Samsung could be unveiling the next-generation version of its Bixby digital assistant sooner than we thought.
Earlier this year, Samsung debuted its own voice-controlled digital assistant alongside the Samsung Galaxy S8. Called Bixby, this assistant was designed to go up against key rivals like Apple’s Siri, Amazon’s Alexa, Microsoft’s Cortana, and the Google Assistant on Android. But the global rollout of the software has been slow and staggered, so few users will have actually taken advantage of it.
Nonetheless, it appears Samsung is already gearing up to launch a new version of its relatively green assistant as soon as next week.
A new report from the Korea Herald – based on Samsung’s home turf of South Korea – suggests that the company hopes to make an announcement on October 18. This supposed Bixby 2.0 reveal will reportedly take place at the company’s annual Developer Conference in San Francisco on that day.
It’s not a huge surprise; Samsung recently appointed a new executive to lead development of the Bixby voice assistant to improve performance. It’s believed that Samsung is unhappy with reception to the assistant software, given how well-received rivals like Alexa have been.
According to reports, Samsung is hoping to “supplement the incomplete parts of Bixby 1.0” with Bixby 2.0. It’s believed that absent features were the result of a time shortage.
Unfortunately, Samsung hasn’t officially confirmed that Bixby 2.0 is coming at the Samsung Developer Conference next week, so take this report with due caution for now.
Related: Samsung Galaxy S9
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
