Samsung blunders through Omnia launch

SAMSUNG LAUNCHED ITS new Iphone wannabe last night under a banner of pomp and incompetence.

The London based launch of the Omnia was held in the catacombs of the Old Billington's ice rooms, London's ancient fish market, where Samsung's newly appointed PR agency did their utmost to drum up an air of exclusivity around the event. Sadly this came off as sheer pretentiousness, beginning when several journos who had dared to show up 10 minutes early were left shivering in the rain rather than at least being allowed to wait in the drier and warmer stairwell.

We won't go into the details, but suffice to say we were subjected to the marketing video, albeit on a pretty impressive holographic projector, not once, not twice, but three times. We're pretty sure at some point during the presentation, automated arms attempted to insert electronic chips into the back of our necks, The INQ resisted, but even one Register hack was applauding by the end.

During the presentation, Samsung did reveal that it will be pumping €5.8 million into the phone's launch. According to the marketing bod, the idea is for people to be bombarded with ads on the internet, in papers, tube stations, mobile phone stores and on billboards until they "dream about it and wake up and buy the Onmia for themselves and their family and their friends."

So, after all that, what is the Omnia like? Well we wouldn't know, despite promising to have a unit available for each publication at the end of the event, apparently the INQ didn't qualify and left empty handed.

We can only speculate that this is what happens when a PR agency sheds its more competent staff. µ

Update Unsurprisingly the INQ had a call from Samsung's PR agency to discuss the article.

Apparently, because of overwhleming response to the invitation only those who had sent an RSVP in due time would get a phone at the end of the event and that an INQ freelancer had been informed of this previously. That would be fair enough if we hadn't seen at least two other hacks in a similar position get given phones anyway.

We may or may not be getting a phone.