Release date: 6/24 nationwide; 6/21 for SP members.

[themuffinman75]

You are the one that starting arguing it. I simply said that it was clever and I can see the commercial. Yes it is an obscure piece of information but it can add some character to a "year ago" campaign. If Vegas did put odds on it the odds of Sprint doing the year anniversary would absolutely be higher, but the pay off on the latter would be greater.
And Jon Stewart is a person not an idea so it doesn't really correlate but if John Stewart had invented 3D cameras or movies or whatever then yes his birthday might work.

I mostly agree with this; and one of the additions to the campaign could use the 3d movie tie in to add to it.
Let me repeat what I am saying:
1) I think the tie in with 3d is clever
2) I think the year anniversary still applies even though it is 7 days later (and yes I know it still isn't the first Friday in June)
3) I do not think that Sprint is going to use that particular 3d idea
4) I hope beyond hope that it is released on the 3rd but who knows

Picture this though: Think of the Evo Firsts commercial

A visual timeline starting on June 10th, 1915 (even though some 3-d patents were filed in the 1890's) with 3d testing in a theater, September 1922 first viewing by a paying audience, 1953 Huge year for 3d movies, the 60's, 70's, 80's, 90's, 2000's, (images or clips from 3d films in all the years), 2010 movies like Avatar, 2011 Show the Evo3d. "June 2010 we brought you America's First 4g Phone. Today , 96 years in the making, we bring you America's first 3d phone. No Glasses Required for this Evolution" Or something along these lines.

Personally, it sounds good to me and it makes perfect sense. You have to market those features that no one else have even if most of us geeks may think its a gimmick. Just the thought of viewing 3d content without the need for glasses and with mobile 3d content being free to no more than few dollars extra, that could easily build a whole lot of interest for consumers who would otherwise not give a damn about 3d. We all have said it, the average consumer don't care about single core vs dual core or tegra 2 vs qualcomm vs exynos, they care about the end user experience and thats basically it. A 3d mobile device can "potentially" enhance the user experience quite a bit but we wont know until we use the phone but in the mean time thats what they will be marketing since no one else has a 3d phone.

 

[themuffinman75]

Now personally I never quote anything anyone says about release dates or all this he said she said stuff but I just can't help myself this time. I heard a sprint employee tell another customer something very insteresting. So basically what happened was a customer came in to purchase 2 evo 4g's and the sales person started telling them about the evo 3d and all of its wonderful features. Anyway his last statement was "we should have them in store within the next two weeks or so". Again this doesn't mean much to me since I never take anything a sprint employee says all that serious but this guy has been at this location for quite sometime and even though I don't know him personally I think I can assume that he isn't quite as clueless as your typical rep.

 

[EarlyMon]

Sprint is continuing its epic fail approach to advertising.

As seen in Entertainment Weekly and ESPN The Magazine -

Lower corner of exciting ad announces - Glasses Free 3D!!

Center of ad shows excited young man in red shirt, smiling into the Evo 3D!

And ... wait for it ... he's wearing glasses.

Now, I'm sure somebuddy can explain to me how that works (subliminal message, you don't need to hassle extra glasses if you already wear them - or some crap).

But I think the way it works is that we have a long way to go before we can guess anything about products - much less release dates - from Sprint ads.

Remember: rocking chair in bleak desert = 4G.

 

[treven21]

Now personally I never quote anything anyone says about release dates or all this he said she said stuff but I just can't help myself this time. I heard a sprint employee tell another customer something very insteresting. So basically what happened was a customer came in to purchase 2 evo 4g's and the sales person started telling them about the evo 3d and all of its wonderful features. Anyway his last statement was "we should have them in store within the next two weeks or so". Again this doesn't mean much to me since I never take anything a sprint employee says all that serious but this guy has been at this location for quite sometime and even though I don't know him personally I think I can assume that he isn't quite as clueless as your typical rep.

Well all signs tend to point to the June 3rd so that would make sense if he did say it.

 

[drexappeal]

All of those that I listed would be the first line in a 30 second commercial. of course they would show you the phone and tell you about what makes it awesome throughout the remaining 25 seconds of the commercial, lol.

I understand. I work with marketing and promotion every single day. Like I said, we'll just have to wait and see what Sprint does.

I personally don't feel that we'll be seeing the phone available in 2 weeks. And based on the format that you were proposing for a campaign, Sprint should've already released released the TV ads in order to take advantage of that type of campaign, which typically would be a 3week - 1 month campaign. Campaigns are my forte in what I do.

