand, but it feels good as well. The key are nicely spaced apart and typing fast on this device takes only a few seconds to get the hang of.

Users will like the small yet high resolution 2.44 inch screen with its 480 x 360 pixels of resolution and 65 thousand colour display capability. Images and videos taken with the 3.2 mega pixel camera appear nicely on the screen.

Media playback on this phone is a joy, on a full charge, the device can play music for up to 35 hours. While the 256MB of internal storage will not hold much music, a microSD card slot will allow you to store more files.

Out Now

The Bold 9700 is already available as of the time of writing; with T-Mobile and Vodafone already allowing customers to avail of the device for free on certain plans. Orange Mobile has announced that they too would have the phone but have not confirmed as to when the device will be available through their carrier.