Samsung’s voice-controlled digital assistant Bixby is being rolled out in 200 countries from today.<\/p>\n
It is Samsung’s equivalent of Apple’s Siri and Google’s Assistant – which is pre-installed already in Samsung phones as they run the Android operating system.<\/p>\n
Bixby will initially be available in only two languages – US English and South Korean.<\/p>\n
The launch had been delayed since April.<\/p>\n
Samsung did not give a reason at the time but early testers of a limited demo model – including the BBC – had reported that it failed to understand commands.<\/p>\n
The firm’s latest device, the Galaxy Note 8, is due to be launched on 23 August.<\/p>\n
What makes Bixby different from other voice assistants is that it is deeply integrated with functionalities unique to Samsung devices, said Ian Fogg, analyst at IHS Markit.<\/p>\n
“Samsung always differentiates its phones by adding a lot of its own features to Android,” he said.<\/p>\n
These include tailored support for its own hardware such as the curved edge screen, stylus, VR support and camera.<\/p>\n
Mr Fogg added that over time Bixby could also be included in other Samsung products which do not run on the Android operating system.<\/p>\n
“A lot of people believe one voice agent will become the sole agent everyone will use,” he said of the rivalry among the tech giants over digital assistants.<\/p>\n
“But in life we don’t have one single expert that we trust for everything. It might be they are good at different things.<\/p>\n
“For the user it’s just as easy to say Alexa, or Cortana, or Siri – there is no barrier to choosing an alternative voice agent.”<\/p>\n
However, he added that the technology will only be successful if it is dependable.<\/p>\n
“To make it work you have to be able to understand speech reliably. If you don’t do that nothing else happens. That should be a given”.<\/p>\n
–<\/p>\n
Source: BBC<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Samsung’s voice-controlled digital assistant Bixby is being rolled out in 200 countries from today. It is Samsung’s equivalent of Apple’s Siri and Google’s Assistant – which is pre-installed already in Samsung phones as they run the Android operating system. Bixby will initially be available in only two languages – US English and South Korean. The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[106],"tags":[10417,3,205],"yoast_head":"\n