Busted: Nokia admits Lumia 920 camera demo was shot using, wait for it, a different camera

This isn’t something that will leave a good taste in your mouth: a promotional video, purportedly showing off the image stabilization prowess of the Lumia 920, used a different camera, in at least one scene, deceiving viewers about the capability of the new handset.

Now, videos of smartphones quite often use simulated images on the screens of devices. Those are marked with a subtext, however, of ‘on-screen images simulated,’ or something similar. In this case, the video not only fails to inform that the phone shown in the previous clips as taking video isn’t the device used in the following contiguous shot, but also directly implies that the unit is the same by showing large, on-screen text that purports to highlight the stabilization power of the Lumia 920.

How did they get caught? A reflection in a window or mirror shows a vehicle with a camera person shooting the footage meant to be from the Lumia 920. If you are going to lie, it’s probably best to not get caught by showing the world how you executed the ruse. The Verge caught the error, and forced Nokia into admitting that the footage in question wasn’t taken using its new phone.

Watch the clip, and decide for yourself if it is directly implied that the Lumia 920 is shooting the stabilized video. The error that brought the house of cards down can be found at the 27 second mark.

The 💜 of EU tech

The latest rumblings from the EU tech scene, a story from our wise ol' founder Boris, and some questionable AI art. It's free, every week, in your inbox. Sign up now!

Right, so what say you, Nokia? According to a statement provided to The Verge, following their initial outcry, the company agreed that the ad is misleading (an understatement), but stated that it was “never the [its] intention to deceive anyone.”

DaringFireball has the proper response to that obvious lie: “Bullshit. It’s clear that this was meant to demonstrate footage shot using the Lumia itself.” TNW wholeheartedly agrees.

Shame on Nokia for this.