14 DAY TRIAL // Samsung’s new digital assistant Bixby is one of the main selling points of the new flagship smartphone, the Galaxy S8. The virtual assistant will compete against others on the market, including Google Assistant and Apple’s Siri.
However, Samsung shared some bad news recently when company representatives revealed that Bixby wouldn’t be ready for the launch of the Galaxy S8 in the US. Samsung’s statement reads, “Key features of Bixby, including Vision, Home, and Reminder, will be available with the global launch of the Samsung Galaxy S8 on April 21. Bixby Voice will be available in the US on the Galaxy S8 later this spring.”
Therefore, Samsung won’t offer voice commands with Bixby at launch. The feature will come later this spring, which means that full-fledged Bixby will arrive before the start of June. Home, Vision and Reminder features will work globally, but the voice command won’t be available when the Galaxy S8 releases on April 21.
Bixby will arrive in Germany in Q4 this year
Bixby will be made available in English and Korean languages at first, while more languages will come soon afterward. Samsung will make the voice assistant available in Germany in the last quarter of this year, while the timeframe for other countries wasn’t revealed.
Bixby was one of the main highlights during the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ unveil, as Samsung stated that the virtual assistant would help users perform various tasks and find places nearby. The latest Samsung flagships also have a dedicated physical button for Bixby, located at the side and offering the option to summon the virtual assistant with a simple push.
The delayed launch of Bixby in the US isn’t encouraging, but it does mean that Samsung is being careful and wishes to make sure that the virtual assistant runs smoothly when it's released on one of the most important markets in the world.