If you’re not familiar with Bixby, I don’t blame you. The Samsung assistant was released two months ago with the Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus. While users were excited about this Google Assistant-like feature, they were ultimately disappointed by the limited rollout of only some of Bixby’s features. Now, Samsung is hopeful to perfect Bixby using you.
Bixby was disappointing in that it didn’t really add anything to the features already in place on Android. In fact, some could argue that Bixby is just a crappy attempt at duplicating Google Assistant, something the Galaxy S8 already has. Not only that, but it just didn’t measure up to the plethora of abilities that competitors like Siri and Alexa have. They promised to “revolutionize phone interfaces”, but didn’t do much to set them apart.
Today, Samsung has announced that they are planning on having an assistant preview for S8 and S8 owners to enroll and test the new version of Bixby, before anyone. The company promises on their website that new voice features are coming including being able to send texts, change settings, and make a call by holding down the “Bixby button”.
What is interesting about the Bixby already in place is that it has “Bixby Vision”. Though it had its issues, Bixby Vision does have a nice, if underdeveloped, augmented reality feature that lets you scan your items with your camera for more information, much like AR features that Google and Apple have been working on.
Not much is known about when exactly this will take place. The company’s website said nothing except that it would launch “in the near future”. It likely will take some time, however, considering how ambitious Samsung is aiming to be with this feature. At the S8 launch, Samsung said that their goal was to build a voice interface that would let you control everything, as easily as swiping your finger across the screen would.
Samsung is planning on taking a limited number of people for these tests, so if you’re looking to get in on this offer, you should probably give it a shot ASAP. To sign up, simply click here, read through the Terms and Conditions, confirm that you have a Galaxy S8 or S8+, and give your email address. Do all the Samsung users out there a favor, test this new feature and figure out if Samsung is finally getting their assistant technology right.
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