'Death Grip' Videos Deleted From Apple Web Site'Death Grip' Videos Deleted From Apple Web Site

As part of the "Antennagate" press conference held by Apple several weeks ago, the company showed how competing smartphones from other manufacturers also suffered from the "death grip" phenomenon. It posted the videos on the Apple.com Web site and also Apple's official YouTube channel. The videos are no longer on Apple's Web site.

Apple's official comment on the matter, as reported by CNet, was, "We constantly refresh the content on Apple.com. If you'd like access to [the videos], you can find them archived on YouTube.com/Apple."

True enough, the videos can still be watched on Apple's YouTube channel. Apple's non-answer doesn't explain much, however.

One of the videos -- of the Motorola Droid X -- was just posted last week, so it's a bit surprising that the videos were canned so quickly. It elicited a notable response from Motorola, which took out a full-page ad in the New York Times bashing the iPhone 4.

The headline of the ad read, "No Jacket Required." That's an obvious barb intended for the Apple iPhone, which is being given free bumpers to help resolve the signal strength attenuation problem. Motorola doesn't stop there.

After pointing out the Droid X's many strengths, the bottom of the ad reads, "At Motorola, we believe a customer shouldn't have to dress up their phone for it to work properly. That's why the Droid X comes with a dual antenna design. The kind that allows you to hold the phone any way you like to make crystal clear calls without a bulky phone jacket. For us it's just one of those things that comes as a given when you've been making mobile phones for over 30 years."

My guess is, Apple removed the videos from its own site because their presence kept the "Antennagate" subject alive and in the forefront of customers' minds. Why continue to spotlight what has been a very negative experience for Apple and the iPhone 4. On top of that, countless media outlets and consumers have posted their own "Antennagate" videos. If you want to watch them, they are easily found.

Another reason is that the back-and-forth with Motorola, Verizon Wireless and other competitors could get pretty ugly if one of the parties involved doesn't back down. Did Apple back down here to prevent further attack ads on the iPhone 4? Draw your own conclusions.

In case you missed it, here's the video Apple posted of the Motorola Droid X: