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Microsoft ad touts Nokia Lumia over Samsung Galaxy S3

A new ad destined for TV pits the picture-taking abilities of the Galaxy S3 against those of a Nokia Lumia 920.

Lance Whitney Contributing Writer
Lance Whitney is a freelance technology writer and trainer and a former IT professional. He's written for Time, CNET, PCMag, and several other publications. He's the author of two tech books--one on Windows and another on LinkedIn.
Lance Whitney
2 min read
In Microsoft's ad, the Lumia 920 (on the top) outshines the Galaxy S3 (on the bottom) at picture taking.
In Microsoft's ad, the Lumia 920 (on the top) outscores the Galaxy S3 (on the bottom) at picture taking. YouTube/Screenshot by Lance Whitney/CNET

Would your average Galaxy S3 owner trade in their phone for a Nokia Lumia 920? That's Microsoft's angle for its latest promotional spot.

The new Windows Phone Challenge ad finds Ben Rudolph, Microsoft's director for Windows Phone Experiential Marketing, aka Ben the PC Guy, trying to convince "Brittany" that the Lumia 920 can take a better photo than can her Galaxy S3. If she prefers her phone, she gets $100.

Naturally, the photo snapped by the Lumia shows a bright, clear, crisp image, while the one taken by the S3 is dark and blurry. And of course, Brittany is more than happy to renounce her Galaxy S3 to upgrade to the Lumia.

Did she make the right choice?

The Lumia 920 offers an 8.7-megapixel camera with image stabilization, low-light enhancements, and Nokia's PureView technology. The Galaxy S3 is no slouch with an 8-megapixel camera, though it doesn't offer the same low-light capabilities found in the 920.

The new ad will appear not only online but on TV, bouncing its way this week into the NCAA men's and women's basketball tournaments.

The spot is an extension of Microsoft's 2012 "Smoked By Windows Phone" promotion, in which Rudolph challenged real owners of rival phones to pit their devices against a Windows Phone. But that campaign ran into its own set of challenges.

Some users said they won the competition after their phones proved faster than a Windows Phone but claimed that Microsoft refused to honor the terms of the deal.

The timing of new commercial is notable. It came out between last week's unveiling of the next Galaxy smartphone -- the S4 -- and the actual launch in the second quarter. The Galaxy S4 features a 13-megapixel camera and lots of cutting-edge software. It will be interesting to see whether Microsoft will be so bold as to make comparisons then.

(Via GeekWire)