Samsung’s digital assistant Bixby will be updated with Spotify support later this year, according to an executive of the Seoul-based phone maker. Samsung Product Marketing Director Jonathan Wong took to stage earlier today during the Galaxy Note 8‘s official announcement to talk about numerous features of the company’s latest Android flagship and revealed Bixby’s incoming support for the popular music streaming service in the process of doing so. The news comes shortly after Samsung rolled out its artificial intelligence (AI) assistant to over 200 countries following numerous delays caused by technical issues which the tech giant encountered during its development.
Bixby’s Spotify integration will allow owners of the Galaxy S8, Galaxy S8 Plus, and the upcoming Galaxy Note 8 to play and discover music using the service through voice commands, being able to simply tell Bixby which song, album, playlist, or station they want to listen and having the digital assistant do the rest. The move is meant to expand the capabilities of Bixby that are still relatively limited compared to its alternatives, with Samsung recently pledging to improve the service in a significant manner in the near future. Bixby’s Spotify support will presumably also be available on other Galaxy-branded devices that are set to receive the AI companion in the coming months, with recent rumors indicating that Samsung is currently in the process of developing a rollout plan that would also encompass some of its mid-range and older flagship offerings.
Bixby itself is advertised as one of the main selling points of the newly announced Galaxy Note 8 which succeeded the physical button for activating the assistant from the Galaxy S8 lineup. Samsung’s previous statements on its AI endeavors suggested that the South Korean original equipment manufacturer is looking to position Bixby as the starting point of a new ecosystem which is meant to encompass a wide variety of Internet of Things (IoT) offerings and the company already made some moves on that front by rolling out the Internet-enabled companion to its Family Hub 2.0 refrigerators. The firm didn’t provide a specific availability window for Bixby’s Spotify support, though it may do so as early as next month, either at IFA 2017 or after the Galaxy Note 8 is released on September 15.