There’s something about smart speakers that seem to throw the world’s most dominant smartphone makers off their game a little bit.
After Apple’s well-publicised HomePod delays, it seems Samsung is having similar struggles getting its Bixby-powered Galaxy Home speaker ready for prime time.
The attractive speaker was announced all the way back in August 2018 alongside the Galaxy Note 9, with Samsung eventually telling the media of plans to get the Galaxy Home on sale in the first six months of 2019.
Not that there was much time left for this to happen anyway, but Samsung has now confirmed the inevitable; the release isn’t coming until the second half of the year.
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Samsung CEO Hyun-suk Kim told the Korea Herald (via Engadget) the Galaxy Home is “planned to be launched in mid-second half of the year.” So that’ll probably be the somewhere close to the Galaxy Note 10 launch thought to be taking place in August or September.
Kim reaffirmed Samsung’s commitment to the device, claiming it was at the centre of “the center of Samsung’s home appliances,” strategy, so we probably shouldn’t be too worried about the future of the device.
Samsung didn’t say what is causing the delay, but it’s likely down to the company’s desire to improve Bixby and have a number of third-party app integrations ready for when the Galaxy Home goes on sale.
The table top speaker, which unlike others in the market will have legs, will also feature integration with Spotify. Samsung called Spotify its “go-to music partner for its multi-device ecosystem,” and promised this was a long-term commitment from both parties. It’ll be really interesting to see how this plays out when the Galaxy Home goes on sale.
As well as the lack of a release date, Samsung is yet to reveal a price for the Galaxy Home speaker, but it’s likely to be closer to the HomePod than the Amazon Echos of the world. It’s also rumoured the company is plotting a Mini version that could be a little friendlier to the wallet.
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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.
