

Samsung to run a national media campaign against Apple beginning Sunday - headShrinker
http://www.sfgate.com/technology/businessinsider/article/Here-s-The-Anti-iPhone-5-Ad-Samsung-Will-Run-In-3658812.php

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lomegor
"Galaxy S III can't do like Facebook and Twitter integration, AirPlay"

What does this mean? That Android doesn't have Facebook and Twitter
integration? Their apps are not baked in the OS, but Android intents take care
of the rest, and you can easily add your accounts to it. Am I missing
something?

It's true that it doesn't have AirPlay, but it has a lot of similar
capabilities with different names, whereas the iPhone 5 doesn't have the
possibility of any of the characteristics of Samsung marketing terms in the ad
(like S-Beam or Smart Stay).

~~~
eridius
What the heck are S-Beam and Smart Stay?

~~~
sciwiz
S-Beam uses NFC to initiate a Wi-fi Direct connection between devices to
transfer files/pics/links etc.

Smart Stay is a feature which uses the front facing camera to check if the
users eyes are looking at the display and won't time out the display when the
timeout threshold is reached.

~~~
kyriakos
smart stay works really well btw as long as you are in a well lit room.

~~~
eridius
When is it actually useful? I can't recall the last time my iPhone locked the
screen while I was using it. In most cases I'm periodically interacting with
the device. When I'm not interacting with it but I'm using it, that typically
means there's some video content on the screen, which prevents lockouts
implicitly, or some app is displaying changing data, and apps can also disable
the lockout when appropriate.

I'm not trying to say here that "omg iOS is better", I'm genuinely curious as
to when this feature actually makes a difference. Seems to me all it's going
to do is suck up power running a camera. And the idea of having the front-
facing camera on at all times is also a bit sketchy. It'd be like having my
computer's webcam on at all times.

~~~
kyriakos
it is useful - I do read a lot of text on my phone - books / and web.

its one of those features you don't advertise though. I mean I wouldn't buy a
device just for this but small things like this make people miss them when
using another phone / platform. I guess its not the big stuff that build the
brand loyalty but these subtle details.

~~~
eridius
If you're reading text, don't you have to interact with the device to
scroll/page the text? Or do Samsung phones have some sort of absurdly low
timeout? I could imagine this feature being useful if the screen typically
locked itself after, say, 20 seconds of inactivity, but a much better solution
is to simply increase the lockout time to something reasonable.

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glhaynes
This headline made me expect a campaign blitz against Apple Inc itself
(presumably related to the recent lawsuit). I never would've clicked if I'd
known it was just a comparison ad between a couple of particular devices.

~~~
codeka
That would've been an interesting campaign. I'm sure there's a lot of people
who don't actually know what Apple are doing to innovation around the world.

Though I wonder if you could do it without actually coming off as a whining
loser...

~~~
grecy
> I'm sure there's a lot of people who don't actually know what Apple are
> doing to innovation around the world.

Sigh.

As has been reported many, many times, Apple are not doing anything to
innovation. They are trying to stop people copying their ideas. They've given
plenty of examples of smart phones and tablets that are great and not copying.
They just don't like the copies.

Go sell cola in a certain shape bottle, or a car with the same profile as a
BMW, or a baseball cap with a certain shape logo on it and see what happens to
you. It's not that those companies are trying to stop competition and
innovation, they are trying to stop people copying their products.

~~~
cageface
_As has been reported many, many times, Apple are not doing anything to
innovation._

Certainly a matter of opinion. I'm seeing a lot more resentment towards Apple
from previous fans than I can ever remember over this.

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gfodor
It really is amazing to me how even in 2012 a company, one competing with
_Apple_ , mind you, can be so transparently clueless when it comes to
marketing.

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jrockway
I hate to say this, but bullet points are not how you sell consumer devices.
This ad looks like the result of a meeting with too many attendees that was
too long. You're selling to average people who just want a cool phone, you're
not bidding on a government contract. Adjust the style accordingly.

I don't really like Apple's ads, but they seem to work.

~~~
telcodud
In any case, they lost me at S-Voice. Samsung is going to compare Siri to
S-Voice instead of upgrading to Android 4.1 (JellyBean) first and then
boasting about Google Now? Really? They are simply delusional.

