In a few days, Samsung will start shipping the Galaxy S9 to those who pre-ordered the device, and in the meantime, the company is trying to promote the device in major markets around the world.
In Korea, for example, the company launched the so-called Galaxy S9 promotion studios that allow visitors to try out the device before it ships, and as it turns out, this approach was extremely successful after opening its doors to fans.
Samsung says these promotional studios can be used to test the new animated emoji feature that comes exclusively to the Galaxy S9, and the company claims that at least 1.6 million visitors have tried the feature since its unveiling in Spain.[su_heading]Read more: iPhone X vs. Samsung Galaxy S9: What the comparison tests reveal[/su_heading]
On the other hand, it's hard to guess how many of these visitors were impressed with AR Emoji and committed to buying the Galaxy S9 just because of this feature.
The similarity of AR Emoji to Apple's Animoji has led critics to accuse Samsung of copying its longtime rival, although the South Korean company says its own animated emoji feature has been in development for a long time. So the only thing that's true is that Apple brought the iPhone X feature to market before Samsung, but it didn't copy-paste it here.
“Their approach and my approach are completely different,” Samsung’s mobile chief DJ Koh said recently. “I work on my own plan.”
The Samsung Galaxy S9 will officially be available for purchase worldwide on March 16 in major markets, but those who pre-ordered the model will receive it a few days later. The device comes with significant camera upgrades and a revamped fingerprint reader, all of which are now placed in a vertical arrangement on the back of the phone.
Facial recognition is also offered, although in this case Samsung doesn't use an approach as sophisticated as Apple and therefore isn't advertised as the primary authentication method.
