Samsung's Bixby, which is the voice-assistant powered by Artificial Intelligence (AI), is now getting voice support for English users in the United States. Samsung has itself confirmed the same in a global press release. Till now the voice support feature of Bixby was limited to Korean, and for US users it was available on a trial basis to those who had pre-registered for the same. Samsung Bixby is the company's new voice-assistant, and it is currently available only on the Galaxy S8, S8+. It will likely be launched with the upcoming Galaxy Note 8 smartphone as well, and this phone is expected to launch on August 23 in New York. Samsung's press statement says Bixby's new feature will let users switch between "voice commands, touch, vision and text." Bixby is already part of the Galaxy S8, S8+ camera and can identify objects. For example, it can look up book titles, etc, and can direct users to a shopping website for the same. So what will this voice capability mean for Samsung Galaxy S8, S8+ users? Samsung says with voice command users can "ask Bixby to complete simple tasks" on the phone. For example, turn on the flash light, take a selfie, they can even get Bixby to remind them to pick up groceries, find photos from a vacation in a specific location, etc. Do note that Google Assistant also offers similar capabilities like setting up an alarm or reminder for task, finding photos from Google Photos app, etc. Samsung will also provide "native and third-party app" support, though of course the list of apps supported will be limited and includes those players that have opted for integration with Bixby. Essentially Bixby can sync with integrated apps, including the native messaging app on the phone, and a user can rely voice command to carry out actions. For example use Bixby to type out a text message via voice. Samsung Galaxy S8, S8+ come with a dedicated Bixby button, and users can activate the voice feature by pressing on this. Or just say “Hi Bixby,” on the phone. Samsung stresses Bixby can understand natural language, so it should have no problem understanding regular sentences, and there are no pre-fixed commands for the same. Like with most voice assistants, Bixby can improve with regular usage. Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8+ users in the US will have to update the Bixby application and get the voice feature. Samsung has not yet announced when Bixby's voice capabilities will be expanded to other countries and languages across the world. Samsung views Bixby as not being limited to just smartphones, and could expand this to its consumer electronics as well, including smart television sets, smart fridges, etc.
