Nokia has been left seriously embarrassed after it was caught out deliberately trying to mislead consumers about the performance of the camera in the Finish company’s new Windows Phone-powered Lumia 920 smartphone.Desperate to get attention for their PureView camera technology, the Company produced a video that Nokia claimed had been shot using the camera built into their new smartphone. The only problem was that an eagle-eyed viewers spotted a professional camera-crew in a reflection in the background of the video when it was released yesterday at a New York press conference.
The Company, who is desperate to get attention as they battle Samsung with their highly popular Galaxy SIII and Apple with their iPhone, released the YouTube video in an attempt to show how well the camera performs.
In the video, a man rides a bicycle, with another woman riding alongside. Comparison shots show the difference between stabilised footage and non-stabilised footage.
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Everything in the video implies the man on the bike is filming the footage.
The only problem was that this was far from the truth because the video was not shot using the Nokia camera; instead the Finish Company had called in a professional crew in an effort to mislead consumers.
The camera crew is seen in a van filming, on what appears to be a larger camera, rather than an image-stabilised Nokia phone.
The Verge points out, if you freeze-frame the video at just the right second, you see the true cameraman – a man in a van.
The marketing disaster comes as analysts and investors doubt whether the two new Windows phones–the Lumia 820 and 920–will deliver the results Nokia is hoping for.
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| Pro cameraman seen in reflection |
The Nokia share price slumped more than 15 per cent after Wednesday’s launch, and shed another 3.0 per cent in Helsinki overnight.
Nokia were quick to apologise as news of the con started spreading on the internet.
Heidi Lemmetyinen from Nokia issued a public apology: “In an effort to demonstrate the benefits of optical image stabilisation (which eliminates blurry images and improves pictures shot in low light conditions), we produced a video that simulates what we will be able to deliver with OIS.
“Of course, hindsight is 20/20, but we should have posted a disclaimer stating this was a representation of OIS only.
“This was not shot with a Lumia 920”.
