It's dress-down Friday here at BetaNews, and I can't resist letting Samsung dress down Apple. Yesterday, the South Korean electronics manufacturer uploaded to YouTube yet another TV commercial in "The Next Big Thing is Already Here" marketing campaign. This one answers the question I posed in late September: "What if iPhone 5 isn't LTE?" -- days before Apple revealed 4S; there was no 5 and only HSPA+.
What's the answer: Disappointment, as the commercial reveals. Apple's smartphone and standard Galaxy S II both have HSPA+, but S2 is better, offering maximum 21Mbps vs iPhone 4S' 14Mbps. The Galaxy S II Skyrocket has 4G LTE -- granted only in 9 markets. I have that phone. Absolutely hilarious: The commercial's huge gaffe that will give Apple fanboys chance to do a little dressing down of their own. The TV spot is set in Denver, which is not one of the cities where AT&T officially offers 4G LTE. Whoops! No one would have noticed or cared if the location label was Washington, DC, where there is service.
There's another problem, which is sure to delight the Apple Fanclub: When the Galaxy S2 owner holds up her phone, there's no connection of any kind. No HSPA+, no LTE, no WiFi. Nothing. That's not some fast 4G phone. It's magical, too.
However, in nice attention to detail, the phone screen shows December 1, same day the video debuted on YouTube and presumably TV.
It's helluva entertaining marketing, and Samsung's ad agency has brilliantly cut many different commercials from the same shoot. They deserve credit for nothing more than that. The editing is exceptional.
The TV spots are getting high rotation in US Prime Time. I've seen three different versions aired.
As for the Galaxy S II Skyrocket, AT&T starts selling the white model on Sunday (December 4). If you want a phone like the one in the commercial, it's available in two days.