Samsung launches Galaxy S9 with special social media focus

Samsung Electronics Co Ltd (005930.KS) unveiled its flagship Galaxy S9 smartphone on Sunday with an emphasis on visual applications for social media, hoping to attract tech savvy young consumers to weather a market slowdown, Reuters reported.

With the global smartphone market set to stay flat or even shrink after meagre growth of one percent last year, vendors are focusing on features designed to encourage consumers to ditch their old phones earlier than they would have previously, according to Reuters.

Samsung launched the S9 at the mobile gadget fair in Barcelona, attracting thousands of reporters to see how the world’s biggest smartphone maker could innovate in a category in which the big players are technologically closer than ever, Reuters added.

It features improved cameras, an artificial intelligence-powered voice tool, and social media functions that are easier to deploy than previous offerings, Reuters indicated.

New features include an automatic super-slow motion camera setting that looks primed to show up on Instagram feeds soon, and software that turns selfies into instant emojis, according to Reuters.