It was recently reported that the arrival of the English version of the Bixby AI was delayed in the U.S. because of insufficient language resources. However, the English Bixby has been officially released in the U.S. The rumor mill had predicted Samsung would be launching a smart speaker equipped with Bixby AI. Newer information suggests that Samsung is not working on such a device.
The beta version of Bixby was made available to the users in the U.S. in June. It was the found that beta testers did not enjoy using the Bixby assistant as it could not respond to questions and requests in English. Now that the English edition has finally arrived, Samsung seems to have resolved the major issues. So, the Bixby AI is available on the Galaxy S8 duo in the U.S. and South Korea. The Galaxy Note FE and Galaxy A7 (2017) are the two smartphones that support Bixby AI in South Korea even though these smartphones do not feature a dedicated launcher button for Bixby
To use Bixby in English, users need to update to the latest version of the software. And then, users can use the dedicated Bixby button to launch it. Users can say “Hi Bixby” to launch it. Bixby can learn and understand the preferences and behavior of the user. Switching between voice, touch and text commands is a seamless experience on Bixby and this is something that sets it apart from other digital assistants. It is well-integrated with core apps from Samsung, but its support for third-party apps is not that efficient. However, Bixby Labs is working on integrating Bixby with more apps.
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Earlier in this month, the Wall Street Journal had reported that Samsung is working on a Bixby enabled smart speaker and the device is codenamed as Vega. All the major brands like Amazon, Google, Apple and Microsoft have their smart speaker system and Samsung was also expected to join the bandwagon. The official stated by the South Korean company puts to rest all the rumors surrounding the Bixby powered smart speaker.
Here is the official statement from the company: “Samsung currently does not view Al speakers as marketable, as the global market is already dominated by unbeatable Amazon and the Korean market is too small to make profits.”
Speculations claimed that once the English version of Bixby is made official, Samsung may work on the smart speaker. It was expected to be equipped with Harman Kardon speaker and support other smart home products from Samsung.
