Samsung has just announced that a new update is rolling out to its Bixby app, and that it brings along voice capabilities. Do keep in mind that all the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8 Plus units in the US will have access to Bixby voice once the update hits, and that is a feature that has been awaited since Samsung introduced the Galaxy S8 and the Galaxy S8 Plus. As most of you know by now, Bixby did come along with both devices, but its voice capabilities were not available in the US, well, Samsung did roll it out to beta testers, but that’s pretty much it.
Having said that, Bixby voice feature has been available in Korea for some time now, and Samsung actually said that quite a few people tested this feature in the US. According to Samsung, over 100,000 users signed up for the Samsung Bixby early access preview on the Galaxy S8 devices, which managed to surprise the company it seems and it definitely helped Samsung make Bixby voice stable and available. So, what will you get with this update? Well, Bixby will, essentially, become a full fledged virtual assistant, it will do its best to understand what you’re asking, and comply to your request, without the need to do it manually by tapping the display. Bixby can do a number of tasks, which you can tell it to do using your voice, such as turning on the flashlight, taking a screenshot, taking a selfie, and so on. Bixby is also fully integrated into Samsung’s native apps which come pre-installed on the Galaxy S8 and the Galaxy S8 Plus. The company also says that Bixby will be integrated into select third-party apps as well, which will make Bixby voice even more compelling, as it will allow you to control some new, non-Samsung apps, using your voice.
Now, Samsung also notes that Bixby is able to handle complex requests, it can, for example, group pictures from your latest vacation, and send them to your friends. If Bixby comes to a point where it does not fully understand what you said, it will complete a task to a certain point. There you have it, you can also check out the embedded videos down below, which will give you an even better idea of how Bixby voice functions.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=34-LYLuq-aI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NHEIU_kQuFI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bzZH-InAF_8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HSGRWYgGUd4