Samsung earlier this year acquired Viv, an artificial intelligence assistant from the makers of Siri. The Galaxy S8 is expected to be the first mobile device to ship with Viv features preloaded, and a new report says that’s indeed going to be the case, even if Google might not like it.
According to SamMobile’s insiders, Samsung will use Bixby, which is what Viv’s assistant will be called, in almost all the native apps that would be preinstalled on the Galaxy S8. The apps will feature a new UI so that they all have a similar design. The status bar will always be visible when Bixby is in use so that users will have access to notifications and quick settings.
The Bixby assistant will likely replace S Voice, offering more advanced features, comparable to what’s already available on other mobile platforms.
Bixby will be able to provide answers and actions based on the context, just like Siri on the iPhone and Google Assistant on the Google Pixel and Google Home.
It’s unclear at this time how Google will react to Bixby given that it competes directly against a new core search feature for Android. Google Assistant is available on the Google Pixel for the time being, but Google will probably want to see it on more Android devices in the future.
There’s plenty of time to find out more details about Samsung’s Bixby. The Galaxy S8’s launch may have been pushed back all the way to April 2017 a report said a few days ago, or some two months later than its anticipated February announcement.