I didn't catch where your theories are coming from though. Do you work in marketing and/or advertising & promotion?

 

[jdsingle]

I didn't catch where your theories are coming from though. Do you work in marketing and/or advertising & promotion?

Stay away from this debate. Will get you know where.

I'm still stuck with big red till July. In case anyone is wondering they are still doing the $125 credit if you port your number over.

 

[drexappeal]

Stay away from this debate. Will get you know where.

I'm still stuck with big red till July. In case anyone is wondering they are still doing the $125 credit if you port your number over.

Not trying to debate at all, just asking out of curiosity, really.

And it looks my theories on the NASCAR Sprint Cup didn't have any legs, so my hope for an announcement on 5/18 (for the actual release date) is out the window. Oh well...LOL.

 

[falconey]

Sprint is continuing its epic fail approach to advertising.

As seen in Entertainment Weekly and ESPN The Magazine -

Lower corner of exciting ad announces - Glasses Free 3D!!

Center of ad shows excited young man in red shirt, smiling into the Evo 3D!

And ... wait for it ... he's wearing glasses.

Now, I'm sure somebuddy can explain to me how that works (subliminal message, you don't need to hassle extra glasses if you already wear them - or some crap).

But I think the way it works is that we have a long way to go before we can guess anything about products - much less release dates - from Sprint ads.

Remember: rocking chair in bleak desert = 4G.

Dude you don't miss anything, lol. I've loaded the image for those that don't get espn the mag...

 

[themuffinman75]

Check out what I just got in my email

Sprint - Meet our new 3D, 4G all-star smartphone

Sprint Marketing for the EVO 3D, still no date, but they are at least distributing info now vs letting people come to them to find it

I got the same email as well, I still believe its coming out no later than the middle of june.

 

[BigMamma]

Do you guys really think their are bugs with the phone? Whether it releases in June or July the assembly line has to be churning out phones right now in order to release the phones either way. A bug with Gingerbread or Sense couldn't possibly be an option at this juncture.

 

[BlackDynamite]

I understand. I work with marketing and promotion every single day. Like I said, we'll just have to wait and see what Sprint does.

I personally don't feel that we'll be seeing the phone available in 2 weeks. And based on the format that you were proposing for a campaign, Sprint should've already released released the TV ads in order to take advantage of that type of campaign, which typically would be a 3week - 1 month campaign. Campaigns are my forte in what I do.

I didn't catch where your theories are coming from though. Do you work in marketing and/or advertising & promotion?

No, I don't work in marketing. I do watch a lot of commercials though, lol. I work in the industry, but I'm a techie.

And I understand that Sprint should have already started the campaigns I am talking about. But I also understand that Sprint has no idea when this phone will be released yet (at least I think I understand that).

Again, my claim here is the target date is 6-3 but all signs point to the phone not being ready at that time. Sprint is still hoping to have it ready by then though. But they aren't going to start a marketing campaign based on a date that they probably won't be able to meet.

Now, let me ask you... Are you actually predicting that Sprint will use that stupid 1915 anniversary in their marketing campaign? You say things like "e'll just have to wait and see what Sprint does" and then go on to tout your real life marketing experience, so it leads me to believe you are actually predicting this. If you are, care to place any bets on it?

 

[EarlyMon]

Ummm.... don't media buys take a bit of advance time?

So - even if the target was beginning of June and they've decided to slip that, wouldn't they have already committed the commercials?

How does that work?

Or - do we care?

There wasn't a lot of separation between the Evo and its first commercial I guess.

And all this talk of it not being ready -

Please. We don't know that, so why invent rumors without substantiation?

So far as I've seen, all signs pointed to a solid phone at the recent shows and then the guys posted elsewhere it was freezing and rebooting at a public hands-on.

This release and roll-out is not one bit more quiet or bizarre than was done for the recent Echo.

 

[BlackDynamite]

Do you guys really think their are bugs with the phone? Whether it releases in June or July the assembly line has to be churning out phones right now in order to release the phones either way. A bug with Gingerbread or Sense couldn't possibly be an option at this juncture.

There were lots of bugs with the software on the Evo 3D at Google IO.

 

[BlackDynamite]

Ummm.... don't media buys take a bit of advance time?

So - even if the target was beginning of June and they've decided to slip that, wouldn't they have already committed the commercials?

How does that work?

Or - do we care?

There wasn't a lot of separation between the Evo and its first commercial I guess.

