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We’ve known for a while that Samsung’s been planning an Animoji competitor for its latest handset. Now that we’ve actually seen (the admittedly clunkily named) AR Emoji in action, we can testify to the fact that it’s some combination of compelling and creepy.

That last part first. Like the iPhone X, the Galaxy S9 takes advantage of its on-board face scanning technology to offer up an animated emoji that corresponds to the user’s facial movements, so you can send animated messages, sing cartoon character karaoke and the like. But, as is Samsung’s wont, the phone takes things an extra step, mapping more than 100 points in the user’s face and building a 3D avatar.

Once the scan is complete, users can customize it from a selection of hair styles, clothes, glasses and the like, before firmly taking up residence in the uncanny valley. The custom AR Emoji isn’t as adorable as Apple’s animals or benign as Nintendo’s Mii avatars. Instead, it straddles that uncomfortable line between cartoon and realistic 3D scan a bit uncomfortably.

It’s first generation, of course, and I’d expect that the company should smooth that line out a bit by the time the Galaxy S10 or even the new Note rolls around. For now, however, it’s a little uncomfortably creepy for my own taste. There’s good news on that front, however. The company’s offering up some default cartoon options — including a rabbit that’s a bit more anthropomorphic than Apple’s offering.

But Samsung’s got one big secret weapon on its side. The company no doubt ruffled some feathers at Apple’s big glass spaceship today when it announced a partnership with Disney, bringing the entertainment goliath’s beloved cartoon characters to its emoji offering. The company’s bringing Mickey, Minnie and the Pixar’s Incredibles to the mix.

It seems like a bit of a curveball that Disney opted to partner with Samsung, rather than Apple this time out — after all, the two companies have worked together in the past on things like the Mickey Mouse watch face. And of course, there’s been a fair amount of executive overlap between the two companies, between Steve Jobs’ involvement with Pixar and the fact that Robert Iger currently sits on Apple’s board.

Of course, those sorts of things aren’t a guaranteed promise of partnership, and Disney looks like it’s not trying to play favorites with content partnership. Take, for example, the media company’s licensing of Star Wars content for AR stickers on the Pixel 2.

source:TechCrunch

If you were having any doubts about Samsung’s commitment to its DeX, consider them assuaged. The company introduced its smartphone docking hardware with the Galaxy S8 and has talked up a new version for every big phone release since then — and today’s big Galaxy S9 reveal is no different.

We were pretty lukewarm on the idea — or at least skeptical of how big a niche such a product really was. But to Samsung’s credit, the company been responding to user feedback and building it out since launch. This generation marks the biggest and most welcome change to the system thus far, including, notable a big shift in form factor.

The update cleverly shifts the dock’s orientation from vertical to horizon, so the phone lays flat when it’s plugged in. That means the handset gets to do double duty, both powering the desktop system and doubling as either a standalone touchpad or keyboard. The flat orientation as means the dock is compatible with a wider ranger of phone sizes.

That said, the new dock will only be capable with the S9 and S9+ at launch, with a software update that will make the hardware backward compatible coming soon. Certainly it would make sense to have the system compatible with the widest range of handsets possible, if the company is targeted shared office environments with the technology.

Samsung’s made some moves in that direction in this most recent update, allowing for more control from an IT department, including the ability to push a corporate logo on the desktop. Granted, the cost of buying a stationary DeX is a lot cheaper than outfitting every employee with both a smartphone and standalone laptop/desktop. Even so, the use for such a system still feels pretty limited in the real world.

source:TechCrunch

The Samsung Galaxy S8 is a beautiful phone with a critical flaw. The fingerprint sensor is in the wrong damn spot. A phone is only as good as its usability and, to me, the S8 is crippled with its fingerprint sensor located off center. It drives me mad but Samsung finally righted the wrong with the S9.

Samsung just announced the latest Galaxy phone and we spent some time with it. It’s very similar to the S8, which, to me, is just fine. The Samsung Galaxy S8 is a lovely phone besides of course the aforementioned fingerprint sensor location.

The S8’s fingerprint sensor is to the right of the camera lens instead centered on the phone. It’s a crazy location and I’ve yet to get used to it. My finger hits the camera lens every time.

It took me sometime to get used to a back-mounted fingerprint sensor and most of the time I still appreciate TouchID’s location on my iPhone. There are some upsides to having it on the back. It’s much easier to pull the phone from a pocket and unlock it in one smooth motion. But only if the button is in the right place and it’s not on the S8.

I’m not alone. The S8’s fingerprint sensor location is universally hated. Samsung must have heard the feedback loud and clear.

Now, on the S9, the sensor is in the center of the phone and everything is right in the world. I don’t care about the new camera or Samsung’s copy of Animojis. Even the inclusion of the Snapdragon 845 is meaningless to me. All I want is an S8 with a center-mounted fingerprint sensor and the S9 is just that with a few fun extras.

source:TechCrunch

And this year is all about business. While the Samsung Galaxy S9 is going to be announced tomorrow at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Slashleaks shared the official promo video for the Samsung’s upcoming flagship device.

It’s a polished 3-minute video packed with information about the new phone. First, just like rumors said, it looks just like the Galaxy S8. There are some minor changes, such as the location of the fingerprint reader. But it’s going to feel just like holding a Samsung Galaxy S8.

This isn’t necessarily a bad thing as the Galaxy S8 was a great phone with a tall 18:9 display. If you want a well-designed Android phone, Samsung has some nice options.

When it comes to software features, the video shows an improved DeX dock. It lets you plug your phone to a display or a TV and turn it into an Android-powered desktop experience. It’s a good way to show presentations for instance. And because the dock is flat now, you can use the phone as a trackpad.

The video also says that the Galaxy S9 is water resistant and comes with a new translation feature. You can point the camera at text to translate it into a familiar language. This feature is powered by Google Translate as you can see in the corner of the screen in the video.

Samsung really insists on the business features of the device. The company wants you to think about the Galaxy S9 when it’s time to buy a bunch of new phones for your employees. There will be an enterprise edition with maintenance, extended guaranty and security updates for up to four years. You can also update the firmware of your employees over the air.

The 3-minute video probably only tells part of the story. That’s why we have a team on the ground in Barcelona to give you more details about the Galaxy S9 tomorrow.

source:TechCrunch

Opera Max lives on after Samsung acquired the mobile browser to save it from oblivion.

The browser was one of the first data-friendly mobile browsers and it later added privacy-focused settings, including safeguards against insecure WiFi connections and a VPN. The popular app clocked up more than 500,000 installs, but that didn’t stop parent company Opera — which is owned by a consortium of Chinese firms — from announcing its closurelast year.

“Opera has now decided to discontinue Opera Max. The product had a substantially different value proposition than our browser products, and represented a different focus for Opera,” it wrote at the time. “We, therefore, focus on our browsers and other upcoming services.”

Step forward Samsung, which said today that it has picked up the service and turned it into ‘Samsung Max’ — as first spotted by VentureBeat.

Screenshots of Samsung Max for Android

Opera Max users will get an update that brings them over to the now-Samsung-owned version, while other users can get their hands on the Android app or check the Galaxy Apps store. Bad news though, it’ll only be available on Samsung phones rather than all Android devices as had previously been the case.

In addition, Samsung plans to preload the app on its devices in a number of emerging markets: Argentina, Brazil, Indonesia, Mexico, Nigeria, South Africa, Thailand and Vietnam. It’s unclear how much Samsung paid for the service, if anything at all, but you’d imagine it wasn’t a lot since it was destined for closure.

source:TechCrunch