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Samsung used my DSLR photo to fake their phone’s “portrait mode”

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Re: Samsung used my DSLR photo to fake their phone’s “portrait mode”

#111

Post by rurp »

EpicEng wrote: post #84
rmc wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Often agencies use interns for these kinds of image search —and things fall through the cracks. You mean... if we paid employees properly, it might prevent fuck ups like this?!?!

Maybe, but it would also cost more than it's worth. How much impact do you think this screw up will have on their bottom line? I'm betting about zero.

It won't have any dramatic impact but I would bet there's some. A decent number of people will read this article and think something like, "Wow, that's a pretty shady thing Samsung did there". This won't swing anyone from being a huge Samsung fan to someone who hates the company, but most people are somewhere on a spectrum in the middle.

The next time I buy a phone I'll probably be vacillating between several imperfect options and something like this could consciously or subconsciously tip a close decision towards picking a Pixel or LG phone.

Re: Samsung used my DSLR photo to fake their phone’s “portrait mode”

#112

Post by rhizome »

13of40 wrote: post #49
peterangular wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yep - zero trust is exactly right... I bought a Samsung smart watch for Black Friday for $280-ish. Figured "hey - this will probably have better calendar/application support than my Garmin watch!" Nope. Literally can't get it to vibrate/alert when a notification comes through unless it's through Samsung's SPECIFIC applications. So my HipChat messages, Gmail inbox, etc have ZERO notifications even though it WILL show…

Heh - I was stuck at Costco getting tires installed the other day and ended up buying one of those watches. My favorite part so far is the Bixby app, which presents itself as a Siri-like assistant that collects all of my contacts and GPS data, because hey, but fails on everything I ask it, including dead simple questions like "Where's the closest Starbucks?"

My assumption is that the Bixby app is the point. It's the only way they can get recurring revenue out of you, the TV is a loss-leader to grease its installation.

Re: Samsung used my DSLR photo to fake their phone’s “portrait mode”

#113

Post by Spare_account »

noxToken wrote: post #102
covercash wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I keep hoping someone will kickstart a display company that sells just really amazing displays and none of the “smart” garbage. I read that some manufacturers even serve up ads in their latest smart UIs. That’s infuriating!

IF you like a smart TV but not the smart features (but have no dumb alternative), then don't connect it to the Internet. Now it's just a dumb TV.

I guess the smart features don't add a huge amount to the purchase price but it would be nice not to have to pay for a bunch of features I don't need.

No TV tuner, no WiFi, no ethernet, no loudspeakers. Just a great quality display with a few HDMIs please.

Re: Samsung used my DSLR photo to fake their phone’s “portrait mode”

#114

Post by googlryas »

TeMPOraL wrote: post #108
googlryas wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Show me an organization of > 100 people where one person has not behaved badly. This isn't a very useful signal if literally every organization of any appreciable size is going to be punished.

Organizations are responsible for policing themselves. The only incentive they have for that is that the damage caused by "bad apple" may impact their bottom line. Per a book on risk management I'm currently reading, this actually is (or should be) accounted for in risk evaluation! So if we voluntarily refrain from punishing organizations for misbehavior of their people, we're severing the only feedback loop that kee…

I'm not saying no organization should be punished for the bad acts of members. I'm saying that one needs to consider the scale of the bad acts before pushing for punishment of an organization. Because there is always an opportunity cost, and you can't punish every organization that has someone who behaves badly(because that is every organization), so you need to pick and choose which ones are the worst offenders. And, personally, I don't think using a stock photo to show off the blur feature, instead of a photo directly from the phone camera, is worthy of punishing Samsung.

Re: Samsung used my DSLR photo to fake their phone’s “portrait mode”

#115

Post by matthewdgreen »

mark-r wrote: post #72
gnopgnip wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

These ads are made months before the product is released, and often the team making the ad does not have physical access to the product. Even if they could get access it is standard to use stock photography to keep cost down and get the ads turned around quickly. For the same reason restaurants use stock photography instead of taking their food to a studio or any other type of marketing

This. Why send your device out with a photographer and hope they can get a compelling image when they can browse thousands from a stock photo outlet and get something perfect in an afternoon? The stock photo will be much cheaper as well.

Well, for one thing: because then you don't get a bunch of viral news stories floating around saying stuff like "Samsung couldn't even use their own cameras to do their marketing." For another, because it sends a strong message that your phone cameras aren't up to professional quality standards, despite the fact that they might well be.

And for a final reason: because their leading competitor has made a huge deal about using their cameras to do advertising-quality shoots, which somewhat ups the bar for Samsung. https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2018/10/shot-on-iphone-xs-use...

