Last month, Samsung caused a slight stir with its acquisition of advanced AI platform Viv, sparking speculation that it could be introducing a new virtual assistant on the Galaxy S8.
Viv is an AI platform from the team behind Siri and has been developed to allow third parties to create in-depth assistants more powerful than other AIs currently on the market, with the ability to respond to complicated, layered questions.
And now, as SamMobile reports, it seems the name of Samsung’s AI built on the Viv platform has been revealed, via a trademark filing in South Korea.
Related: Galaxy S8 – Everything we know
The filing requests protection of the word “Bixby,” which will apparently be used for “computer software for personal information management” and “computer software for enabling hands-free use of a mobile phone through voice recognition.”
‘Bixby’ also refers to “computer application software for smartphones, mobile telephones, portable computers and tablet computers, Namely, software used to operate voice recognition system.”
Of course, there’s no guarantee the new AI assistant, if it is introduced on the Galaxy S8, will indeed be called ‘Bixby’, which we’re not sure is the best name Sammy could have come up with, anyway.
Trademarks are filed often and don’t necessarily provide proof of what’s to come, but it does seem like the timing is right for Samsung to get its AI branding in order.
The S8 is expected to launch in February at MWC 2017, along with a new design that could feature an edge-to-edge display.
For the time being we’ll have to make do with the rumours, then, but we wouldn’t be surprised if February also sees the introduction of ‘Bixby’.
WATCH: Galaxy S8
Let us know what you think of the word ‘Bixby’.
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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.
