Samsung’s voice assistant Bixby could be delayed due to performance issues

With the announcement of its latest flagship duo, the Galaxy S8 and S8+, Samsung also revealed its very own voice assistant ‘Bixby‘. The new AI assistant was touted to work just like Google Assistant. It’s supposed to recommend context-aware information in the form of cards, allow voice control of apps and even allow for control of various smart Samsung devices.

At the time of its announcement, it was said that Bixby will only be available in English and Korean languages, but now there is a report that suggests that the AI assistant is not ready for the former language.

The new flagships are expected to go on sale this month in a variety of markets globally, but it might be missing the new voice assistant. According to The Wall Street Journal, Samsung will not launch the Galaxy S8 and S8+ with Bixby due to certain performance issues discovered in the past few weeks. While the English-language version of Bixby is expected to be delayed until the end of May, a Samsung spokesperson has confirmed that it won’t be available until spring in the US.

Apparently, the performance of the English version of Bixby lagged behind that of the Korean version. Company executives are said to be discussing as to when exactly they want to launch the English version.

This could be a big setback for Samsung as the S8 series has received a good initial response thanks to its amazing design. Then again, if, as we suspect, Bixby won’t be such a big deal, it shouldn’t matter that the S8’s flagship feature is missing.

Publish date: April 12, 2017 11:33 am| Modified date: April 12, 2017 11:33 am

Samsung to launch AI assistant service for Galaxy S8

  06 Nov 2016 , 10:34

Samsung Electronics Co Ltd said on Sunday it would launch an artificial intelligence digital assistant service for its upcoming Galaxy S8 smartphone, seeking to rebound from the Galaxy Note 7’s collapse and differentiate its devices.

The world’s top smartphone maker in October announced the acquisition of Viv Labs Inc, a firm run by a co-creator of Apple Inc’s Siri voice assistant programme. Samsung plans to integrate the San Jose-based company’s AI platform, called Viv, into the Galaxy smartphones and expand voice-assistant services to home appliances and wearable technology devices.

Samsung is counting on the Galaxy S8 to help revive smartphone momentum after the discontinuation of fire-prone Galaxy Note 7s, which will hit its profit by $5.4 billion over three quarters through the first quarter of 2017. Investors and analysts say the Galaxy S8 must be a strong device in order for Samsung to win back customers and revive earnings momentum.

Samsung did not comment on what types of services would be offered through the AI assistant that will be launched on the Galaxy S8, which is expected to go on sale early next year. It said the AI assistant would allow customers to use third-party service seamlessly.

“Developers can attach and upload services to our agent,” said Samsung Executive Vice President Rhee In-jong during a briefing, referring to its AI assistant.

“Even if Samsung doesn’t do anything on its own, the more services that get attached the smarter this agent will get, learn more new services and provide them to end-users with ease.”

Technology firms are locked in an increasingly heated race to make AI good enough to let consumers interact with their devices more naturally, especially via voice.

Alphabet Inc’s Google is widely considered to be the leader in AI, but others including Amazon.com, Apple and Microsoft Corp have launched their own offerings including voice-powered digital assistants.

Reuters