And all this talk of it not being ready -

Please. We don't know that, so why invent rumors without substantiation?

So far as I've seen, all signs pointed to a solid phone at the recent shows and then the guys posted elsewhere it was freezing and rebooting at a public hands-on.

This release and roll-out is not one bit more quiet or bizarre than was done for the recent Echo.

Ironically, when I was in college, I worked at a tv station for a while in the traffic department (which handles the in and out of the commercials and stuff). So I know a bit about how that works.

Some spots do have to be booked in advance, but not all of them. And even the ones that are booked in advance, the actual commercial that airs doesn't have to be given until pretty late in the process. And even then, it is pretty common to have 2 (or 10) different spots at the station, and at the last minute tell them which spot to air.

And this isn't a rumor that the device wasn't ready. Pretty much everyone that posted about Google IO (the developer conference on 5-11 and 5-12) said the Evo 3D they showed there was crashing all over the place. And that make sense because the Sprint rep at CTIA also said it was a very early build and was likely to change quite a bit.

 

[drexappeal]

No, I don't work in marketing. I do watch a lot of commercials though, lol. I work in the industry, but I'm a techie.

Now, let me ask you... Are you actually predicting that Sprint will use that stupid 1915 anniversary in their marketing campaign? You say things like "e'll just have to wait and see what Sprint does" and then go on to tout your real life marketing experience, so it leads me to believe you are actually predicting this. If you are, care to place any bets on it?

I see. It's really hard to explain why I have my theories about that 6/3 date not really having any good marketing power, if you don't work in the area. You could actually take out the 6/3, and still do the campaign you proposed. In fact, you could even do a release 1 week later, and still be able to do the same marketing that you were proposing. Truth be told, a lot of people in marketing wouldn't use that date as a way to lead their campaign. That's just the business I'm in and I'm just trying to tell you straight out how it is. You work in the tech industry, specifically, I'm assuming?

Nope...LOL...I'm not saying that they'd use the 6/10/15 gimmick at all. If you go back, you'll see that it was just an idea I threw out there where a date (specifically 6/10) could be used towards marketing significance, tying in 1st sold 3D movie w/ 1st sold 3D cell w/o glasses.

I'm just saying, we'll just have to wait and see because absolutely nothing has been announced...at all!...LOL. Stop reading into it too much. You're stating that you believe 6/3 is the release. That's fine and good. My real life marketing experience is connected to media platforms that these ads and campaigns would run on. You name the media, it's likely that I have pretty good experience with what's been done as far as campaigns are concerned. And based on that experience, neither the 6/3 date nor the timeframe match up. And for that matter, even my prediction date of 6/10 is on the verge of being late as far as marketing campaigns are concerned.

 

[deltatko]

Do you guys really think their are bugs with the phone? Whether it releases in June or July the assembly line has to be churning out phones right now in order to release the phones either way. A bug with Gingerbread or Sense couldn't possibly be an option at this juncture.

Actually it wouldn't be too odd for it to have some small bugs. It seems like a pretty regular occurance for there to be an update pushed on the day the phones are released to fix little things that were fixed after the phones were boxed up and shipped.

 

[BigMamma]

I'm trying to look at this from a common sense standpoint. The phone will be released in the US and Europe. The phone have been packaged and boxed whether the phones are released in June or July. Just pushing the on button on the assembly line would put HTC behind the curve. Never worked in manufacturing but this in just my 2 cents.

 

[toad6386]

not that I know anything (about anything ), but could it be that Sprint is waiting to announce to avoid the same storm that came with the (wait for it) release (wait some more) of (and wait again) the (ditto) Thunderbolt? If I was strung along like that for months, I'd definitely consider jumping ship with something else just as good (can you say EVO4G?).

 

[drexappeal]

Ummm.... don't media buys take a bit of advance time?

So - even if the target was beginning of June and they've decided to slip that, wouldn't they have already committed the commercials?

How does that work?

Or - do we care?

There wasn't a lot of separation between the Evo and its first commercial I guess.

And all this talk of it not being ready -

Please. We don't know that, so why invent rumors without substantiation?

So far as I've seen, all signs pointed to a solid phone at the recent shows and then the guys posted elsewhere it was freezing and rebooting at a public hands-on.

This release and roll-out is not one bit more quiet or bizarre than was done for the recent Echo.

Yes. Meida buys take A LOT of time AND planning.

