Samsung ad vs BB: misrepresenting their "S Beam" feature

Another thread featured a recent ad by Samsung which seems to be slagging BB. In the ad they show happy folks tapping their phones and seemingly instantly they are sharing videos and lots more.

Has anyone noticed that these new Samsung ads are clearly misrepresenting their "S Beam" feature? The commercials always show the folks spontaneously tapping their phones to share files. It seems to happen so quickly, almost instantly. But the actual sad reality is hinted at in a blurry bit of fine print almost invisible at the bottom of the screen: "S Beam requires an initial connection between the devices. Devices must touch back-to-back to activate. Transfer times may vary."

So, instead of the merry little tap and it is all done, as the commercial shows, the people must first go through a pairing process between the 2 phones that want to be tapped. To use bluetooth sharing on a BB phone, yeah there's a pairing process, but once that is done, you're done and the other phone doesn't need to be a BB. But with the Samsung, after the pairing process, you then touch the phone's together and they must both be Samsung phones.

Yeah transfer times will vary but you wouldn't know that from the commercial. It makes it seem like the whole thing is done with the tap. Very misleading IMHO.

Nice to see you back Patrick. I agree 100%

Its not really misleading. If you have NFC on you put the phones up, they pair in a second or 2 and then you can tap to share. Its like any commercial where it's always a little off of the actual thing.

Getting a little nit picky there

Sent from my SGH-I317 using Tapatalk 2

It's an ad, they're not going to show the 20 second transfer.
Also, the BlackBerry Tag commercial (Tag = NFC on BB) shows the same thing.

Just like Apple..."Sequences Shortened"

Remember that Be Bold ad where they profiled a cupcake store owner who claimed to receive and reply to 1000 emails a day?

You're definitely confusing BT sharing with NFC sharing. Connecting phones via NFC is very quick, but yes, transfer times will vary. It is a commercial after all, so you have to take them with a grain of salt, much like the PB's advertising of being the first "professional" grade tablet. That one still makes me laugh..

OK, line up!
Android to the right,
BlackBerry to the left!
On mark, get set. Fight!
Have fun im OUT!

Originally Posted by aniym

Remember that Be Bold ad where they profiled a cupcake store owner who claimed to receive and reply to 1000 emails a day?

That commercial still confuses me LOL. She wraps it up by implying that the already impossible feat could not be replicated on a touchscreen... when RIM had one in development!

This is ggetting just a tad ridiculous, no? It's a commercial. Why would they waste ad time showing the boring pairing and transferring time? They're just showing off a feature and what the end result is, not how many steps it takes to get there. Perhaps they were already paired? Why didn't the commercial show them taking the devices out and setting them up for the first time? Sheesh. And at least there was a little written blurb thrown on there saying results may vary. Are every other company that has fine print in their commercials not to be trusted, or called out on their lies? Everything from mobile retailers demonstrating their speeds, to diet plans, to acne medications come with a "results not typical" disclaimer.

I still stand by my assertion that this commercial was a good thing for RIM. It shows that they see BB10 as a threat, and if the imminent launchis enough to catch the eye of a giant like Samsung then we must be in for a treat with BB10. But you guys seem to want to go after them with 98xx's and pitchforks for this one nod to BlackBerry.

Still, come on, to put the spotlight on the feature and so completely minimize the setup required... I guess if everyone is doing it.

Just rubbed me the wrong way cuz so many android and I-folk I come across are completely unaware of how to do a quick BT pairing to transfer a file. Most of my BB buds get on with it no problem no talk thru required. The ad specifically plays into that myth that it is all so simple on their device.

And while I'm at it, did anyone see the new set of iPhone5 tv ads that highlight the "Do Not Disturb" feature. "As it turns out", that feature wasn't working properly and owners had to install an update to fix it. Funny how they are the masters of taking a bad news story and turning it into marketing gold.

Originally Posted by Bold_until_Hybrid_Comes

Nice to see you back Patrick. I agree 100%

Thanks. Gush.

I wasn't away, just not feeling the need to chime in as much as I sit here... holding my breath...

Originally Posted by PatrickMJS

And while I'm at it, did anyone see the new set of iPhone5 tv ads that highlight the "Do Not Disturb" feature. "As it turns out", that feature wasn't working properly and owners had to install an update to fix it. Funny how they are the masters of taking a bad news story and turning it into marketing gold.

No update was required, or even offered. Apple's solution was to manually deal with it until January 8 when the issue would resolve itself. A bizarre bug but time/date programming often involves the most obscure things going wrong.

Originally Posted by PatrickMJS

The ad specifically plays into that myth that it is all so simple on their device.

Exactly! It's an ad for their product. Of course they're going to try to paint it in the best light possible. That's the point.

I'm just frustrated that I'm here to talk about the next generation and resurgence of BlackBerry and people keep bringing up Android. If I wanted to talk about Android I'd be on an Android forum. Want to talk about spreading myths? There's tons of Android baiting here then crying foul when people try to correct that information.

Sorry for taking it out on you, Patrick. My frustration level is just boiling over lately.

Originally Posted by pantlesspenguin

Exactly! It's an ad for their product. Of course they're going to try to paint it in the best light possible. That's the point.

I'm just frustrated that I'm here to talk about the next generation and resurgence of BlackBerry and people keep bringing up Android. If I wanted to talk about Android I'd be on an Android forum. Want to talk about spreading myths? There's tons of Android baiting here then crying foul when people try to correct that information.

Sorry for taking it out on you, Patrick. My frustration level is just boiling over lately.

Oh no he didnt!!

