Samsung Bixby Is Here, Know More About The Virtual Assistant That Competes With Siri
Samsung has just unveiled its virtual assistant called Bixby and it is expected to take on the likes of Apple's Siri, Google Assistant, and Microsoft Cortana. So what makes Bixby, the assistant from Samsung, different? Rather than a database with answers, Bixby helps people to complete tasks on the phone. It makes things easier to use Samsung's software and interface.
The assistant will be making its first appearance in the upcoming Samsung Galaxy S8, the flagship phone from the maker. The phone is scheduled for release on March 29, and it will come with a dedicated button for Bixby to launch. According to Samsung, the initial version of the assistant will only have limited capabilities and could be useful to manage pre-installed apps, but additions in the later months will make the assistant stronger and efficient. Initially, the assistant can only be activated with Korean and English, but U.S., Spanish and Chinese languages will be added soon after the launch.
While comparing the capabilities of Bixby, Dr. Injong Rhee, head of research and development of software services at Samsung says "logically different from other assistants." "Bixby is not something that is not for checking the weather or converting the units etc., but it can be helpful for sending a picture from your gallery to your mom without accessing the app or entering her phone number in the sending field," Rhee said while explaining the features of the assistant.
"Our assistant is an intelligent interface, other agents providing answers focused on fact-based, knowledgeable, glorified extensions to search. Bixby would help the users to switch between the touch interface and voice command seamlessly," Rhee continued. Though the initial perceptions about the assistant are not very good, it can be considered that over the years of development, it can grow as a mature platform. Apple's Siri, Google Assistant, or Amazon Alexa, were not much of a help in their initial days, but further expansions have made all of them very useful.