Yes. It would be part of the negotiated package to determine when/where/and how often the ads are shown. That's not even taking into consideration internet, radio, wireless ads. That's primarily TV.

If the Evo3D is going to be Sprint's flagship phone, I personally believe they'd need to have a plan of attack for at least 3-4 weeks of marketing blitz. They could afford to be quiet on the Echo, but not on the EVO3D. If they are taking the same approach that they did last year (w/ the EVO 4G), I think they're missing out on an opportunity to really expand the brand. To me, if they take the quiet/word-of-mouth approach this time, it'll hurt more than help as far as EVO 3D sales. A brand that any corporation is trying to expand NEEDS exposure and hype, in order for more people to buy into it. Just not sure that Sprint is at a point where they're willing to spend more money to build their brand, which has always been the crux of their problem and will continue to be a problem (unless they're content on staying behind AT&T and Verizon).

 

[drexappeal]

I'm trying to look at this from a common sense standpoint. The phone will be released in the US and Europe. The phone have been packaged and boxed whether the phones are released in June or July. Just pushing the on button on the assembly line would put HTC behind the curve. Never worked in manufacturing but this in just my 2 cents.

I took that into consideration also with my 6/10 prediction. The date being talked about for the Europe release was 6/11 or 7/11 (depending on which website you go to). I personally feel like the 7/11 date sounds more realistic. Considering that GSM phones can be purchased, unlocked, and used on AT&T, I had mentioned earlier that my opinion would be that Sprint would've locked up some sort of "exclusive" with HTC to sell the EVO 3D for 1 month in the US, prior to the Europe GSM version being released.

What that does is, it puts a customer in a position that if they purchase the EVO 3D on Sprint on 6/10, it'll be right out of the range for them to potentially purchase the GSM version, unlock, and activate on AT&T, because they'd be locked into. In that respect, the 6/3/11 date that everyone was talking about could work just as well to prevent people from getting out of their 2 year Sprint Agreement.

 

[drexappeal]

Ironically, when I was in college, I worked at a tv station for a while in the traffic department (which handles the in and out of the commercials and stuff). So I know a bit about how that works.

Some spots do have to be booked in advance, but not all of them. And even the ones that are booked in advance, the actual commercial that airs doesn't have to be given until pretty late in the process. And even then, it is pretty common to have 2 (or 10) different spots at the station, and at the last minute tell them which spot to air.

And this isn't a rumor that the device wasn't ready. Pretty much everyone that posted about Google IO (the developer conference on 5-11 and 5-12) said the Evo 3D they showed there was crashing all over the place. And that make sense because the Sprint rep at CTIA also said it was a very early build and was likely to change quite a bit.

To a certain extent, this is correct.

But, if we're talking campaigns...those have to be planned out appropriately. The time slots are the ones that are determined last minute, but all agreements are made prior to when it comes to commercial advertisements.

If there were rumors that the phone was crashing and wasn't ready, then I can definitely see a delay making complete sense.

 

[Jackietreehorn]

It does seem to be getting to the point of no return for the June 3-5 possibility, but not entirely beyond reason yet. Sure, it's not their flagship or anything, so marketing concerns are a bit different, but AT&T just announced the HD7S with a June 5th release date.

However, if we don't hear anything by the end of tomorrow, I'm going to have to begrudgingly let go of the hope for the first weekend, and start hoping for simply June.

 

[BlackDynamite]

I'm just saying, we'll just have to wait and see because absolutely nothing has been announced...at all!...LOL. Stop reading into it too much. You're stating that you believe 6/3 is the release. That's fine and good. My real life marketing experience is connected to media platforms that these ads and campaigns would run on. You name the media, it's likely that I have pretty good experience with what's been done as far as campaigns are concerned. And based on that experience, neither the 6/3 date nor the timeframe match up. And for that matter, even my prediction date of 6/10 is on the verge of being late as far as marketing campaigns are concerned.

No, I am not saying 6-3 will be the release. I am saying that is the target date, and was the originally planned date. But all indications are the phone won't be ready. So I'm saying it will be released on 6-3 if some miracle happens, but more likely as soon after that as possible.

To a certain extent, this is correct.

But, if we're talking campaigns...those have to be planned out appropriately. The time slots are the ones that are determined last minute, but all agreements are made prior to when it comes to commercial advertisements.

If there were rumors that the phone was crashing and wasn't ready, then I can definitely see a delay making complete sense.

There are more than rumors about the phone not being ready. Everyone who has seen it, as recently as last week at Google IO, all said it was crashing all over the place.

