[Official] Sprint HTC EVO 4G LTE Pre-release thread - Sprint official launch is Saturday, June 2

[IxAnonymousxIo]

I really really hate though when phone companies get professional photographers to do things with their camera. This seems to be a growing trend; so what percentage of people buying this phone have even a basic understanding of REAL photography? Like 1% at most? All this tells me is that someone who gets paid to take good photos can take good photos with the phone....this same person could make the camera on a clam shell look 10x better than anything an average Joe like me could do. I want to see what this camera does in a dark bar at 1 in the morning, or what it does at the park around 2 in the afternoon with no cloud in the sky.

If they really wanted to impress me they would hand out about 5 units to regular people, make them sign a contract and have them post their every day pictures. Sorry rant over.

I think it shows what the camera is capable of.These photos can be taken by anyone.

 

[novox77]

I really really hate though when phone companies get professional photographers to do things with their camera. This seems to be a growing trend; so what percentage of people buying this phone have even a basic understanding of REAL photography? Like 1% at most? All this tells me is that someone who gets paid to take good photos can take good photos with the phone....this same person could make the camera on a clam shell look 10x better than anything an average Joe like me could do. I want to see what this camera does in a dark bar at 1 in the morning, or what it does at the park around 2 in the afternoon with no cloud in the sky.

If they really wanted to impress me they would hand out about 5 units to regular people, make them sign a contract and have them post their every day pictures. Sorry rant over.

Actually, I think we should all strive to learn some new skills. It doesn't take much to go from crappy dark bar photo to something decent. Why settle for being an average joe?

 

[burgertime]

Actually, I think we should all strive to learn some new skills. It doesn't take much to go from crappy dark bar photo to something decent. Why settle for being an average joe?

Clearly you don't work in retail :banghead:. The thing is that, your average person is going to look at that and expect those results. Maybe because of my marketing background I'm a little too hypersensitive to those sorts of "tricks". I just am never too impressed when a professional can do something with a product that 99% of the population can't and probably will not do. Nothing wrong with learning new tricks, certain marketing practices just really annoy me. Like I said I wanna see what regular photos look like in regular situations. Though I wouldn't mind being good friends with a hot girl in NYC that owns a custom Fender Jazzmaster. It's just a pet peeve and as I said was a rant.

 

[dan330]

Clearly you don't work in retail :banghead:. The thing is that, your average person is going to look at that and expect those results. Maybe because of my marketing background I'm a little too hypersensitive to those sorts of "tricks". I just am never too impressed when a professional can do something with a product that 99% of the population can't and probably will not do. Nothing wrong with learning new tricks, certain marketing practices just really annoy me. Like I said I wanna see what regular photos look like in regular situations. Though I wouldn't mind being good friends with a hot girl in NYC that owns a custom Fender Jazzmaster. It's just a pet peeve and as I said was a rant.

i agree with you.. and marketing does play a game with the public.

example: hamburger commercials and printed adds/menus ...
if they did just let an average joe take the pics for these marketing tools.. do you think people will want to order???

 

[novox77]

Clearly you don't work in retail :banghead:. The thing is that, your average person is going to look at that and expect those results.

No one to blame there but the average person with unrealistic expectations.

Maybe because of my marketing background I'm a little too hypersensitive to those sorts of "tricks". I just am never too impressed when a professional can do something with a product that 99% of the population can't and probably will not do. Nothing wrong with learning new tricks, certain marketing practices just really annoy me.

Would you rather see marketers show off 'average' photos taken from an SLR? Cause I can guarantee you a lot of average people think that if they have an SLR, they will automatically take good photos. I don't see anything wrong with marketers showing off their product in the best light. For the people who DO care about the max potential, this is critical information.

Like I said I wanna see what regular photos look like in regular situations.

You will, soon enough. Just open the Gallery app on the display model in the store. You'll get a ton of average shots in there. Not sure what that will tell you, since average shots look crappy on any camera, even SLRs.

 

[novox77]

i agree with you.. and marketing does play a game with the public.

example: hamburger commercials and printed adds/menus ...
if they did just let an average joe take the pics for these marketing tools.. do you think people will want to order???

Actually, this is a totally different situation. It's FALSE advertising. The subject matter in the photos is nothing like what you actually get. It doesn't matter whether the photographer is good or not.

