Background information
Leaks: How unpublished material is used as a marketing tool
by Dominik Bärlocher
Google Pixel 4 reviews: What does Vietnam have to say about the new Google flagship?
12.9.2019
Translation: machine translated
A review of the Google Pixel 4 has appeared on a Vietnamese YouTube channel. It is obvious that it is not the finished device, but it could be close. Searching for clues.
Either Google has brilliant marketing or the worst security measures ever. The Google Pixel 4 has not only been leaked as a spec sheet, but now also as a physical object. The Vietnamese Youtuber Duy Anh has posted a video on the Youtube channel AnhEm TV in which he reviews a Google Pixel 4.
But it's clear from the video that there are a few things wrong with his device. There's the selfie cam, which doesn't work. Then, according to the subtitles, he says that the back isn't right. The question: What exactly is Duy Anh holding in his hands?
Trace search in Vietnamese is called "sự chạy đua"
Duy Anh begins the video with a disclaimer. He says he bought the device from a shop called dstore. However, the logo he shows in the video is not that of the dstore, but the logo of a JavaScript library. But there is a dstore that trades in Vietnam. Could this be the dstore he is talking about?
Hai Nguyen sheds some light. The Vietnamese-born category manager confirms that the subtitles in the video are accurate and were probably written by Duy Anh himself. According to the Youtuber, the device's biggest competition is the iPhone 11, and the comparison is often made.
However, Duy Anh says little about the device itself. Only that it is a prototype. It is possible that he received the device from an online retailer. But not as a purchased item from the website. Even here at digitec, there are devices lying around on desks and in drawers that don't yet exist. Sometimes I have smartphones in daily use that won't be on the market for a few weeks or even months. In other words, retailers and journalists usually know more than they say.
But Duy Anh doesn't say anything more than "prototype". It would be interesting to know what stage his phone is at. Because depending on how far the device has progressed, we can draw conclusions about the final specs. Demo devices sometimes have old parts installed as a proof of concept, especially in the early stages. Because the early builds are about looking at the device as a "What do we think of this as a rough idea?" object and not as "This is the camera king" or something like that.
Leaks as a marketing tool
The story about the Google Pixel 4 leaks raises the question of the extent to which the leaks are actually leaks. After all, it can't be that difficult to keep a secret. At the latest after the "iPhone in a bar" incident in 2010, the big companies surely know the importance of secrecy. This is also evident from the fact that I have to deal with embargoes and non-disclosure agreements more and more often in my employees. Phrases like "You hereby sign that you will not say anything publicly about the device before $date, $time" are coming up more and more often. I signed the most recent of these embargoes a few minutes ago.
Eben: Retailers and journalists usually know more than they say.
Journalist. Author. Hacker. A storyteller searching for boundaries, secrets and taboos – putting the world to paper. Not because I can but because I can’t not.
Smartphone
Follow topics and stay updated on your areas of interest
13 comments
later