And I was there... in a function room at a bar on Quay Street in Auckland. I still saw the whole thing though.
This is not a review of Samsung's new phone. I'm not going to review something I haven't actually used yet, otherwise I may as well just cut and paste the press release, listing off all the new features they've packed into an even slimmer box. I'll get to that stuff once I've had a go on one.
This is a review of the launch itself.
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| This is a picture of someone taking a picture of the Samsung launch with their Samsung. I took it with my Samsung. (Oh and yes, the telly IS a Samsung) |
I'm no expert when it comes to product launches, but it seems to me, smart phone manufacturers put a big effort into theirs - a bigger effort than most. This time round, Samsung took the showbiz theme literally. Not only had they hired the Radio City Music Hall, but there was a cast of actors and dancers, a full orchestra and they'd paid Will Chase (who plays the cheating husband on Smash) to MC.
There was a kid with a really big box, which I thought was weird, given the phone is supposed to be a bit smaller than the last one. Then came Mr. Shin.
That's literally how Will Chase referred to him, Mr. Shin. He has a first name of course (if J.K. counts as a first name) and he's one of Samsung's 3 co-CEO's. I know, this is getting weird, right? Who has THREE CEO's? Anyway, Mr. Shin is specifically in charge of the mobile communications bit, he took the stage and just stood there smiling. For ages. I really hope it was because thousands of adoring fans were cheering and clapping madly, but on the satellite feed I was watching, we couldn't hear them, so Mr. Shin ended up looking a bit like an evil genius from a Bond movie. Once the crowd we couldn't hear died down a bit, Mr. Shin gave us a brief overview of what they were trying to achieve with the S4.
This is where I really started getting interested. Mr. Shin wasn't trying to tell ME what I wanted from a phone, he seemed to be saying they'd actually been listening to US. A host of new photographic functions, along with some neat biometric interaction, longer battery life, it was all sounding good.
We were then presented with a suite of sketches performed live on stage to demonstrate the various new abilities of the S4. We watched a pretend proud dad inserting himself into his own kid's dance recital picture. Pretend backpackers synced their photos directly into their parents' living rooms. A rather disturbing fake hens party created a surround-sound stereo by turning each of their phones into a separate speaker. The acting was corny, but the phone certainly looked cool.
While all this was going on, I was sitting in a wing-backed armchair eating mini-burgers, prawns on a stick and sipping a Peroni. Alright, maybe I sipped TWO Peronis - but it WAS lunchtime, and I HAD been up since 3AM.
If I was being schmoozed into loving this phone, it was working. Take note, prospective schmoozers; I really love mini-burgers.
Like I say, I can't honestly tell you if this phone deserves all the hype until I use it myself, but from what I've seen so far, Samsung is definitely continuing a trend in smart-phone innovation Apple started, but I now wonder if the iPhone was left behind a couple of generations ago. The Glaxay S4 is promising more than a few genuinely new tricks, and I don't just mean a bigger, clearer screen and a faster processor.
There's a big difference between TELLING the customer what they want and GIVING the customer what they want, and I've got a feeling Mr. Shin and his team know what that difference is. Some of the other phone-makers out there could take a leaf out of Samsung's book.
Then again, maybe it's just the Peronis talking.
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