Samsung 'Uhssup' Social Media Service Will Be Announced Alongside Galaxy S9

Samsung will announce the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ on Feb. 25, Sunday. The South Korean phone maker will also reportedly unveil its new social network “Uhssup” alongside its brand new flagship phones.

Late last month, it was discovered that Samsung trademarked a social media service called “Uhssup.” Not much is known about it at the time, but its description did say that it will allow users to share their location to friends and other contacts. “Uhssup” will apparently be pre-installed on the Samsung Galaxy S9, according to the Korean website HeraldCorp.

Not only will “Uhssup” let users share their real-time locations, but it will also allow them to post comments on other people’s locations. The geolocation features has been compared to how users are able to tag their locations in Facebook and Instagram posts. The app will also function as an instant messaging service and may come with the same messaging features that are found on Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp, according to Android Authority.

Samsung may have trademarked “Uhssup” with the European Union Intellectual Property Office, but it may be called under different names depending on regions. HeraldCorp reports that Samsung registered both “Uhssup” and “Samsung Social” in South Korea.

“Uhssup” is seen as Samsung's next step in expanding its own software ecosystem, which is currently only populated by the payment service Samsung Pay, cloud storage service Samsung Cloud and the login service Samsung Pass. “Uhssup” will also be Samsung’s attempt at competing with other social media platforms like Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram.

The move is also pretty similar to how the company tried to compete with other digital voice assistants when it introduced Bixby last year. Bixby hasn’t been received well and usage appears to be nonexistent, while Google Assistant, Amazon Alexa and Apple’s Siri have all been progressing steadily.

Samsung hasn’t revealed why it's launching its own social network. As pointed out by SamMobile, even Google has been struggling to come up with its own successful social network despite already having a wide range of popular software experiences. “Uhssup” is at risk of ending up like ChatOn, Samsung’s own messaging service which was discontinued in 2015 just after four years.

Samsung “Uhssup” will make its first public appearance on Feb. 25 during the Galaxy S9 unveiling and the social network will launch on March 16. It’s also rumored that Samsung will begin shipping the Galaxy S9 and S9+ on March 16.