Unfortuntately he did. To me its quite simple. If you dont want to talk about android... then dont! You dont have to reply here.
Oh and personally I believe your frustrated because you choose to be frustrated. Sorry, you seem like a reasonable chap most of the time.

I tell you what I find intriguing. The level of self righteous indignation that I see on these boards. And it stems from all camps not just one. Its like people want to be pissed off, that they come here looking for an argument


Anyway, Never used NFC. BB10 phone would be my first NFC phone if i get one so no idea about the transfer times or what not. Never really gave much though to pairing etc. Ads are typically created in a way to illicit a particular response from the viewer. Notice those exercise equipment ads where everytime they show a negative thing its usually always in black and white and the person looks totally miserable. Same thing here I suspect. The truth is usually always less favourable then what an ad will show

They are also misleading the watchers with that two apps running on different side of the screen thing.
They always seem to forget to mention that it only works with pre-installed Sammy apps...

Originally Posted by PatrickMJS

Another thread featured a recent ad by Samsung which seems to be slagging BB. In the ad they show happy folks tapping their phones and seemingly instantly they are sharing videos and lots more.

Has anyone noticed that these new Samsung ads are clearly misrepresenting their "S Beam" feature? The commercials always show the folks spontaneously tapping their phones to share files. It seems to happen so quickly, almost instantly. But the actual sad reality is hinted at in a blurry bit of fine print almost invisible at the bottom of the screen: "S Beam requires an initial connection between the devices. Devices must touch back-to-back to activate. Transfer times may vary."

So, instead of the merry little tap and it is all done, as the commercial shows, the people must first go through a pairing process between the 2 phones that want to be tapped. To use bluetooth sharing on a BB phone, yeah there's a pairing process, but once that is done, you're done and the other phone doesn't need to be a BB. But with the Samsung, after the pairing process, you then touch the phone's together and they must both be Samsung phones.

Yeah transfer times will vary but you wouldn't know that from the commercial. It makes it seem like the whole thing is done with the tap. Very misleading IMHO.

It's sad but advertisers do this all the time. iPhone 3GS, S means Speed? I remember people being mad when it wasn't really faster.

And with the new BlackBerry, it's possible well be able to transfer some files over. The Z10 has NFC.

Originally Posted by PatrickMJS

Another thread featured a recent ad by Samsung which seems to be slagging BB. In the ad they show happy folks tapping their phones and seemingly instantly they are sharing videos and lots more.

Has anyone noticed that these new Samsung ads are clearly misrepresenting their "S Beam" feature? The commercials always show the folks spontaneously tapping their phones to share files. It seems to happen so quickly, almost instantly. But the actual sad reality is hinted at in a blurry bit of fine print almost invisible at the bottom of the screen: "S Beam requires an initial connection between the devices. Devices must touch back-to-back to activate. Transfer times may vary."

So, instead of the merry little tap and it is all done, as the commercial shows, the people must first go through a pairing process between the 2 phones that want to be tapped. To use bluetooth sharing on a BB phone, yeah there's a pairing process, but once that is done, you're done and the other phone doesn't need to be a BB. But with the Samsung, after the pairing process, you then touch the phone's together and they must both be Samsung phones.

Yeah transfer times will vary but you wouldn't know that from the commercial. It makes it seem like the whole thing is done with the tap. Very misleading IMHO.

The pairing process is the same as any two wifi direct or nfc devices. It doesn't matter as it only has to happen once, like pairing a BT headset. After that you just put the phones together and tap. Nothing is misrepresented. Without the pairing process, it would be a glaring security hole as anyone can simply connect your your device if they tapped it or your Wifi directly was on.

S beam is just android beam customized to use a wifi direct connection instead of blue tooth.

Wifi direct from my S2 Skyrocket to my mom's S3 transferred a 1.6GB file in 8 minutes. You do the math. For a single picture or small video the transfer is almost instant. Additionally since September Beam uses Wifi it has a much larger range than BT and the transfer can happen in the background while you do something else across a large room (or in another room, even). It's what Android beam should have been since day one.

Try using it instead of reading text in a commercial. Usually that makes more sense.

Sent from my AT&T Skyrocket using Tapatalk 2.

I don't know a single person that talks about this feature. Does anyone even use it?

Originally Posted by r0v3rT3N

They are also misleading the watchers with that two apps running on different side of the screen thing.
They always seem to forget to mention that it only works with pre-installed Sammy apps...

More factually incorrect Android information, unless YouTube and others are "sammy" apps

Sent from my SGH-I317 using Tapatalk 2

Originally Posted by r0v3rT3N

They are also misleading the watchers with that two apps running on different side of the screen thing.
They always seem to forget to mention that it only works with pre-installed Sammy apps...

I guess Angry Birds Star Wars is a Sammy app? As is Chrome, Dropbox, Adobe Reader, Gmail, YouTube, Twitter, Facebook.. Need I go on?

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

Originally Posted by Rickroller

I guess Angry Birds Star Wars is a Sammy app? As is Chrome, Dropbox, Adobe Reader, Gmail, YouTube, Twitter, Facebook.. Need I go on?

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

At the risk of sounding real dumb, doesn't Sammy=Android? And if so, wouldn't that at the very least qualify Chrome, Gmail, and Youtube?

Originally Posted by jagrlover

At the risk of sounding real dumb, doesn't Sammy=Android? And if so, wouldn't that at the very least qualify Chrome, Gmail, and Youtube?

No. Samsung has their own apps (and App store) on top of Google apps, such as S-note, S-Calendar, video apps, music apps, Gallery etc.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

S beam is pretty crap. Can't work with non Samsung phones. Couldn't even get it working between a galaxy s3 and note 2.