The pics in this article are funny. It shows the marketed product along with what the author actually got:
Fast Food - Ads vs. Reality

This is also how I view Apple's Siri. So smooth in the commercials. Works like crap in reality.

 

[NeoteriX]

I really really hate though when phone companies get professional photographers to do things with their camera.

If they really wanted to impress me they would hand out about 5 units to regular people, make them sign a contract and have them post their every day pictures. Sorry rant over.

Actually, I think we should all strive to learn some new skills. It doesn't take much to go from crappy dark bar photo to something decent. Why settle for being an average joe?

I think it cuts both ways.

It's pretty useful to see even nice, professional shots, because some terrible camera sensors will show noise or other lens/sensor abberations even in the best of circumstances, and that's when you know you need to run away. Even in the nicest of circumstances, the Evo and Evo 3D never had exceptionally great shots. Furthermore, nice shots in poorly lit locations at least reveal the camera's low light potential, which is something lacking in most phones.

On the other hand, people can take terrible shots even with expensive DSLRs, so shots by laypersons still won't be an accurate representation of how great a camera can be.

edit: posts afterwards by Novox ended up saying the same thing. dohh.

 

[drexappeal]

Would you rather see marketers show off 'average' photos taken from an SLR? Cause I can guarantee you a lot of average people think that if they have an SLR, they will automatically take good photos. I don't see anything wrong with marketers showing off their product in the best light. For the people who DO care about the max potential, this is critical information.

I think you were missing burgertime's point with his statement about marketing practices. The main point was that, because he deals with advertising and knows the "tricks" of the trade to sell a product, there are certain things that annoy him. The point wasn't really about the "quality" of the pictures or the fact that quality pictures were taken by a pro, just more-so from a "real" perspective, in that, the majority of the people that purchase cellphones and use the camera on the cellphone heavily way outnumbers the amount of people that actually do want to take the time to learn a new trade and figure out how to take good quality shots. Let's be honest though, how many consumers out there are really going to take the time to do that? Hell, I love seeing good photography, but I've never really taken the time to sit down and learn it. Will I ever? I don't know if I'll ever be able to set aside the time to do that. And I'm sure there are millions, if not billions of people in the world that are very similar in attitude to me. Whatever the excuse, they're not ever going to take the time to learn how to take pics like that professional took from the phone.

He also didn't say there was anything "wrong" with the way they're marketing...just annoyed and personally doesn't like the practice. Because he's not "fond" of the practice, doesn't mean it's "wrong." I think your interpretation is a little 'bit too negative of his overall message, which is that every day ordinary joe's are most likely not going to take the time to get anywhere near the level of a studied amateur photographer...so let's see some average joe's try to accomplish the same exact results as the pro did (or at least close to it). If that can't be accomplished, that gives people a better idea of what can/can't be done with the camera (in a general sense).

 

[burgertime]

I think you were missing burgertime's point with his statement about marketing practices. The main point was that, because he deals with advertising and knows the "tricks" of the trade to sell a product, there are certain things that annoy him. The point wasn't really about the "quality" of the pictures or the fact that quality pictures were taken by a pro, just more-so from a "real" perspective, in that, the majority of the people that purchase cellphones and use the camera on the cellphone heavily way outnumbers the amount of people that actually do want to take the time to learn a new trade and figure out how to take good quality shots. Let's be honest though, how many consumers out there are really going to take the time to do that? Hell, I love seeing good photography, but I've never really taken the time to sit down and learn it. Will I ever? I don't know if I'll ever be able to set aside the time to do that. And I'm sure there are millions, if not billions of people in the world that are very similar in attitude to me. Whatever the excuse, they're not ever going to take the time to learn how to take pics like that professional took from the phone.

He also didn't say there was anything "wrong" with the way they're marketing...just annoyed and personally doesn't like the practice. Because he's not "fond" of the practice, doesn't mean it's "wrong." I think your interpretation is a little 'bit too negative of his overall message, which is that every day ordinary joe's are most likely not going to take the time to get anywhere near the level of a studied amateur photographer...so let's see some average joe's try to accomplish the same exact results as the pro did (or at least close to it). If that can't be accomplished, that gives people a better idea of what can/can't be done with the camera (in a general sense).

