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Samsung's AR Emoji will soon be a little more realistic
Samsung's unsettling AR Emoji were the standout feature during the Galaxy S9's reveal last year, and now it's giving them an update. The company promises more granular adjustments for facial features like smiles, noses, ears, eyes and cheeks are en route. "This means that, for instance, when a child creates an AR Emoji, they'll be able to adjust the shape of their face so that it more closely mirrors their own," Samsung claims. Maybe Elastigirl will look more natural, too.
TouchPal built an AI for its alternative Android keyboard
Over the years, TouchPal has remained one of the most popular Android keyboards with its generous bundle of features, including gesture typing, neural network-powered prediction, multilingual support, GIF search, themes and more; though some of these have also become standard on other keyboards, such as Google's very own Gboard. As an attempt to stay on top of the game, the company has finally pushed its new TouchPal Keyboard Pro out of beta to debut "Talia," its AI personal assistant. Talia is designed in such a way that it delivers quick suggestions in a bubble as you type, but also in a way that doesn't overburden you. These include simple offerings like one-tap paste aka "Swift Paste," very basic calculations (with no more than two numbers for convenience's sake) and currency conversion, as well as something a little more advanced like smart replies, GIF predictions, weather forecast and dining recommendations -- part of this relies on Yelp, so availability depends on your region.
Samsung could use AR Emoji as stand-ins during video chats
Samsung's AR Emoji may be useful for considerably more than the occasional funny reaction GIF. The tech giant recently received a US patent for a "hybrid visual communication" system that would replace live video of a person with an augmented reality 3D model (basically, AR Emoji) that reflects their facial expressions in real time. This virtual self would stand-in for you during video chats when your connection is flaky, so you could hold a call without the stops and stutters that come with low bandwidth. We'd add that it could be helpful for those moments when you're less-than-presentable but still want to talk face to face. Just got out of bed? You won't look quite so groggy.
Mickey and Minnie AR Emoji arrive in time for Galaxy S9 launch
If you think the Galaxy S9's personalized AR emoji creations are creepy, well, you're right. But as teased by Samsung at its launch event in MWC a few weeks ago, some familiar Disney faces are joining the robo-avatar party. Both Mickey and Minnie will be available starting today -- coincidentally, the day that the S9 and S9 plus go on sale. It's just the start of Disney's AR emoji series. Samsung says more will come throughout the year and will include The Incredibles cast and (yes!) Frozen. Ugh, just as long as it's not Olaf.
Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9 Plus review: Excellent, not monumental
When my mom asked if she should upgrade from her Galaxy S8 to an S9, I struggled to find an answer. After spending about ten days with Samsung's latest flagship, I'm still torn. Besides the fact that I'd rarely recommend people upgrade from a year-old phone in general, this generation of the S series also lacks any thrilling new features. I'm not going to fault Samsung for that, though. It's basically impossible to dream up revolutionary new technology every year. And sometimes it's the small improvements that count. But with the Galaxy S9 and S9+, none of the new additions are must-haves. That's not to say these are underwhelming devices -- the Galaxy S flagships are still among the best Android phones around.
Watch Samsung's Galaxy S9 launch in under 11 minutes!
And just like that, Samsung's Galaxy S9 has arrived. Today, at MWC 2018, the company introduced its new flagship handset with the slogan "The camera. Reimagined." While the bulk of improvements to the Galaxy S9, over the S8, are imaging-focused, there are also new features like AR Emojis -- Samsung's answer to Apple's Animojis. You can watch a recap of the Unpacked 2018 event here, where you'll also learn more about the updated DeX desktop experience, which now uses the S9 as a trackpad.
