Telling everyone how good you are compared to a competitor is not a good way to start.
This is why Venture Capitalists roll their eyes when people claim their new project is going to be “[FaceBook|Google|Office] but better!”
The Samsung Instinct adverts are all about “Instinct versus iPhone”. This tells you two things:
- The Samsung Instinct team are more worried about iPhone than any other phone. Even phones which already have 3G and GPS. That tells us they think other smartphones running Blackberry, Windows Mobile and Symbian are irrelevant. And did you notice the wait in this video while they wait for the Instinct to catch up with the Maps application on iPhone? That delay is going to be part of your day, every day, every minute you use that phone. There’s probably a reason why they don’t show the web browser launching in this Internet speed test video
- The Samsung Instinct team are not very clever. Apple has added these touted features. It’s great to have the technical superiority for a few weeks while you launch a new phone but seriously – iPhone has been out for a year and this is the best you can do? I am actually looking forward to seeing an Samsung Instinct in the ‘plastic’.
I jumped on this train because frankly, AndroidGuys jumped on it first. It’s not an Android phone but that doesn’t matter. Come on guys! What’s te point in telling us all about closed has-been platforms where the only thing innovative is the advert????
What else do you need to know about the Instinct?
- It has a 2 GB MicroSD memory card included. You can upgrade this to 8 GB for more money and there’s only one memory slot so you have to juggle your media. I love doing that. (the iPhone starts at 8 GB built-in and goes to 16GB, all built in).
- Screen resolution is 240×432 pixels. It’ll be great for the movies and TV you can get on it. (iPhone is 480×320. That’s a big difference.)
- It has the same 2 Megapixel camera as the iPhone (which means you’ll need to carry another phone unless just snapping drunken pictures of mates.)
- There is no information on the OS powering it or the availability of third party apps. (Even Bushmen of the Kalahari know about the iPhone and the App Store).
There you go. It beats the iPhone (June 2007) in the two areas that the iPhone (July 2008) will just fix. That’s fabulous. Well done to Samsung for pulling this out of a hat.
Apple really has gotten the mobile phone manufacturers in a tizzy. You have to laugh.
When you introduce the new product in the market then you may post with the your similar websites. Thank you for giving this information.
Ah, looks like Mal Emery is full of FAIL.
Could that be what you are doing here by referring to AndroidGuys twice in the last few days? Marketing your product?
Don’t get me wrong, this was a great article and completely worth the read. Brings up good points.
Most of our coverage stems from an article we did back in March re: Wondering if it was an iPhone killer or not. That article went on to be included in the Sprint ad campaign for NowIsGood.com and we’re involved in the online segment. Take a look under the “Accolades…” part and you’ll see it refer to our post.
Also, to reiterate, we feel like this gives us Android fans a taste as to what is coming from Samsung in the smart phone market.
Good write up though on comparison marketing.
Hi Scott, I was referring to the top article in your Feed dated 2008/06/17. That’s today, right? I understand if this is the direction you want to move your site in, mine is different. I’m not digging up old articles to comment upon – I’m just irritated by FUD.
@Devil’s Advocate – What product am I marketing? There’s a difference between editorial and advertorial. The Samsung commercials are …commercials. They don’t show all the facts, I’d even question the testing procedures.
In short – if the Samsung Instinct is meant to be an example of a typical Android-powered iPhone killer then Apple has nothing to worry about.
Where’s the fear, uncertainty or doubt? We’re just putting our readers wise to another thing to put “on the radar”. We’ve been telling readers about Mobile Internet Devices, Wi-Fi stuff, and other initiatives since we started. So… all we did today was officially group it all together for a new segment. It’s a place to find the non-Android stuff we find interesting and think our readers would agree.
It’s all good. We expect arguments about iPhone comparisons and welcome what Apple has done. You’ve got 2 articles dedicated to Android and over 4 pages of articles on iPhone so I’m not surprised in your opinion of the device.
The FUD seems to come louder from the Apple camp than the Google one. “You guys” are the ones trying to kill it before it comes out talking about how it’s vaporware, an also-ran, DOA, etc.
Not trying to come off crass by any stretch. I respect your opinions and you’re site is very well researched. Respect knuckles.
Not you, Scott, Samsung!
When Android ships, I will be looking out for something cool from the manufacturers and something comparable from the carriers. Something to rival or beat my iPhone, my Nokia n800, my SonyEricsson K800i, the Nokia e65….any of them.
I buy lots of technology.
The Instinct, however, is an also-ran and frankly doesn’t deserve the hype. I’ve not seen any adverts for it that strayed from the 3G/GPS argument which, as we know, will be defunct in less than a month. What are they going to do then?
I’ll agree that $100 million ad campaign is ridiculous. We had a guy sit in on the webinar a few weeks back on the device and when it came time for Q&A, I told him to ask what their plans were once the new iPhone comes out with 3G and all the network stuff is irrelevant. Somehow the question was danced around with some already-prepared statement about how valuable the device will be for users.
We will have a demo unit tomorrow from Sprint. We’ve got 3 weeks to play with it and run it through our real world tests. We’ll find out soon enough just how DOA it truly is.
One has to wonder what else could have been done with that $100M, eh? Extra R&D never hurt anyone.
I’m interested to see your report, once you have it, especially weighed with the expectations for 3rd party apps? It looks like ‘none’ which puts it far behind everything else. What OS does it run anyway?
All said, I wish Google would hurry up. My iPhone is in for repair, I’m getting tired of how sluggish maemo is and my battery on my K800i is dying. I need new kit, stat!