So my theory is Sprint wanted to release it on this date, they knew it was a longshot, they are still hoping to somehow hit that date, and they know it is still a longshot.

They probably booked several spots for the ad campaign (and we are seeing print ads in things like ESPN the magazine- probably not the original ad they wanted to go with that had the release date, but it was too late to cancel so they just changed the ad). We may or may not see the original ads they intended to go with. And some of them may even be postponed or cancelled.

And, we still may even see the 6-3 release if we get lucky.

 

[sergi0wned]

It does seem to be getting to the point of no return for the June 3-5 possibility, but not entirely beyond reason yet. Sure, it's not their flagship or anything, so marketing concerns are a bit different, but AT&T just announced the HD7S with a June 5th release date.

However, if we don't hear anything by the end of tomorrow, I'm going to have to begrudgingly let go of the hope for the first weekend, and start hoping for simply June.

This is kinda my mentality at the moment, but I'm giving them until next Tuesday. Apparently Sprint reps got an email 2 weeks (14 days) before the Nexus launched. If it is to launch June 3rd, we can expect a leak tomorrow. Tuesday is 12 days before June 3rd, which would follow the same schedule as the Nexus S, meaning we should have an official announcement from Sprint.

I'm honestly not all that concerned that we haven't seen any TV spots, because I've just now started seeing Echo and Nexus S ads on TV, and I did not see any before it launched. Hopefully Sprint is going to follow this same schedule with the Evo 3D and launch it June 3 and then have an aggressive marketing push a week or two after the launch.

I can almost see the delayed-marketing approach happen because it will help alleviate the crowds on release day. Evo enthusiasts will buy it whenever it launches and have already preordered, whereas the average consumer is happy to buy it any time while it's still "hot". It could solve the problems of overdemand and bogged down servers that we saw last year.

As others have said, I really can't see Sprint waiting much longer than mid-June or they will lose ground to the other carriers with the Sensation and other phones launching in early June. I would also think that if the Vodafone rumors are to be believed that Sprint would want the Evo 3D ~1 month before it's out in Europe. I know there's semantics about "exclusive", but since Sprint announced it and it's their flagship line, I simply cannot see Vodafone releasing first or simultaneously.

I'm still really pulling for June 3rd, but the instant-rebate speculation (expires 6/4, available 6/5) still seems plausible. June 10th also could work and wouldn't be too painful. The fact that the Evo 4G is running for 150 at BB this week is encouraging, since it means the new generation is probably imminent.

Not to overanalyze, but I went to a Sprint store and a rep told me that she tried out the 3D and she couldn't see the 3D effects (possibly the rumored trainings on it, wouldn't think they'd do this more than 2-3 weeks out). She didn't know very much accurate information about it (she thought it was running froyo lol) and she wasn't hyping it; instead, she repeatedly recommended the Nexus S. Seems like the classic technique of liquidating supply before the next big thing comes.

 

[drexappeal]

No, I am not saying 6-3 will be the release. I am saying that is the target date, and was the originally planned date. But all indications are the phone won't be ready. So I'm saying it will be released on 6-3 if some miracle happens, but more likely as soon after that as possible.


There are more than rumors about the phone not being ready. Everyone who has seen it, as recently as last week at Google IO, all said it was crashing all over the place.

So my theory is Sprint wanted to release it on this date, they knew it was a longshot, they are still hoping to somehow hit that date, and they know it is still a longshot.

They probably booked several spots for the ad campaign (and we are seeing print ads in things like ESPN the magazine- probably not the original ad they wanted to go with that had the release date, but it was too late to cancel so they just changed the ad). We may or may not see the original ads they intended to go with. And some of them may even be postponed or cancelled.

And, we still may even see the 6-3 release if we get lucky.

I'm more clear on what you are saying now and I can see where the 6/3 date is coming from. It'd be a shame if Sprint rushed to get the product out on 6/3, only to find a lot of issues from customers. That'd be a re-hash of the original EVO all over again...LOL.

I'm still on the fence w/ regard to upgrading, so hearing about people's reports of crashing doesn't really satisfy my comfort level on deciding to upgrade. That makes me hope that Sprint pushes back their original release, just so that the final product is relieved of any of those issues.

As for the print ads, I do agree. As far as marketing campaigns are concerned, things could shift within a 24 hour period. I'm all too familiar with that and have seen it happen so many times that it wouldn't surprise me at all.