While Bixby has been a bit slow out of the gates compared to its rivals Alexa, Siri and Google Assistant, Samsung certainly has the resources and the incentive to make it a contender. With that in mind, it has just got a little bit more localised in the UK with the news that it now supports British English in the latest beta.
Previously, Bixby only supported Korean and American English, but the beta boldly expands that. In fact, adding Britishisms to Bixby’s database is a relatively straightforward undertaking, compared to the other changes: the AI will now also speak German, Spanish, French and Italian.
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This upgrade is confined to Galaxy Note 9 users for now – presumably to keep the number of beta testers limited – but Samsung says the update will be rolling out to other devices “in the coming months.”
“Bixby will now understand UK English language and will be able to respond to conversational British questions the same way you’d talk to a friend, just speak naturally and Bixby delivers,” Samsung says. “Bixby adapts more to you—it learns your routines, your most-used apps and previous requests, so you can do more, faster. And Bixby’s universe of apps is constantly expanding, so there’s always something new to discover.”
You can activate the virtual assistant with a cheery “Hi Bixby”, and then follow up with whatever question occurs to you. Samsung suggests asking what song is playing, or to look for flights under £100.
Related: Samsung Galaxy Note 9 review
While Samsung had enough faith in Bixby to devote a dedicated button to the virtual assistant from the Galaxy S8 onwards, progress has been a little on the slow side. Still, Samsung still has big plans in the smart home space – most notably in the form of an upcoming smart speaker – so anything that helps Bixby understand a broader range of people is certainly welcome.
Do you use Bixby? Let us know if this update will affect you on Twitter: @TrustedReviews
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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.