:adore: Bingo! Haha I need to just run everything through you first. Seriously I wasn't meaning to derail this thread or create a debate. I just was going on a rant, guess I should have explained myself better. Just to be clear as was stated by drex I simply dislike the marketing that " X professional can do it, so you too!". There is an HTC commercial (I think it's HTC I'm too lazy to look it up) where a guy is skydiving and doing a model shoot...which I guess is cool if you're into high fashion but seriously who has the means to do this? Who would want to do this? Is this really their target demographic? Rich young fashion designers? To me it's just goofy marketing that doesn't click with hardly anyone (but hey I'm talking about it so it worked!). Same thing with going, "check out how good our camera is, a professional photographer can take awesome photos with it!"...I totally get the "showoff" approach I really do and I'm not opposed to it, just again that particular angle of marketing annoys me.

drex I believe you and I talked about marketing and how badly Sprint dropped the ball on the MoPho when it arrived...I'm sure this won't happen with the LTE since it's a flagship phone. I would really love to see some commercials shot on the LTE, viral style.....with a "shoot your own" style contest. You can pay me now Sprint!

 

[burgertime]

i agree with you.. and marketing does play a game with the public.

example: hamburger commercials and printed adds/menus ...
if they did just let an average joe take the pics for these marketing tools.. do you think people will want to order???

I think if you did correctly yes. If you say, "check out what four ordinary people did with our camera" and cherry picked the images you could easily sell it. Then you have people say why it was so easy to use the camera. Look to me people use their camera on their phone for one major reason and that's that it's simple and there. The average cell phone user has no idea what makes a photo "good" or the difference between a SLR and a point and shoot. The MoPho takes alright photos but you know what everyone I meet loves about it? The external camera button. They don't care so much about photos since expectations are low to begin with. Users have "adjusted" their eyes on what is "good" when it comes to cell phone photos. It's only the say 2% of users like us that even care. Just look at the last generation iPhone...it takes terrible photos. Yet how many times did you hear Apple users complain? Just my take on it.

 

[drexappeal]

:adore: Bingo! Haha I need to just run everything through you first. Seriously I wasn't meaning to derail this thread or create a debate. I just was going on a rant, guess I should have explained myself better. Just to be clear as was stated by drex I simply dislike the marketing that " X professional can do it, so you too!". There is an HTC commercial (I think it's HTC I'm too lazy to look it up) where a guy is skydiving and doing a model shoot...which I guess is cool if you're into high fashion but seriously who has the means to do this? Who would want to do this? Is this really their target demographic? Rich young fashion designers? To me it's just goofy marketing that doesn't click with hardly anyone (but hey I'm talking about it so it worked!). Same thing with going, "check out how good our camera is, a professional photographer can take awesome photos with it!"...I totally get the "showoff" approach I really do and I'm not opposed to it, just again that particular angle of marketing annoys me.

drex I believe you and I talked about marketing and how badly Sprint dropped the ball on the MoPho when it arrived...I'm sure this won't happen with the LTE since it's a flagship phone. I would really love to see some commercials shot on the LTE, viral style.....with a "shoot your own" style contest. You can pay me now Sprint!

Hahaha...Comes with the territory. I've seen and heard practically every approach and angle that can possibly be taken for marketing and promotion. One thing I can say about releasing the "pro" shots from the LTEvo...it's a way for Sprint not to have to pay anything, just to drive "early" hype for the device. It'll pay dividends for those that fall for it because all of those "regular joes" that feel they suck at taking pictures will feel that, if they buy the LTEvo, they can take shots just like a pro. Again, you hit the nail on the head that it's a marketing "gimic" and overlly practiced trick of the trade, but it's effective to certain extent.

You know for sure I'll be checking out how Sprint goes about their marketing for all the superphones. It's clear they are hurting for budget to drive up their marketing campaigns and rely on the manufacturers and "free" word of mouth advertising. Even though I wouldn't necessarily want to have the task of being the head of Sprint's marketing division, I'd sure love to be in on the conversations and figure out what exactly is the crux of the issue for them. Whether that be lack of peronnel, lack of budget...whatever the case is, having limitations usually brings the "best" out of people and the "best" work to the table because they're forced into getting "creative" (which is their jobs, to begin with). The most discouraging aspect of Sprint's approach to marketing any of their superphones is not seeing any ingenuity, because even since the EVO made waves, they still haven't changed their approach to marketing, prior to a phone being released. That "wait and see" mentality is too "safe" for my tastes.

