Nokia on Saturday extended its apology for misleading marketing materials used in the launch of a new line of phones.
The company earlier this week admitted to not having used the "PureView" camera on Nokia's forthcoming Lumia 920 hand-held device to shoot a portion of a video that initially was represented as being captured by technology on that phone. On Saturday, the company said additional pieces of the promotional material, such as still photography, were also a simulation.
In both cases, Nokia was called out by independent blogs for not having disclosed that the images-advertised as having been captured on the Lumia device-weren't actually captured by a Lumia.
Nokia used a hand-held video camera and lighting rig rather than the Lumia to create the material in question. Then it used that material as evidence in claiming that the technology in its new phones, set to go on sale later this year, was superior to technology already on the market from competitors.
Nokia's initial failure to fully represent how it captured imagery deals a blow to the company's credibility at a time when it is struggling to regain its footing in the hotly contested global smartphone market. Nokia was once the dominant player in mobile handsets, but it has been hit hard by the success of Apple and Samsung, among other players.
Nokia scrambled to launch its new phones, which use Microsoft Corp.'s Windows 8 technology, on Sept. 5 in New York following a move by Samsung in August to show off its own Windows 8 phone. Apple will launch its next iPhone in less than a week.
In an interview with The Wall Street Journal this week, Nokia Chief Executive Stephen Elop said that unlike Samsung's Windows 8 phone, Nokia's phone was functional. The company, however, didn't disclose cost, availability and timing of the new line of phones during the launch event Sept. 5, leading to a flood of criticism and a decline in its stock price.
The need to simulate the camera capabilities of the Lumia 920 rather than wait until the real technology was ready for prime time shows the urgency with which Nokia moved to launch its next line of devices.
In an emailed statement, the company said "Nokia recently apologized when it became clear that a video, which had been produced to demonstrate the benefits of optical image stabilization, failed to make clear that it was a simulation only and not shot using the new PureView camera on the Nokia Lumia 920. This video was produced when the Nokia Lumia 920 was in preproduction.
"While there was no intention to mislead, the failure to add a disclaimer to the video was obviously a mistake, and we apologize for the misunderstanding it did cause."
The company said "further misunderstanding has arisen about still photographs taken at night in the street in Helsinki. We want to be very clear that these still images were taken from the same video." The statement continued that, "The entire video is a representation of the benefits of optical image stabilization only and our apology was for using any part of the video without a clear disclaimer."
When asked how the company is handling the situation internally, a Nokia spokesperson said, "We are dealing with the situation swiftly, fairly and privately."
Nokia posted some still images taken with the prototype camera on a corporate website.
The company also said asked a blog called the Verge to put the camera to the test, and referred people to view that outlet's review of the technology.
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