back to article Samsung: Sod off Apple, we've made gold mobile phones for way longer than you

Samsung has launched a campaign to remind arch-rival Apple that it wasn't the first tech firm to release a golden bling-horror phone. The South Korean giant has gone to the effort of designing a special web page dedicated to showing off the garish champagne-coloured phones it has inflicted on the human population over the …

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  1. Andraž 'ruskie' Levstik

    /me grabs the popcorn

    Can we get more of this... so much free entertainment.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: /me grabs the popcorn

      Not sure Apple ever claimed they were the first with a gold phone - so it's a non story?

      1. HereWeGoAgain

        Re: /me grabs the popcorn

        Maybe Apple didn't claim to be the first, but for all the usual publicity they get you would think they did.

        Apple didn't invent the MP3 player either.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: /me grabs the popcorn

          No - they just popularised it and made the best ones.

          1. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            Re: /me grabs the popcorn

            They sold you the idea they made the best one... You bought it...

          2. ElReg!comments!Pierre

            Re: AC "they made the best one"

            A very short time after the original iPod came out I offered my then-SO a relatively cheap MP3 player; not too sure about the brand, I suspect Sony. It was the size of a large-ish USB dongle, with a 1-line LCD and a simple but intuitive interface. It held just over 500MB of music, included a freakin' _radio tuner_ and was a 2-part job: a smallish USB drive that plugged into a larger body. You just detached the USB part and plugged it into any computer to add or remove media files, then plugged it back into the main "body" and there you went. It worked on a single AAA battery, which would power the thing for month (she used to fall asleep with it and only shut it down in the morning. Every single day.). It was friggin' AWESOME (her words). She got herself an iPod nano a few years later, she found it was the lamest thing ever. The controls were fiddly, it did not have radio, adding or removing files was an extremely painful process when it worked at all, andshe had to bring it back to the AppleStore 3 times because she thought the lousy battery life was due to her repeatedly getting a faulty unit before she realized it was "normal". She kept using her good old non-Apple music player until she recently got herself an iPod Touch, which she uses more like a toned-down iPhone (AppleTalk apparently _is_ good). She is what you could call a fangirl (she dipped her toes in the computer world on her father's Apple ][, later got the first-gen iMac, the first-gen MacBook which she still uses, a MackBook Pro, she got a MacBook Air as soon as the larger one was launched, etc...) and yet it still took Apple more than 10 years to release a MP3 player she would consider using over a cheapo USB-Stick-style one.

            Think about it.

          3. The Angol

            Re: /me grabs the popcorn

            They don't make the best ones. If you want outstanding sound get a Cowon. The Android Z2 is excellent and far to be preferred to any iPod.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: /me grabs the popcorn

      Title should read:

      "Sod off Apple, we've made SOME REALLY NASTY gold mobes for way longer than you"

  2. xyz Silver badge

    That Steve Job's was good though....

    ...he could have had iphones painted with shit (the iPhone Mocha) and they would have still sold...

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: That Steve Job's was good though....

      Have to admit it - this Sammy phones are FUGLY - not sure I'd be doing web pages to detail them in all their ghastliness. What next photos of a gold microwave - it probably exists.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: That Steve Job's was good though....

      and there would still be a loud group who claimed he ripped of the Zune.

      1. stuff and nonesense

        Re: That Steve Job's was good though....

        I'm in the UK, never seen a Zune....

        1. James O'Shea

          Re: That Steve Job's was good though....

          "I'm in the UK, never seen a Zune...."

          You don't know how lucky you are.

          Let's just say that they were so bad that _Walmart_ couldn't sell them.

  3. peter 45

    Yawn

    In 2006 i had a Google Motorola RAZR V3i gold

    Well I liked it

    1. I ain't Spartacus Gold badge
      Happy

      Re: Yawn

      Are you sure you shouldn't be hitting the anonymous button for this post?

      [mumble...mumble...mumble...]

      Yes, OK, I admit it! My RAZR V3i was in metallic purple...

      Did they do any of that model in nice colours? The previous V3 were a perfectly fine black or brushed steel.

      1. Steven Raith

        Re: Yawn

        I had a pink RAZR as a backup phone back in the day when my main handset (possibly a Nokia 6550, I honestly can't remember as I never had to use it) and it lived in my kitchen drawer. I always had a backup phone somewhere, although oddly, not these days.

        I'm not proud of that fact, but there it is.

    2. dogged

      Re: Yawn

      In 2006 i had a Google Motorola RAZR V3i gold

      Twenty quid says you didn't.

    3. Eponymous Cowherd
      Coat

      Re: Yawn

      "In 2006 i had a Google Motorola RAZR V3i gold"

      Can I table a motion that comments like that should, from now on, be called "jakeisms"?

      1. Dave 126 Silver badge

        Re: Yawn

        >Can I table a motion that comments like that should, from now on, be called "jakeisms"?