Also, what are all those terms after NFC which are simply meaningless to most
customers?

~~~
DeepDuh
On first look I thought ok, well, of course Android phones have more features
on paper. Then I saw those bullet points after NFC you were talking about.
Really? _Really?_ They couldn't find anything better?

~~~
jrockway
Removable battery is a really good feature, actually.

The other day I was discussing long flights with a colleague. He said he is
always weighted down by the number of adaptors he has to carry to be able to
charge his laptop anywhere. I asked "why not just get an extra battery,
they're in the supply closet for free."

Then I realized he was a Mac user.

~~~
DeepDuh
Ok I give you that. To be honest I stopped reading right at about Palm Touch
Mute Pause.

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casca
Full image of Samsung ad:
[http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/5054b1bdecad04ba780...](http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/5054b1bdecad04ba7800000b-1630-3150/samsung-
galaxy-s-iii-anti-iphone-5-ad-full-size.jpg)

Source: [http://www.businessinsider.com/samsung-galaxy-s-iii-anti-
iph...](http://www.businessinsider.com/samsung-galaxy-s-iii-anti-
iphone-5-ad-2012-9)

~~~
mortenjorck
Wow, what utterly clueless marketing. Rather than headline with a real user
advantage – say, a thoughtful feature like flip to mute – they pile on a
boardroom-approved list of _bullet points_ that begins with the most
meaningless tech specs and doesn't even get to practical features (assuming
you know what any of them are) until way down the list.

Samsung should fire their agency. Alas, whoever hired them probably doesn't
even get what's wrong.

~~~
jblock
Unfortunately, this IS how people differentiate between Android
phones/iPhones. It's not good by any means, but there's a reason they do it.

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dan1234
Including "turn over to mute" feels like they were grasping at straws by the
end of the list.

~~~
cageface
Why? This is actually a great feature. I just leave my s3 face down when I
sleep and don't have to manually switch off the sound.

~~~
thedrbrian
To me it seems bizarre to put an expensive piece of electronics shiny side
down. Are you not afraid of scratching the screen?

~~~
cageface
The screen seems totally scratch proof so far, although when I do this for the
night I put it on a book or something instead of really hard or scratchy
surface.

The other gesture I really like is the tap on the physical top of the phone to
go to the top of a long list of items. Unfortunately it only works in
Samsung's own apps. Would be nice to see this rolled back into mainline
Android.

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jusben1369
Well Apple spent years doing a great job of comparing themselves to "PC". Kind
of thought Samsung lacked any creativity here.

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dmishe
I wonder how many of regular people know what Smart Stay, S-Beam, ShareShot
(well this one kinda deducible),Group Cast, Smart Alert (how smart is it?),
Tilt To Zoom (how do you tilt it, where?), Picture In Picture (where, what
app, what for?) are.

Although I can understand that the same people can go for a bigger, longer
list of features because of just that.

~~~
grecy
I'm a 30 year old Software Engineer, and I have no idea what any of those
things are, other than complete guesses.

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cdrxndr
This is a very stereotypically asian way of comparing phones. For a long time,
Japanese manufacturers fought it out with spec lists showing the most features
or the greatest spec.

Not really related to the mobiles in question, but an interesting lack of
marketing talent.

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rafski
Why are they advertising the iPhone?

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SwaroopH
Hah, absolutely!

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thisismyname
Build a better product then advertise that. The problem is everyone is trying
to build the iphone and they think that advertising is going to bring market
share.

~~~
cageface
They actually have built a better phone but this isn't a very effective way of
making that point to the average consumer.

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Judson
I'm surprised they were able to spec out the iPhone 5 since, to my knowledge,
Apple hasn't stated some of the specs they list (like RAM).

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veeti
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZKzkEu2dKw>

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jsz0
Always tricky to compare yourself to your competitors so directly. You go into
almost under the assumption most people don't want your product. I don't think
that's really true of Samsung's products anymore. In the wake of the
Samsung/Apple trial, which got some mainstream coverage, it's probably even
more of a mixed message to send.

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philip1209
This is dangerous territory - if they make even a minor misstatement about the
iPhone, the Apple legal team will come down on them with false advertising /
libel lawsuits.

Also, "iOS6 OS" sounds awkward.

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thedrbrian
First the phones and now the ads. What's the Korean for infinite loop?

~~~
mechnik
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