Apple And Motorola Trade Barbs Over Droid XApple And Motorola Trade Barbs Over Droid X

It's not very appealing when companies act like schoolyard kids, but it is certainly entertaining. Take the latest round of propaganda in the "Antennagate" saga, for example.

Motorola took out a full-page ad in the New York Times to tout the Droid X. The headline of the ad read, "No Jacket Required." That's an obvious barb intended for the Apple iPhone 4, 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." Nice.

Of course, this ad is in response to Apple's own attack on the Droid X. Apple posted a video last week which showed the Droid X losing signal strength after being held in some one's hand. It is one in a series of videos that Apple has shown in attempt to deflect criticism over the iPhone 4's design. Apple said during its "Antennagate" press conference that antenna design is a problem for all smartphones. Apple showed how phones from RIM, HTC, Nokia, Samsung, and Motorola all lose signal. Motorola obviously begs to differ.

You might recall that Verizon Wireless and Motorola both took out an ad in late June attacking the iPhone 4. In that ad, they two companies said, "Most importantly, [the Droid X] comes with a double antenna design. The kind that allows you to hold the phone any way you like and use it just about anywhere to make crystal clear calls." Similar language when compared to the more recent ad, though Apple at the time had yet to offer free bumpers to alter the iPhone 4's behavior. It was recommending that users hold the phone differently.

My guess is this is going to become more childish before it goes away.

Here's Apple's video from last week: