Bixby, the name of the artificial intelligence-powered digital voice assistant that Samsung will be incorporating into the upcoming Galaxy S8, has been the subject of various rumors ever since it was first reported.
An exclusive report by SamMobile sheds more light into how Samsung is planning to use Bixby in the Galaxy S8, after the company's acquisition of AI startup Viv Labs in October.
Bixby In All Galaxy S8 Native Apps
Samsung will be using Bixby, powered by Viv's AI, in almost all the native apps of the Galaxy S8 that come pre-installed in the upcoming flagship smartphone, according to SamMobile. Bixby is said to be a very advanced digital assistant compared with the previously used S Voice technology, and it will be working throughout the entire system of the Galaxy S8.
One of the examples given on how Bixby will work in the Galaxy S8 is that the digital assistant can be used within the smartphone's Gallery app to request to search for pictures and videos that would meet certain criteria. Bixby, like Google Assistant and Apple's Siri, will be able to answer questions and perform tasks based on context.
With Bixby to run throughout the entire Galaxy S8 system, Samsung will be changing the user interface of the company's first-party apps in the smartphone into a design that gives them a more unified look, the report added.
How Will Google React To Bixby?
Samsung will be replacing S Voice with Bixby, with the new digital assistant to offer much more than what the previous technology is capable of doing. What Bixby can do are not exactly groundbreaking features, as most of them can also be performed through Google Assistant and Apple's Siri, but the big question is how Google will react to Samsung's introduction of Bixby to the Galaxy S8.
Google is heavily pushing for users to begin utilizing Google Assistant, so there will certainly be a clash within the Android-powered Galaxy S8 on which digital assistant should take center stage. Samsung is the biggest Android hardware partner for Google, but will Google strain that relationship by forcing Google Assistant over Bixby?
The problem is that Google legally could. As previously reported, in a patent-sharing agreement signed between Google and Samsung in 2014, there was a non-compete provision that prevents Samsung from releasing services in its smartphones that will compete with Google's offerings.
How the brewing conflict between Bixby and Google Assistant in the Galaxy S8 will be resolved remains to be seen, though we will know more about it once the rumored release date of April 2017 comes.
