Samsung’s first Bixby-enabled speaker that’s expected to launch before the end of the year may be called Magbee, with the company already registering that particular trademark in a number of jurisdictions over the last eight months. The latest such IP was awarded to the European Union Intellectual Property Office and the United States Patent and Trademark Officer, with both regulators confirming Samsung’s commercial rights to the term on July 12. Last fall, the company secured the same trademark in its home country of South Korea and India, in addition to submitting similar filings to both the USPTO and EUIPO.
Samsung’s original documentation went into slightly more details than the newly discovered trademarks, with the full term it sought to protect being “SAMSUNG Magbee Magnetic beetle, a sleek wireless dial wheel.” The company even submitted a logo that can be seen below alongside the trademark, with the beetle association being somewhat in line with recent rumors about the design of its first Bixby-infused smart speaker. A number of insiders previously claimed the gadget in question will be shaped like a bell and possibly feature a display panel, allowing for everything from Internet browsing and video calls to home monitoring and watching YouTube. Given the timing of the publication of Samsung’s new trademarks, the company’s smart speaker may end up being announced by the end of summer, possibly at this year’s IFA.
The tech giant traditionally has a strong presence at the Berlin, Germany-based trade show and with the Galaxy Note 9 launching earlier than usual this year, the firm will be left without a new high-end handset to showcase at the event that’s running from August 31 to September 5. Besides a Bixby-supported smart speaker, Samsung‘s IFA 2018 conference may also see the announcement of the Galaxy Watch, Galaxy Tab S4 series of high-end Android tablets, and a new generation of the firm’s IconX wireless earbuds.