5 ms·

The Royal Nokia Screw-Up That Shouldn’t Have Been

29 points by coolswan 14y ago

recoiledsnake 14y ago
>But the company only showed off low-light shots, prohibiting any testing of the touted image stabilization for video. There’s only one thing to conclude from that: Nokia may have gotten the image-stabilization for video working in its testing, and it may well be ready when the phone launches, but it’s not working well enough yet. And if it’s not working well now, it’s not working. Not exactly true, here's a live demo of the image stabilization: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IlT8qk2ZoGM&feature=player_embedded http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IlT8qk2ZoGM&feature=playe... The Verge themselves tested the hardware in low light and here are comparison shots: http://www.theverge.com/2012/9/7/3299784/nokia-lumia-920-pureview-camera-hi-res-photos http://www.theverge.com/2012/9/7/3299784/nokia-lumia-920-pur... A live demo of low light pictures with other phones: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jFhhBJ1URCg&feature=player_embedded# http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jFhhBJ1URCg&feature=playe...! And a real(ha! this time?!) demo video shot with this contraption. http://cdn.wpcentral.com/sites/wpcentral.com/files/imagecache/large/postimages/4213/Lumia%20camera%20frame_0.png http://cdn.wpcentral.com/sites/wpcentral.com/files/imagecach... http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=6HSbhyaH0vw http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=6... So looks like they made a mistake with trying to make ad quality videos to depict image stabilization and photos but minus the standard disclaimer like you see in ads and the media won't give them a break, with articles like this insinuating that the feature doesn't work at all.
bztzt 14y ago
nobody will care about this stuff when the phone launches. which isn't to say it will (or won't) be successful, but whether it is will have nothing to do with the launch event or what they did or didn't have ready then. the press and pundits put way too much stock in this sort of thing.
azakai 14y ago
> I’m looking for mobile makers that aim for the stars, giving us brilliant innovations—like the Retina display—before others in their class I stopped reading there. Devices with similar and even better DPI existed before, and even if they did not, is that a "brilliant innovation"? That's the kind of thinking that is ok with patenting every tiny little advancement as an "innovation". Increasing the DPI on a screen - especially if it's been done before, but even if it hasn't - is not an innovation, much less a "brilliant innovation". It's expected progress.
- sciwiz 14y ago
  Ironic, considering how he dismisses Samsung as "as innovative as the spec sheet allows", when Samsung is the one making those Retina displays. And the RAZR MAXX is somehow a "wasted opportunity", when Motorola fit a 3300mAh battery in the same profile as the iPhone(9.3mm)
- avolcano 14y ago
  The innovation was bringing a screen with that high of a DPI to millions of users without an incredibly high cost, and pushing their competitors to follow suit. "Innovate" and "invent" are not synonyms.
  - azakai 14y ago
    It's still pretty expensive. But even if it were cheap: reducing the price of something is not "brilliant innovation", unless it involves some amazing under-the-hood new technology - which this does not.
  - snogglethorpe 14y ago
    > The innovation was bringing a screen with that high of a DPI to millions of users without an incredibly high cost, and pushing their competitors to follow suit. Such high DPI displays were actually quite common in Japanese cellphones way before Apple started using them, even in the lowish-end "free" phones. The main thing Apple did differently was to give it a catchy name ("retina display" is great marketing) and talk a lot about how "innovative" it is...
    - seanmcdirmid 14y ago
      ...and made it standard on a widely selling phone, and got app developers to make their apps with high-res art so users could actually take advantage of it, and decided to push it to their other devices also, repeating the process in other markets. Now there is fire on Microsoft to do the same, and I wouldn't be surprised if the whole industry doubles DPI on tablets and PCs within a couple of years. I'm sure Apple wasn't the first manufacturer to get rid of floppy disk drives and standardize around USB with the iMac, but they surely had a huge impact in their choices.
randomfool 14y ago
> What’s more, as Ars Technica’s Peter Bright points out, that release date is looking shaky because Microsoft has been delaying the release of its SDK for third-party developers to build apps for the phone. That's perhaps the scariest portion to me- Windows Phone 8 is a fairly significant change from WP7 (whole new OS, many new APIs). Normally the SDK is released a good number of months ahead of the release to allow time to incorporate bug fixes from developers. If they are to release in late October then they go into serious lockdown by late September. Almost no time for any developer feedback. Plus, slipping past late October puts holiday devices at significant risk. Unless they are withholding it to keep new features under wrap, but this makes no sense as it is sure to impact the quality of the release.
fernly 14y ago
> Microsoft has been delaying the release of its SDK for third-party developers to build apps for the phone... Oh thank you so much for giving me an evil flashback to a dim and distant time, nearly 30 years ago, when I was trying to create a book on programming for OS2 (look it up, children) using Microsoft's developer "documentation" which was never updated as the alpha code changed. Ended up reverse-engineering every system call to correct their mistakes and omissions. Never, never, never, I swore then, make your career dependent on Microsoft for anything; they'll always let you down. Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose, it would seem.
- recoiledsnake 14y ago
 > I swore then, make your career dependent on Microsoft for anything; they'll always let you down. Yes, your one 30yr(or 20?) old anectode invalidates all the tens of thousands of profitable programs, games, and literally millions of people who made and still make their living with Microsoft technologies.
MikeKusold 14y ago
I agree that this launch was mishandled. When I watched the announcement, I was excited by the phone and considering switching to Windows Phone 8. I went searching for a launch date and more hardware specs about the phone, but I couldn't find anything. Then we found out that the video was faked, then the photos were faked. All of this together has made me classify this phone as vaporware in my mind. Why hold a product launch event if you aren't able to launch?!
deleted 14y ago
[deleted]

