Samsung’s upcoming Galaxy S8 and S8+ feature a new kind of AI assistant known as Bixby. The software allows users to operate their smartphone with just their voice, with the company setting a goal for the future so whatever a user may wanna touch, they can talk to instead. It’s a pretty big commitment Samsung is placing on their laps (especially since there’s a dedicated hardware button on the S8 to activate Bixby), so it’ll be interesting to see how the bot grows over time.
However, one thing’s for certain: Bixby will be limited at launch. It’ll take time for Samsung to program Bixby to allow users to control their smartphones with their voice like they would with their fingers, but that’s not even the half of it. Samsung also won’t be including much app integration of their own at launch. Roughly 12 of Samsung’s apps will be officially supported, but that’s about it. However, as spotted by MobileSyrup, it looks like some third-party developers have already built Bixby integration into their apps and will support the technology come April 21st.
What are those apps, you may ask? As leaked in a Samsung Canada press briefing, the list includes Facebook, CNN, YouTube, Uber, Twitter, LinkedIn and Foursquare. This is a fair amount to start with, but it might not be enough to lure users in from day one. Nevertheless, I can totally see myself telling Bixby to send a tweet or post a status update, so I won’t hate too much. I just wish there were, say, another 8 or so third-party apps launching with Bixby integration on April 21st as well.
For reference, the Samsung apps that’ll launch with Bixby integration on the S8 and S8+ include Samsung Health, Samsung Themes, Samsung Internet, Alarm, Gallery, Reminder, Camera, Contacts, Calendar, Message, Email, and Weather.
- SOURCE: MobileSyrup
- VIA: International Business Times
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