Samsung defends Galaxy S9's 'AR Emoji,' says feature doesn't copy iPhone X's Animoji

Posted:
in iPhone edited February 2018
"AR Emoji" -- a feature on the newly-announced Galaxy S9 -- has been in development for many years, and isn't a copy of the Animoji found on Apple's iPhone X, said Samsung mobile head D.J. Koh.




Koh himself explored 3D animations on flip phones as far back as 2001, according to a Wall Street Journal interview. The executive noted that work on AR Emoji took years in its own right.

"Their [Apple's] approach and my approach is totally different," he said. "I do work seriously based off my own roadmap."

In fact there are conspicuous differences with Animoji, above all that Samsung's technology generates models based on real faces, whereas Animoji are pre-existing characters such as a monkey or unicorn.

Development times mean that Koh is likely telling the truth. One possibility, though, is that Samsung decided to accelerate work once Apple announced the iPhone X in September.

Apple and Samsung regularly try to leapfrog each other in features. While Apple beat Samsung to motion-captured emoji for example, Samsung has had edge-to-edge OLED screens for years, and is in fact the exclusive supplier of OLED panels for the iPhone X.
Apple-Nokia
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 44
    Good joke ,Samsung.
    magman1979SpamSandwichsdw2001anantksundaramanton zuykovwatto_cobra
  • Reply 2 of 44
    tmaytmay Posts: 6,310member
    https://www.theverge.com/2018/2/26/17052754/samsung-galaxy-s9-ar-emoji-mwc-2018

    I agree that Samsung doesn't copy Apple's approach, but their alternative looks like ass in comparison.
    king editor the grateronnjbdragonwatto_cobra
  • Reply 3 of 44
    maestro64maestro64 Posts: 5,043member
    Samsung show the world your product road maps which show you have been working on this stuff for years. The fact they felt they needed to defend themselves tells more than anything else.
    airnerdmagman1979ericthehalfbeeberndogradarthekatronnanantksundaramwatto_cobra
  • Reply 4 of 44
    brucemcbrucemc Posts: 1,541member
    While the feature name is a bit awkward - at least it is better than "S-Animoji"...
    Solijony0watto_cobra
  • Reply 5 of 44
    No no, it's different.  It's not called animoji...so it's different!  Promise.
    SpamSandwichronnanantksundaramjony0watto_cobra
  • Reply 6 of 44
    So was Samsung’s version of Rose Gold. Years in development.
    magman1979radarthekatronnStrangeDaysanantksundaramjony0watto_cobracornchip
  • Reply 7 of 44
    tmay said:
    https://www.theverge.com/2018/2/26/17052754/samsung-galaxy-s9-ar-emoji-mwc-2018

    I agree that Samsung doesn't copy Apple's approach, but their alternative looks like ass in comparison.
    Horrifying and useless, not much else to say. I guess this is the new face of imitation.
    StrangeDaysanantksundaramwatto_cobra
  • Reply 8 of 44
    macxpressmacxpress Posts: 5,801member
    Sure, they didn't copy exactly but they cannot sit here and tell us they were already working on this before Apple. Therefore, they copied the idea. 
    magman1979radarthekatronnjbdragonwatto_cobra
  • Reply 9 of 44
    maestro64 said:
    Samsung show the world your product road maps which show you have been working on this stuff for years. The fact they felt they needed to defend themselves tells more than anything else.
    It’s just a coincidence. Their reputation as a “fast follower” is the result of years of coincidentally mimicking the iPhone.
    ronnjbdragon
  • Reply 10 of 44
    sflocalsflocal Posts: 6,092member
    Of course Samsung has been working on it for years.

    All calls to their R&D facilities in Cupertino to verify their story have not been returned.
    anantksundaramwatto_cobra
  • Reply 11 of 44
    Their take on AR emoji sucks. On the other hand, the variable aperture feature is revolutionary.
    I was dreaming of this for quite some time, debating whether or not it was possible, and when we'd get to see it. 
    Bravo, Samsung. 
    muthuk_vanalingamrevenant
  • Reply 12 of 44
    tzeshantzeshan Posts: 2,351member
    Yeah! I heard "AR Emoji" is different. The most notable difference is "AR Emoji" is not smooth. And the media that pumps Samsung said with a software update this can be corrected. Why don't the media say with a software update HomePod can leap-flop HomeMax or Alexa? 
    ronnwatto_cobraApple-Nokia
  • Reply 13 of 44
    Although creepy and disturbing, their emoji avatars are a bit better only insofar as the entire body is included. Apple needs to go further than the decapitated head look.
  • Reply 14 of 44
    maestro64maestro64 Posts: 5,043member
    I thought all the Android fan boys said Samsung will have 3D face recognition on this version of the phone, They said Samsung was working on the same tech as Apple for a long time and it was ready on the next phone. We only saw it from Huawei, so their 24/7 copy machine is turning out new features faster than Samsung. This why Samsung is loosing in China and can not out do Apple elsewhere.
    edited February 2018 watto_cobra
  • Reply 15 of 44
    I woke up to the news of new emojis hitting the market, even if this is a non-Apple developer, with so much excitement I almost peed my pants! What will they think of next?
    anantksundaram
  • Reply 16 of 44
    jungmarkjungmark Posts: 6,926member
    Convergence of emoji design, folks. Nothing to see. 

    In fairness, the results of Sammy's spying are on a one year delay. 
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 17 of 44
    dysamoriadysamoria Posts: 3,430member
    I mostly don't care if they're copying or not (though it's hilarious how this trend continues). This is still not development that contributes to better and more useful communications devices for all people.

    It's development that focuses on gimmickry and feature bullet-points, instead of stability and usability. The industry is competing via what product has the most gimmicks. The thinnest phone. The "funnest" texting. Etc.

    It feels like just an uninspired waste of resources when the rest of the product is poorly designed and buggy.

    I'm talking about both Samsung and Apple.
    muthuk_vanalingamtokyojimu
  • Reply 18 of 44
    tmaytmay Posts: 6,310member
    Their take on AR emoji sucks. On the other hand, the variable aperture feature is revolutionary.
    I was dreaming of this for quite some time, debating whether or not it was possible, and when we'd get to see it. 
    Bravo, Samsung. 
    Variable aperture is an innovative versus a revolutionary feature, as it is common in almost all other imaging systems.
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 19 of 44
    One of the S9's selling points is that it still has a headphone jack.  To me that means they are short of selling points for a new phone.  
    tmayronnwatto_cobraApple-Nokia
  • Reply 20 of 44
    radarthekatradarthekat Posts: 3,842moderator
    Sammy engineer:  I was using 3D animations back in 2001, but just didn’t think to release an AR-based emoji feature, or any AR features, until March 2018, coincidentally with the very next Galaxy model to ship after Apple released AR capabilities in the iPhone.  Pure coincidence that after 17 years of having this dream that this is when we decided it was ready.

    Oh, and that lag as you use it, which suggests it’s not ready and was likely rushed to market?  Just ignore that, it doesn’t imply what common sense suggests.  
    edited February 2018 ronntmayanantksundaramSpamSandwichwatto_cobracornchip
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