29 points by coolswan 14y ago

>But the company only showed off low-light shots, prohibiting any testing of the touted image stabilization for video. There’s only one thing to conclude from that: Nokia may have gotten the image-stabilization for video working in its testing, and it may well be ready when the phone launches, but it’s not working well enough yet. And if it’s not working well now, it’s not working. Not exactly true, here's a live demo of the image stabilization: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IlT8qk2ZoGM&feature=player_embedded http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IlT8qk2ZoGM&feature=playe... The Verge themselves tested the hardware in low light and here are comparison shots: http://www.theverge.com/2012/9/7/3299784/nokia-lumia-920-pureview-camera-hi-res-photos http://www.theverge.com/2012/9/7/3299784/nokia-lumia-920-pur... A live demo of low light pictures with other phones: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jFhhBJ1URCg&feature=player_embedded# http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jFhhBJ1URCg&feature=playe...! And a real(ha! this time?!) demo video shot with this contraption. http://cdn.wpcentral.com/sites/wpcentral.com/files/imagecache/large/postimages/4213/Lumia%20camera%20frame_0.png http://cdn.wpcentral.com/sites/wpcentral.com/files/imagecach... http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=6HSbhyaH0vw http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=6... So looks like they made a mistake with trying to make ad quality videos to depict image stabilization and photos but minus the standard disclaimer like you see in ads and the media won't give them a break, with articles like this insinuating that the feature doesn't work at all.

bztzt 14y ago

nobody will care about this stuff when the phone launches. which isn't to say it will (or won't) be successful, but whether it is will have nothing to do with the launch event or what they did or didn't have ready then. the press and pundits put way too much stock in this sort of thing.

azakai 14y ago

> I’m looking for mobile makers that aim for the stars, giving us brilliant innovations—like the Retina display—before others in their class I stopped reading there. Devices with similar and even better DPI existed before, and even if they did not, is that a "brilliant innovation"? That's the kind of thinking that is ok with patenting every tiny little advancement as an "innovation". Increasing the DPI on a screen - especially if it's been done before, but even if it hasn't - is not an innovation, much less a "brilliant innovation". It's expected progress.

sciwiz 14y ago
Ironic, considering how he dismisses Samsung as "as innovative as the spec sheet allows", when Samsung is the one making those Retina displays. And the RAZR MAXX is somehow a "wasted opportunity", when Motorola fit a 3300mAh battery in the same profile as the iPhone(9.3mm)
avolcano 14y ago
The innovation was bringing a screen with that high of a DPI to millions of users without an incredibly high cost, and pushing their competitors to follow suit. "Innovate" and "invent" are not synonyms.
- azakai 14y ago
  It's still pretty expensive. But even if it were cheap: reducing the price of something is not "brilliant innovation", unless it involves some amazing under-the-hood new technology - which this does not.
- snogglethorpe 14y ago
  > The innovation was bringing a screen with that high of a DPI to millions of users without an incredibly high cost, and pushing their competitors to follow suit. Such high DPI displays were actually quite common in Japanese cellphones way before Apple started using them, even in the lowish-end "free" phones. The main thing Apple did differently was to give it a catchy name ("retina display" is great marketing) and talk a lot about how "innovative" it is...
  - seanmcdirmid 14y ago
    ...and made it standard on a widely selling phone, and got app developers to make their apps with high-res art so users could actually take advantage of it, and decided to push it to their other devices also, repeating the process in other markets. Now there is fire on Microsoft to do the same, and I wouldn't be surprised if the whole industry doubles DPI on tablets and PCs within a couple of years. I'm sure Apple wasn't the first manufacturer to get rid of floppy disk drives and standardize around USB with the iMac, but they surely had a huge impact in their choices.

randomfool 14y ago

> What’s more, as Ars Technica’s Peter Bright points out, that release date is looking shaky because Microsoft has been delaying the release of its SDK for third-party developers to build apps for the phone. That's perhaps the scariest portion to me- Windows Phone 8 is a fairly significant change from WP7 (whole new OS, many new APIs). Normally the SDK is released a good number of months ahead of the release to allow time to incorporate bug fixes from developers. If they are to release in late October then they go into serious lockdown by late September. Almost no time for any developer feedback. Plus, slipping past late October puts holiday devices at significant risk. Unless they are withholding it to keep new features under wrap, but this makes no sense as it is sure to impact the quality of the release.

fernly 14y ago

> Microsoft has been delaying the release of its SDK for third-party developers to build apps for the phone... Oh thank you so much for giving me an evil flashback to a dim and distant time, nearly 30 years ago, when I was trying to create a book on programming for OS2 (look it up, children) using Microsoft's developer "documentation" which was never updated as the alpha code changed. Ended up reverse-engineering every system call to correct their mistakes and omissions. Never, never, never, I swore then, make your career dependent on Microsoft for anything; they'll always let you down. Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose, it would seem.

recoiledsnake 14y ago
> I swore then, make your career dependent on Microsoft for anything; they'll always let you down. Yes, your one 30yr(or 20?) old anectode invalidates all the tens of thousands of profitable programs, games, and literally millions of people who made and still make their living with Microsoft technologies.

MikeKusold 14y ago

I agree that this launch was mishandled. When I watched the announcement, I was excited by the phone and considering switching to Windows Phone 8. I went searching for a launch date and more hardware specs about the phone, but I couldn't find anything. Then we found out that the video was faked, then the photos were faked. All of this together has made me classify this phone as vaporware in my mind. Why hold a product launch event if you aren't able to launch?!

deleted 14y ago

[deleted]