Skiff partners with Samsung – Oh Boy, What a Gaffe!

[Nate the great]

crossposted from The Digital Reader

Engadget is reporting from CTIA that Samsung and Skiff have announced a partnership to bring Skiff content to Samsung smartphones. There is no word yet on availability. Here is an excerpt:

Skiff’s mission is delivering the next generation of e-reading to consumers. So it’s fitting that we’re here today with Samsung, showcasing the next wave in smartphones.

When the Skiff Store and service launch later on this year, we’ll offer a comprehensive selection of content from leading magazines, newspapers, books and blogs.

As a preferred e-reading service partner across a range of Samsung devices, we’ll feature newspapers like The New York Times and Financial Times; magazines such as Forbes, Esquire and — for the one or two of you who might care about topics like technology and science — Popular Mechanics; as well as bestselling ebooks from publishers including Random House and Simon & Schuster.

The first thing I noticed is that there is no mention of the Samsung ebook readers, and I think I know why.

Do you recall when Samsung announced a couple weeks back that they would be selling the E6 in the USA? They only mentioned the one model, even though we know there were 4 models on display at CES, and we know that all 4 models will be sold in Europe and Australia. I followed up on the US announcement, and the PR firm has no information about the other models or why they weren’t mentioned. My best guess is that someone in Samsung (not the PR firm) has screwed up repeatedly.

I’m going to keep an eye on this, and I’ll report when I get more information.

[HarryT]

I'm not sure I follow you. Someone has screwed up what repeatedly?

[Nate the great]

Originally Posted by HarryT

I'm not sure I follow you. Someone has screwed up what repeatedly?

Wouldn't you say that mentioning the smartphones but not ebook readers was a mistake, given that Skiff is an ebook platform?

We know that 4 models will be released in Europe and Australia, and yet only one was named for the US market. We're almost certainly going to see all 4, so why didn't Samsung mention them?

The PR firm didn't have any info on the other 3 models. I'd say that's an error, myself.

Perhaps three times isn't "repeatedly", but those were mistakes, IMO. And I bet that we'll see more mistakes.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Nate the great

We know that 4 models will be released in Europe and Australia, and yet only one was named for the US market. We're almost certainly going to see all 4, so why didn't Samsung mention them?

Perhaps they aren't going to be released in the US? Regional distribution is very common, after all. Eg, Sony haven't released the PRS-900 in Europe, yet. Perhaps these models are only going to be initially released in Europe?

[Nate the great]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Perhaps they aren't going to be released in the US? Regional distribution is very common, after all. Eg, Sony haven't released the PRS-900 in Europe, yet. Perhaps these models are only going to be initially released in Europe?

At the press conference held the day before CES, Samsung discussed both a 6" model and a 9.7" model (even though they had both on hand). They also had the 4 models on the show floor.

You could be correct, though. But if the other 3 models aren't being released in the US, then why wasn't the PR firm told?

[stustaff]

Originally Posted by Nate the great

At the press conference held the day before CES, Samsung discussed both a 6" model and a 9.7" model (even though they had both on hand). They also had the 4 models on the show floor.

You could be correct, though. But if the other 3 models aren't being released in the US, then why wasn't the PR firm told?

Why would they tell the PR firm about devices that they arent planning on releasing?

surely you say to the PR firm.

"Hey we want you to do some PR for this product here is teh info... off you go."

Why also tell them oh yes here is some info on three other devices we make which we dont want you to talk about as we arent reelasing them in the US but heres all the info on them anyway!
??

[Nate the great]

Originally Posted by stustaff

Why would they tell the PR firm about devices that they arent planning on releasing?

surely you say to the PR firm.

"Hey we want you to do some PR for this product here is teh info... off you go."

Why also tell them oh yes here is some info on three other devices we make which we dont want you to talk about as we arent reelasing them in the US but heres all the info on them anyway!
??

Thanks to this new invention called the internet, I already know about the models being released in the rest of the world. And I already asked them about the other models. They should have been ready for the questions asked.