Best example I could give is 2 guys trying to win over a chick. Majority of the time, the guy that loses that battle is the one that "plays it safe." Sprint just seems like that guy, year after year. At some point, they're going to have to re-invent themselves and be the guy that "takes a risk."

 

[PyroSporker]

Even in the nicest of circumstances, the Evo and Evo 3D never had exceptionally great shots. Furthermore, nice shots in poorly lit locations at least reveal the camera's low light potential, which is something lacking in most phones.

On the other hand, people can take terrible shots even with expensive DSLRs, so shots by laypersons still won't be an accurate representation of how great a camera can be.

I agree completely. And I hope no one picks up an HTC One Phone (or its brethren like the Evo 4G LTE) and expects to get a much better experience. I prefer the realistic approach.
Don't get me wrong, the new ImageSense is a small step in the right direction. I've played with the display One X, and it is a small step up in overall quality. But how much better? We may have received some marginal improvements: a dedicated hardware chip and new software tricks but looking at comparison shots it shows that overall there is still a lack in quality. Not near the Nokia camera phones ballpark. And I've seen a number of media places reporting aloud that 'One' phones with its DSLR like features could possibly replace a DSLR camera? Gimme a break.

 

[EarlyMon]

The group of you are wrong.

We're going to get the new camera and compared to what we had on the Evo and 3vo, we're going to love it.

And we're not going to be simply hyperbolic about it, we're going to go ballistic in the upcoming snapshot thread.

We're then going to argue against all comers.

Eventually, we're going to raise the issue of why Sprint and HTC is marketing it so poorly and then, after the new is worn off, we may even compare shots with point and shoots and DSLRs.

How am I doing so far?

 

[burgertime]

The group of you are wrong.

We're going to get the new camera and compared to what we had on the Evo and 3vo, we're going to love it.

And we're not going to be simply hyperbolic about it, we're going to go ballistic in the upcoming snapshot thread.

We're then going to argue against all comers.

Eventually, we're going to raise the issue of why Sprint and HTC is marketing it so poorly and then, after the new is worn off, we may even compare shots with point and shoots and DSLRs.

How am I doing so far?

I can live with that :five:

 

[burgertime]

Hahaha...Comes with the territory. I've seen and heard practically every approach and angle that can possibly be taken for marketing and promotion. One thing I can say about releasing the "pro" shots from the LTEvo...it's a way for Sprint not to have to pay anything, just to drive "early" hype for the device. It'll pay dividends for those that fall for it because all of those "regular joes" that feel they suck at taking pictures will feel that, if they buy the LTEvo, they can take shots just like a pro. Again, you hit the nail on the head that it's a marketing "gimic" and overlly practiced trick of the trade, but it's effective to certain extent.

You know for sure I'll be checking out how Sprint goes about their marketing for all the superphones. It's clear they are hurting for budget to drive up their marketing campaigns and rely on the manufacturers and "free" word of mouth advertising. Even though I wouldn't necessarily want to have the task of being the head of Sprint's marketing division, I'd sure love to be in on the conversations and figure out what exactly is the crux of the issue for them. Whether that be lack of peronnel, lack of budget...whatever the case is, having limitations usually brings the "best" out of people and the "best" work to the table because they're forced into getting "creative" (which is their jobs, to begin with). The most discouraging aspect of Sprint's approach to marketing any of their superphones is not seeing any ingenuity, because even since the EVO made waves, they still haven't changed their approach to marketing, prior to a phone being released. That "wait and see" mentality is too "safe" for my tastes.

Best example I could give is 2 guys trying to win over a chick. Majority of the time, the guy that loses that battle is the one that "plays it safe." Sprint just seems like that guy, year after year. At some point, they're going to have to re-invent themselves and be the guy that "takes a risk."

You know interestingly enough the only time they've kind of gone outside of that box (and remember those terrible box commercials) is when they did their add for the iPhone which I actually really liked. Of course you know Apple probably had some sort of conversation in that. My guess is they have signed a multiyear deal with an older agency and thus you're getting those formulaic "safe" ads as you said. I'm right there with you, I would love to just be a fly on the wall to hear these pitches. I could only imagine how they sold that 3vo ping pong ad.

