Bixby- the new Voice Assistant to watch out for!

Samsung has slowly evolved as a leading patron in the android realm. For a layman, who does not understand the nuances of technicalities, Samsung is the brand equivalent of Apple for its user friendly operating system. Samsung outdoes itself with every flagship phone that it releases. Although, one odd time- the innovations can go wrong, they succeed in offering something new to the patrons almost every time. As compared to its biggest competitors, Samsung thoroughly concentrates on innovating specifications and does not stick only to tweaks in the design. Read on to know what Samsung has in store for its customers next:

S-Voice to Bixby- Samsung’s evolved voice assistant

Samsung comes with S-Voice currently, but it falls flat in front of the other available options to say the least. Bixby is Samsung’s new digital voice assistant and is going to debut with the much awaited Galaxy 8. One of the coolest things about Bixby is that it is going to have a button dedicated to it. The home button has too much pressure on it to perform with a lot of functions dependant, but with this button- it becomes like your own personalized walkie-talkie.

Samsung has built Bixby on the belief and trend that Digital Assistant is going to be the next big thing. Joining the bandwagon of Apple’s Siri, Amazon’s Alexa, Microsoft’s Cortana and Google Assistant as well- Bixby is just going to be a tip of the ice-berg in terms of the services Samsung will unleash for tech enthusiasts.

What does it have in store?

Bixby is going to stand out for a lot of reasons. Instead of just telling you to find a topic online, it will help you become the true master of your phone without any effort. For instance, you can say- ‘Find a picture of the Eiffel Tower to message Harry’ and Bixby will do just that. Samsung is going to amalgamate the best of touch and integrate voice in its interface. As per Injong Rhee, the head of R and D for mobile software and services at Samsung, the voice can control just about anything that a touch can.

On March 29^th, 2017- Samsung will unveil S8 and its digital assistant in New York. Initially available in English and Korean, the Chinese and Spanish version will be kept under the wraps for a while. In the beginning, Bixby will have to face a lot of challenges because of its limited functionality. For instance, you can access the ‘Bixby home’ which comes with cards that are built on suggestions. If you want to call your son at 5:00 pm every day, the phone will suggest just that before you even access the phone function.

At the moment, apart from the ten integrated Apps, the next thing to look forward to is the ‘Bixby Vision’. It is built more or less on the principal of Google Goggles, but goes a step further. It does not only recognize the images, text or products; but in the US also takes you to the Amazon page if you wish to purchase it.

Rhee also suggested that Bixby might just be the next big innovation of Samsung in terms of it being included in almost all of the premium products made by the company including TVs and Fridges.

How did it come into existence?

About a year and a half ago, Bixby was conceptualized and Samsung brought AI Viv Labs and Joyent to make the product work much better. The aim was to start with technologies created at Samsung in-house, but will eventually adopt a lot of other technologies to make its spine stronger. At the moment, they have integrated Viv’s functionality which will roll out in the advanced versions of Bixby!

What does it have to stand against?

Bixby still has to combat the popularity that Siri’s wit has gained, or Alexa’s efficiency has garnered. But, it does not aim at being in this league- it aims to be better! After a debacle like S-Voice which looked more like a recording app than an assistant, Samsung really has to up its game with this one.

Samsung is taking AI (Artificial Intelligence) a step higher with Bixby. To set foot in the market and to stand out, it has one factor very strongly supporting it. The Speech recognition experience promised is going to be like no other assistant. Rhee has hinted at making Bixby so efficient, that the need for touch and swipe will completely become redundant in the coming versions.

The best part is that Samsung has such a large consumer base, that if Bixby does catch on- it will spread like wildfire. But, the integration with Android is what might hurt its progress. Google Assistant has established itself as the go-to helper for those enthused by tech. Bixby will have to pit against that because S8 will come only with Nougat. Apart from this, it is starting on an extremely low-key with only ten integrated apps. Third party developers will take quite a lot of time to come up with versions compatible with Bixby. Tech enthusiasts are going slow with the research process though, will Bixby be the next crazy trend in the market or would it die down due to people’s inhibitions about using voice assistants in public spaces? Let’s wait and watch!