        I tabled that motion back in 1987.

  4. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    The comment about putting the s4 in the toilet. As if.

    If they were to get rid of it they would sell it, then become an appletard.

    1. Roo
      Facepalm

      As if...

      "The comment about putting the s4 in the toilet. As if."

      Indeed, it is a pity that Apple's quality control doesn't extend to those who choose to shill for them...

      1. Steven Raith

        Re: As if...

        I think they heard that iOS7 made the phone waterproof and were planning to do the same to the iPhone to show how crap the SHAMSUNG BLATANT COPIE!!11!!1one is.

        Steven R

        (all dribbling multi-twat fullcaps are with tongue in cheek, I can assure you - I bat for no team in particular)

  5. Sandtitz Silver badge

    Prior art

    A quick bing reveals that a golden telephone was presented to the Pope in 1930.

    And Nokia (Vertu) has had golden mobile phones for over a decade.

    1. Goldmember

      Re: Prior art

      I had a gold cover for a (very) short time on my Nokia 3210 in the 90's. Does that count?

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Prior art

      A quick bing reveals that a golden telephone was presented to the Pope in 1930.

      Probably because no-one else was using it.

  6. ratfox

    I am slightly dumber

    For having read the comments on that web site.

    I can understand technical people discussing the advantages of iPhone vs Android, but I am constantly amazed by the fans who have no clue and defend their brand.

    1. Ken Hagan Gold badge

      Re: I am slightly dumber

      For extra amazement, consider that the Samsung marketroid who provoked all this had the excuse that they were paid to write the original copy, which might have gone unnoticed, but (I presume that) none of the outraged responses earned a penny despite their obvious success in bringing it to a wider audience.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: I am slightly dumber

      I am constantly amazed by the fans who have no clue and defend their brand.

      These immature Fanbois are like a herd on the african plains. They have the same basic instinct - they want their own herd to be bigger and bigger, as they seek safety in numbers. It's because they perceive the fandroids to be like circling lions, an aggressor out to hurt them, and therefore they're scared of them. So they stay in their herd and shout at the "lions"

      What they may not realise, is that these immature fandroids are like a herd on the african plains. They have the same basic instinct - they want their own herd to be bigger and bigger, as they seek safety in numbers. It's because they perceive the fanbois to be like circling lions, an aggressor out to hurt them, and therefore they're scared of them. So they stay in their herd and shout at the "lions"....

      1. relpy

        Re: I am slightly dumber

        They might not make money from it themselves, but who serves the ads on the pages the fanbois love to post their anti-Google rhetoric on?

        No I've not checked the site, I really can't be bothered...

      2. MrDamage Silver badge

        Re: I am slightly dumber

        While WinPhone users are like the dung beetles who scuttle around underfoot, collecting up the crap that falls out of both herds, and rolling it into little balls in order to impress their mates.

        Blackberries are probably like rhino herds. Small in number, endangered, and under threat by poachers (bad management).

  7. Cliff

    Not unlike real gold

    The value is all in scarcity and not really in any mechanical property advantages.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Not unlike real gold

      By this reckoning my Gold Rover 45 made in 2000 will be worth a lot fairly soon.

      Any bidders?

      1. Marvin O'Gravel Balloon Face

        Re: Not unlike real gold

        Mine doubled in value in one day!

        Mind you, I did fill it with petrol.

    2. The FunkeyGibbon
      Boffin

      Re: Not unlike real gold

      Mechanical property advantages, no. But there are certainly advantages to using it such as it being a highly efficient conductor and the fact that it doesn't suffer from corrosion.

      Well that and showing the owner of a gold phone as somebody with immensely poor taste...

      1. Alan Brown Silver badge

        Re: Not unlike real gold

        "But there are certainly advantages to using it such as it being a highly efficient conductor and the fact that it doesn't suffer from corrosion."

        It's the best heat conductor/diffuser around too. Apparently a solid gold frying pan is the best way to fry an egg.

        (A National Geographic author tested one weighing about 3 pounds in the 1980s)

        As for gold cased phones - not such a good idea if they obscure the antennas.

        1. Steven Raith

          Re: Not unlike real gold

          My favourite gold item has to be a mates leggy E23 (i think) 7-series.

          He showed me a photo of it, and it was in a rather champagny shade of paint.

          "Proper nice car. Six pot, auto, air con, Jewish Racing Gold".

          I know the humour in that is a bit dark/non-PC/tasteless/etc, but that didn't stop me from near choking on my gobful of beer when he came out with it.

          Steven R

          1. Dave 126 Silver badge

            Re: Not unlike real gold

            Theoretically a pan with a solid diamond base would the best way to fry an egg. Apparently it is the best known conductor of heat... though of course impractical for most (all?) conducting applications.

