Samsung Galaxy S3 teaser other Android OEMs

Without a doubt, the most anticipated and talked about Android phone so far this year is the Samsung Galaxy S3. Samsung’s latest device has had a buzz around it for months, and is one the first Android phones to generate so much attention. At the height of the buzz , Samsung has been known to have an accident or two and let all of the information about the device slip out, but for once that hasn’t happened. Instead, we were greeted this morning by a teaser video from Samsung to help focus the buzz and let everyone know that something great is on the way. Take a look at the video above. Go ahead, I’ll wait. Samsung ended the video with a pretty clear jab at Apple. This is just a continuation of their campaign against iOS, with their “Dude, you’re a barista” commercials. Now, if I were a hardware manufacturer who wanted to move users away from Apple, it seems like insulting iOS users would be a pretty bad idea, right? I mean, if Apple told me I was stupid for having a Galaxy Nexus, would I really look and say “Gee, maybe you’re right. Maybe I have been doing it wrong this whole time.”? Of course not, but then again Samsung isn’t targeting iOS users with their marketing. The biggest problem for an Android manufacturer right now is that there is no such thing as a flagship device in Android land. Manufacturers stagger their releases in such a way that the “best” Android phone is the one that comes out next week. As a result, you wind up with these microcosms of fans within the Android userbase. The HTC faithful would never tolerate a Samsung flagship device. The Motorola fans laugh at the HTC superphone, and so on. The Nexus phones are designed to be reference hardware for that version of the platform, setting the bar as it were for the rest of the devices to exceed, and a baseline for developers to test apps on. There’s no room in the Android ecosystem for a flagship phone, that one device that can be rubbed in the faces of the rest of the world. Samsung wants to change that, and the only way to do that is to rally Android advocates against a common enemy. From day one, the Android vs iOS fight has been one of the most vitriolic demonstrations of fanboy-on-fanboy action, and that’s coming from someone who still defends PC gaming over consoles. Conversations quickly devolve into outright insults, usually without any kind of logic or reasoning. Samsung wants to tap into that energy to gain a following from within the Android ecosystem. Samsung is sending a clear message to HTC buyers, Motorola lovers, and everyone else that they know Apple is the bad guy. By handing out “Dude, you’re a barista” shirts at events, by coining “You just got Samsung’d”, and even by releasing a video that will cause Android fans to giggle at the iSheep, they rally the troops. The end result, as Samsung hopes, is the fanboy army backing Samsung with their next device as the “iPhone killer”. Why target the super fans? They are the loudest. These are the guys that tell everyone that they know which phone to buy, and why. These are the users that gladly walk through malls and into movie theaters with Android beanies on their heads. These are the guys that have gamertags like “youriPhonesucks” on Xbox Live, and they are proud of it. If Samsung could put a Galaxy S3 in the hands of the loudest members of the Android fandom, these users would quickly tell everyone they know to go with Samsung. Is it the most mature way to attract customers? Absolutely not, but take a look around your social networks today, and rest assured that you will see Android users the world over cheering Samsung into victory, and bringing the buzz for the release of the Galaxy S3 to a fever pitch.