 

[drexappeal]

You know interestingly enough the only time they've kind of gone outside of that box (and remember those terrible box commercials) is when they did their add for the iPhone which I actually really liked. Of course you know Apple probably had some sort of conversation in that. My guess is they have signed a multiyear deal with an older agency and thus you're getting those formulaic "safe" ads as you said. I'm right there with you, I would love to just be a fly on the wall to hear these pitches. I could only imagine how they sold that 3vo ping pong ad.

Yeah, it is very possible they are outsourcing...but man, what a waste of money if they are. The amount of money they invest in outsourcing, is probably costing them more money than just hiring good people internally.

And I do agree about the iPhone ads, but I also think Apple likely dumped some money over to them, to be able to do those.

 

[Sauske]

Had a talk with Sprint, and it will be $50 to pre order the LTEvo!

 

[EarlyMon]

Just a quick note to keep Sprint marketing in perspective.

You guys do get that this is the same company that had, for their biggest and best print ad, a hipster enjoying the glasses free 3D experience on the 3vo. He was not just happy, the look on his beaming face bespoke ecstasy. (see what I did there?)

Yes, big print, glasses-free 3D, big, blown-away smile on the consumer below the banner.

Obtw - he was wearing black, horn-rimmed glasses.

And if anyone thinks that Sprint marketing will someday buy a clue and do in their field what tech is doing with Network Vision, I salute you!

Side effects may include LTE speed, better 3G speeds, longer web sessions between charges, and uncontrollable urges to thank your friendly mod. Beats headphones not included.

 

[AHWagner]

What time on the 7th can we pre-order the EVO LTE?

 

[burgertime]

Just a quick note to keep Sprint marketing in perspective.

You guys do get that this is the same company that had, for their biggest and best print ad, a hipster enjoying the glasses free 3D experience on the 3vo. He was not just happy, the look on his beaming face bespoke ecstasy. (see what I did there?)

Yes, big print, glasses-free 3D, big, blown-away smile on the consumer below the banner.

Obtw - he was wearing black, horn-rimmed glasses.

And if anyone thinks that Sprint marketing will someday buy a clue and do in their field what tech is doing with Network Vision, I salute you!

Side effects may include LTE speed, better 3G speeds, longer web sessions between charges, and uncontrollable urges to thank your friendly mod. Beats headphones not included.

Oh believe me, I've looked at Sprint ads and thought "wtf"?? The demos they go after in ads are just perplexing. I always said they should have done a MoPho ad with an older man and pushed the idea that this was a business phone and not a toy...but what do I know?

 

[burgertime]

What time on the 7th can we pre-order the EVO LTE?

Usually as soon as stores open. Any time that first day you'll probably be safe. Most stores do not open early for preorder. Radio Shack will typically open at 6 AM on a big release so you can get it earlier than most.

 

[AHWagner]

Usually as soon as stores open. Any time that first day you'll probably be safe. Most stores do not open early for preorder. Radio Shack will typically open at 6 AM on a big release so you can get it earlier than most.

Thank you. I'll probably go to the Radio Shack right down the street from me, like I did for the OG EVO pre-order.

 

[kct1975]

Unfortunately, Beats only kicks in when you use headphones.

Just wondering...you mean that the Beats Audio features have no effect watching a YouTube video or listening to Pandora using the built-in speaker...

That sux.
I never use headphones on my phone. The most I use is a speaker dock when I am listening to Pandora.

 

[marctronixx]

beats audio is for headphones or external speakers. this makes sense since the built in speaker can not possibly reproduce the freqs from 20hz to 20khz.

your speaker dock should be able to take advantage of the beats audio. when the device sees there are external speakers connected (via wired or wireless) the beats audio will kick in.

 

[kct1975]

beats audio is for headphones or external speakers. this makes sense since the built in speaker can not possibly reproduce the freqs from 20hz to 20khz.

your speaker dock should be able to take advantage of the beats audio. when the device sees there are external speakers connected (via wired or wireless) the beats audio will kick in.

Thanks for your quick and detailed response.

At least if I get the LTEVO, I will be able to take advantage of the Beats Audio while using my speaker dock.