            [Edit: John Sager beat me to it, and deserves double points for giving figures]

        2. John Sager

          Re: Not unlike real gold

          "It's the best heat conductor/diffuser around too. Apparently a solid gold frying pan is the best way to fry an egg"

          Copper is better (~400 W/m.K versus 318 W/m.K) and silver is even better than that (~430). However, for real egg-frying goodness, you need the ACME *Diamond* pan (>1000 W/m.K).

          Google/Wikipedia is your/my friend here.

  8. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    pink iphone?

    I don't get the pink iphone comment from the Shamsung fan - sammy knock out a lot of pink phones?

  9. Jack Project

    My mate had a Goldstar gold painted 14" portable TV in 1985.

    Does this win the Golden Electronic Antique Roadshow game? Anything golden and electronic that predates that?

    The Super2000 video recorders in schools maybe?

  10. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    I predict black will be fashionable once again very soon

    1. TheOtherHobbes

      Sooner or later, black always becomes the new black.

  11. Yves Kurisaki

    A page dedicated to ugly phones..

    Well done Samsung.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Ugly is not strong enough - perhaps fugly or eye wateringly, stomach churningly, ghastly phones.

      It's like writing a CV of all your past failures and hot on the tail of their multi-region (locking) shenanigans.

      1. Dave 126 Silver badge

        I had a few of the later Samsung slider phones (better than their Nokia equivalents at the time) from around 2006, then a couple of their touchscreen efforts (well featured, but some annoying design decisions)... I don't think they ever twice used the same connector for power, data transfer and audio headsets (!). The first one, a very thin slider phone, wasn't bad at all though.

  12. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Fanatics are the last ones to realise just how stupid they sound

    and having to listen to one is a fate worse than having a Siamese cat shoved up ones anal orifice and dragged through one's entire digestive tract.

  13. TitterYeNot
    Facepalm

    Jeez, it's like watching EastEnders, or some other equally inane soap opera. Or is that the whole idea?

  14. Dick Pountain

    "Pouring hot liquids or metals, such as lead or gold, into the mouth of a victim was a practice used on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean, by the Romans and the Spanish Inquisition among others.2"

    Not suggesting anything, just historical research....

  15. The FunkeyGibbon

    Samsung vs Apple!

    It's like Coke vs Pepsi but with 100% less Michael Jackson (sadly).

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Samsung vs Apple!

      Not so sadly for the 8 year old kids in attendance

  16. At0micAndy

    what does colour matter

    I put my mobe in a [possibly faux] leather case, so what does it matter what colour the mobe is? Mine happens to be gold, but so what?

  17. kmac499

    Prior Art Lodging

    A few Years ago my Missus had some Sony Ericsson Walk-man phone in a far from tasteful shade of gold \ champagne \ warm lager whatever.

    My Rates for Expert Witness testimony are quite resonable, (assuming I can find the damn thing in the old phone bin..)

  18. Armando 123

    Brilliant

    "We made tasteless gaudy tat long before you did."

    Well, sign me up for that.

  19. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Form?

    I was surprised when I saw the Blackberry Curve 9320 and Samsung Ch@t 355 alongside each other.

    I was even surprised when I saw the Dyson DC26 and Samsung VC21F50HDDR vacuum cleaners alongside each other.

    Regardless of where your preferences lie, there are a large number of very similar design cues turning up, and it does make you think.

    Just saying.

  20. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Motorola

    I still have my beautiful shiny gold 2006 Motorola KRZR with its partial mirror finish. It's a magnificent example of industrial design though the firmware wasn't !00%. I upgraded to a non Motorola version which was fine. Time to beam up, Scotty.

  21. Dazzlingsincethe60s

    "Everyone can see Samsung lacks INNOVATION. Don't you have a brain of your own??? Goodness! You suck! I definitely am dumping my S4 straight to the toilet!"

    Why buy an S4 if it lacks innovation? You want style (or at least media considered style) and innovation buy the iphone.

    Samsung Smart TVs seem pretty innovative to me, although I haven't researched the history because I couldn't care less I either want one or I don't.

    Pointless argument, buy the one that you like, if you regret it then so be it. Personally I prefer a device that I can upgrade so the iPhone is out for me, no cause to regret thus far, but if Apple come up with something so incredibly innovative and more importantly useful to me then I might. It's a risk you take when you commit to buy.

    More important to me (and I would initially state that no corporates are spotlessly clean when put under a moral microscope) I personally like consumer choice rather than monopolies on anything. Iphone's near monopoly meant they could bully the carriers meaning it cost all of us more to buy an iPhone, the erosion of that position is a good thing regardless of the argument about who designed what. Apple, like all corporates, want to protect market share and felt the best way to do so was lawsuits, undermines the innovation argument IMO, but as above I don't care less, I want it or I don't.

    Apple were at one time hip for not being Microsoft, Microsoft being the big corporate bully, proving that Leopards can indeed change their spots. A shame really.

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