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Samsung and Google pull Nexus Prime, Ice Cream Sandwich launch
- robgough 15y agoIt's likely that the companies decided to postpone as a mark of respect to rival Steve Jobs, who passed away earlier this week. ORLY? Am I being insensitive? Does anyone really think that's why they'd delay this announcement?
- buro9 15y agoWell, if it happens that it coincides with the date of the funeral +/- 1 day then you could imagine that it's not the best strategic time to make a key announcement.
- Tyrannosaurs 15y agoThat's not a mark of respect though, that's "they want to get a load of press and think they're going to be held off the tech pages". EDIT: I think worth also noting that it's supposition that it's being delayed as a mark of respect, rather than anything Google or Samsung have said.
- buro9 15y agoYeah, I'm from the UK. We're used to seeing our politicians do just that so it taints my view of the world. They also do the reverse and use major news to bury things. Sucks to be us.
- hack_edu 15y agoWith all due respect, Google IS an advising and marketing company.
- joebadmo 15y agoStrategy doesn't preclude tact. I.e. press hits doesn't have to be only reason not to launch a product on the day of the funeral. [Edit: Being tactful can also be strategic, because it will be seen as, well, tactful. The problem, as you demonstrate, is that it can also be seen as strategic. But what's wrong with being tactfully strategic or strategically tactful?] I also imagine there will be at least a few top level Google executives attending.
- nextparadigms 15y agoSome rumors were saying the phone itself would ship on October 27th, even if the announcement of it was on October 11th. So the postponing of the "announcement" wouldn't affect shipping anyway.
- gurkendoktor 15y agoI think it would be very unfortunate for them to have the iPhone 4S and iOS5 hit the blogosphere between their announcement and launch. Does that make sense - was the iOS5/4S launch date really that secret?
- darrenkopp 15y agoI guess you missed all the posts yesterday about Sergey Brin, Larry Page, Eric Schmidt, and most likely a lot of other Googlers who had a lot of respect for Steve Jobs, so no, I do not think that reason is _that_ unlikely.
- bonch 15y agoOf course Brin, Page, and Schmidt were going to say nice things, as many tech CEOs have, but that doesn't mean there's any connection to a product launch. In fact, I bet it's more likely that there is some other reason but that they'd LIKE for people to think it's out of respect for Steve Jobs.
- redfiche 15y agoIf they re-schedule and launch soon, I'll think it was respect. If they don't have anything for people to buy for Christmas, I'll think the product simply wasn't ready. Business is business.
- cromwellian 15y agoI'm a google employee. Internally, there has been much mourning and tribute to Steve. Our internal corporate portal contains a memorial on the front page. At a company-wide meeting, Larry again reflected on Steve. And I doubt Google is the only company doing this. Look, competitive as companies in the valley are, we are all still human beings, with a sense of respect for others in our industry, and when one so who has burned so brightly, dies so young, we take notice. The amount of cynicism displayed here is just sad.
- dlss 15y agoI think he just wants a new phone. ... perhaps to console his broken heart ...
- barista 15y agoCan't blame Google if they are trying to be publicly mourful and trying to get mileage out of it. Tow birds in one stone: time to fix those last bugs and also get good press for the delay. Well played.
- joezydeco 15y agoIf you're a Cringely fan, you've noted his next prediction...please take your grain of salt before reading kthx "Running this story in reverse it’s suddenly clear why Apple didn’t introduce the iPhone 5 this week. It would have been lost in the news of Jobs’s death, killing the marketing value he would have loved. I’m sure the phone will appear in a week or two with that appearance in part to encourage the recovery of Apple shares from what is sure to be a short-term decline." Personally it doesn't make much sense (the 3GS is still on the plate). Then again, we have leaked case designs for the iPhone5 (or did we? https://twitter.com/#!/Cabel/status/121243424350412800 https://twitter.com/#!/Cabel/status/121243424350412800 )
- metoosorta 15y agoWhere are the official announcements of this? I can't find links in any of these clone-posts, and I can't find announcements on Google or Samsung's websites.
- joebadmo 15y agoIt's apparently an email that's going to press outlets. This Is My Next/Verge is as reputable as any, and they've confirmed it: http://thisismynext.com/2011/10/07/samsung-google-postpone-galaxy-nexus-launch/ http://thisismynext.com/2011/10/07/samsung-google-postpone-g...
- ac-slater 15y agoCome on, Steve was using all kinds of legal shenanigans to try to keep Samsung Android products off the market. Why are they continuing to love their abuser?
- ac-slater 15y agoSeems to have struck a nerve. I thought all this patent litigation was considered bad around here.
- joebadmo 15y agoYou're off-topic and disrespectful. There's a time and place to talk about Apple's legal practices. But this thread is about Samsung and Google (potentially) behaving much more respectfully toward a competitor than you are. Which is commendable.
- zobzu 15y agoI dunno why after a person's death everyone has to talk only of their good sides. It's a social convention but it's kinda dumb. He did a lot of good stuff, and also quite a bit of bad stuff. That's ok by me. Google and Samsung did not comment by saying this is to pay respect to S.Jobs, because they wouldn't know what the reaction would be. Now that the reaction is positive, they might comment on it that way. Otherwise, people would know and start saying "it's in fact because the news would be overshadowed by S.Jobs death, and it would also taint our product launch. It's an extraordinary event, Lets launch later". There's nothing respectful in not launching a product, a week later. There has been many cool marks of respects instead, all over the worlda and the web, which mean a LOT more and make a LOT more sense than a product launch delay. I know, unpopular opinions gotta be downvoted, and criticism bashed. Heh. That's pretty much against what S.Jobs believed in, ironically.
- ajays 15y agoI don't know why people have to adopt the "anti-cultural" attitude to show their 'coolness'. You can be 'cool' without bashing a guy who just passed away; just do something cool on your own. I'm no Apple fanboi, but there's a time and place for some things. This is not the time or place to be criticizing Jobs or those who grieve at the loss. I can see why people are sad; and that's fine with me. I may not agree with a lot of what SJ did, but this is not the time to bring out his failings. If you have nothing positive to say, just keep quiet; you aren't adding to the discourse by peeing in the punch.
- luigi 15y agoAllThingsD has official word: In an updated statement, the companies confirmed they were making the move out of respect for Jobs. “We believe this is not the right time to announce a new product as the world expresses tribute to Steve Jobs’s passing,” the companies said. http://allthingsd.com/20111007/samsung-google-cancel-launch-event-out-of-respect-for-steve-jobs-sources-say/ http://allthingsd.com/20111007/samsung-google-cancel-launch-...
- barista 15y agoWasn't the announcement supposed to be on 10/11 that is almost a week away from Steve's death. Is it really that mournful at Google?
- shoota 15y agoMore likely it might conflict with Steve Job's funeral. I would imagine some high ranking Google officials are going to be there to pay their respects.
- saturdaysaint 15y agoI imagine Steve's death might change the tone of an announcement they'd prepared. Something sharply competitive would have been appropriate a few days ago but, yes, would even be distasteful next week.
- ajross 15y agoThat's exactly it. A product rollout is a careful public relations exercise. PR interacts strongly with public perception, and public perception is shifting wildly right now. They need to rethink and rework.
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- Jayasimhan 15y agoWe can be cynical about everything or take them at face value. Its our choice. I'll go with face value this time.