April 20, 2024

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[THE INVESTOR] BARCELONA, Spain -- The latest flagship smartphone models of Samsung Electronics, Galaxy S9 and S9+, feature top-notch camera capabilities, a top executive told The Korea Herald -- The Investor’s sister news outlet -- on Feb. 25 at the Mobile World Congress that is underway in Barcelona, Spain.

“I would definitely put the camera first among other (features),” said Koh Dong-jin, head of Samsung Electronics’ smartphone business, on the sidelines of the world‘s largest mobile industry trade show that draws more than 100,000 visitors, exhibitors and media.

In an exclusive interview after the Unpacked event, to unveil the forthcoming models -- a day ahead of the trade show’s opening -- he also highlighted the stereo sound and preloaded SmartThings platform on the models. 

Samsung Electronics' mobile chief Koh Dong-jin (center) at MWC 2018.

To improve visual communication, Samsung has enhanced camera functions with a dual pixel image sensor and dual aperture, while adopting a dual speaker tuned by AKG to add a richer sound.

The cameras on the two new models are intended to offer fun, entertaining and informative features, such as Super Slow-motion, augmented reality emoji creation and Bixby Vision for live translation of images.

At the MWC this year, Samsung was the only tech firm to unveil a new flagship phone. Other exhibitors, including LG Electronics, Huawei, Sony, Oppo and Vivo, did not showcase any new models.

Around 5,000 journalists, tech lovers and industry officials flocked to Fira Barcelona Montjuïc for the debut of Galaxy S9 and S9+ smartphones, and Samsung undoubtedly stole the show.

There were long queues in front of the convention center two hours ahead of the Unpacked event.

Lilac purple lights illuminated the main hall of the convention center before the show began, representing the signature color of the newest Galaxy S9 and S9+ phones.

Koh introduced the latest editions of the Galaxy S series at the center of the stage that was surrounded by four giant screens hanging from the ceiling.

“Today, the most important function of a phone is visual communication by taking photos, sending images and sharing videos, which is a shift in self-expression,” he said. “The Galaxy S9 has a breakthrough camera that sees the world clearly in any light.”

On the huge screens, the audience was able to see how to create the augmented reality emojis, make Super Slow-mo video clips and translate a menu in Spanish into English with the Galaxy S9 smartphone. The delighted paticipants also cheered and gave a resounding round of applause to Jonathan Wong, director of product marketing, who took a selfie and created AR emojis onstage.

It’s not technology companies that change the world, but users, Koh said.

“The Galaxy S9 and S9+ are packed with powerful software and services to help you manage your connected life,” he underlined.

The Samsung cheif also stressed the Galaxy S9 is at a crucial point of entering the realm of Internet of Things.

“The fact that we preloaded SmartThings means that we are now really starting to incorporate IoT, to make it happen,” Koh said. “It’s a big start that we are connecting our smartphones with TVs, refrigerators and all our other.”

By Song Su-hyun/The Korea Herald (song@heraldcorp.com)

There are slight variations to The Korea Herald articles appearing on The Investor. - Ed.