Samsung's Galaxy S9 expected to copy iPhone X's animoji with '3D emoji' feature
Roger FingasRenders of the S9 and S9+ supplied by Evan Blass.
Looking to keep up with Apple's iPhone X, Samsung is planning to add an animoji-like "3D emoji" feature to the Galaxy S9 premiering later this month, according to a Korean report.
It's not yet clear what Samsung will actually name the technology, ETNews said this week. The publication did claim that Samsung's software will be "more advanced" than Apple's, though it didn't elaborate on those improvements.
Samsung is preparing to announce the S9 at a Feb. 25 press event. Much is riding on the phone as the company's next flagship.
One of the phone's other new features should be "Intelligent Scan," presumably using the same systems behind 3D emoji to take on Apple's Face ID. Samsung phones have long had facial recognition, but Face ID's reliance on 3D sensing is thought to make it more reliable.
While Samsung is often accused of imitating Apple — the latter of course once launched multiple lawsuits — the two companies regularly leapfrog each other in features. Samsung, for example, has had OLED edge-to-edge displays for years, going as far back as 2014's Galaxy Note Edge.
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