Re: Samsung used my DSLR photo to fake their phone’s “portrait mode”

#116

Post by dawnerd »

TrainedMonkey wrote: post #32
virusduck wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But why would they simulate an image if the phone camera can produce the image they need??

It could be because phone/camera software/etc are not ready yet when the marketing content is produced.

I don’t buy that one bit. They could easily change the disclaimer to say “photos are from pre-production hardware and may differ...”

Re: Samsung used my DSLR photo to fake their phone’s “portrait mode”

#117

Post by izzydata »

cgriswald wrote: post #58
peterangular wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yep - zero trust is exactly right... I bought a Samsung smart watch for Black Friday for $280-ish. Figured "hey - this will probably have better calendar/application support than my Garmin watch!" Nope. Literally can't get it to vibrate/alert when a notification comes through unless it's through Samsung's SPECIFIC applications. So my HipChat messages, Gmail inbox, etc have ZERO notifications even though it WILL show…

Samsung is completely untrustworthy. I might buy another television from them in the future as the screen quality on my Samsung televisions has always been great. But their smart appliances are a joke. Read the reviews for any of the required Samsung "Smart" Apps and you'll find terrible software that doesn't work. Where it does work, at best it technically meets the advertised criteria, but in other cases it seems l…

Sounds like they should stick to hardware innovation and stop trying so hard on software.

Re: Samsung used my DSLR photo to fake their phone’s “portrait mode”

#118

Post by lugg »

rococode wrote: post #68
peterangular wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yep - zero trust is exactly right... I bought a Samsung smart watch for Black Friday for $280-ish. Figured "hey - this will probably have better calendar/application support than my Garmin watch!" Nope. Literally can't get it to vibrate/alert when a notification comes through unless it's through Samsung's SPECIFIC applications. So my HipChat messages, Gmail inbox, etc have ZERO notifications even though it WILL show…

Are there more trustworthy options for Android smartphones in the US? I was recently shopping for an upgrade from my LG G4 and settled for the S9+. I'm pretty satisfied, actually, but it really felt like I had an extremely limited selection From my understanding, the only flagship-level choices that aren't big hassles to to get are Samsung (Galaxy/Note), Google (Pixel), OnePlus, LG. Of those, LG seems to be the only…

After my Nexus 5's power button finally gave out (third battery.) I upgraded to a LG V30. Had a similar feeling of lack of selection. Wanted to wait for the pixel 3 but it was way too far away.

The slippery glass back and round sides kills me. (Ducttapped the back panel/sides as a decent fix, black tape nobody ever asks, probly just think I'm poor eh)

Not happy with the weight on my pinky either. (Two hands required.) Size similar issue, can't type with one hand like I could with the nexus 5. There is a screen shrink feature but it's awkward and the weight is the real issue.

Software being non stock is annoying but you get used to it quick enough.

Other than those issues it's pretty decent.

Enjoying the 4k video, wide angle photos and software stabilizer a lot.

The dual Sim or sim+ micro SD feature comes in handy for travel/video shooting.

I probably wouldn't recommend unless you have money to burn or really need the video.

Something cheaper probably has relatively same specs/features.

Re: Samsung used my DSLR photo to fake their phone’s “portrait mode”

#119

Post by Nursie »

ur-whale wrote: post #19
amatecha wrote: post #2

Ah man, I immediately thought of another recent case of a smartphone manufacturer faking their phone's camera shots[0] (turns out TFA links to it as well). Just a single instance of this kind of fraud is enough for me to write off a brand forever, frankly. If you're lying to my face before I even bought your product, who knows how much else you're lying about. Zero trust for companies like this. [0] https://www.diyph…

This is a reaction I see a lot (and used to be tempted to have as well), but it is imo a mistake, grounded in the fact that we tend to think of companies as individuals whom once they've betrayed us, are likely to do so again. Companies like Samsung, while they claim to have a "culture" are, at the end of the day nothing but a large group of ever changing people, whose responsibilities in what the company does is qui…

How is that a mistake?

You've just described a composite, changeable entity that's unable to keep an eye on honesty, and as such one that is very likely to do the same again.

Re: Samsung used my DSLR photo to fake their phone’s “portrait mode”

#120

Post by dawnerd »

Samsung just isn’t a company you can trust. Period. The only consumer product they make that’s even half decent are their SSDs and even those are starting to lose to competitors.

Their TVs alone have had so many instances of them injecting ads into the ui, to spying on what you watch in plex, and many more.

Last thing I’d want from Samsung is a phone.

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