14 DAY TRIAL // Since Samsung acquired the virtual assistant VIV, everyone expects the South Korean company to include some sort of personal digital assistant inside its upcoming Galaxy S8 flagship smartphone.
Unfortunately, there's no telling whether or not Samsung will want to do that or if Google will allow that to happen. As many of you probably know, Google introduced an enhanced version of its Google Now digital assistant with the launch of the Pixel and Pixel XL smartphones.
The so-called Google Assistant could be integrated into all devices powered by Android 7.1.1 Nougat, even though the search giant hasn't yet confirmed the move.
If Google Assistant is included by default in Android 7.1.1 Nougat, then the Galaxy S8 will surely come with Google's personal digital assistant on board, but that would go against Samsung's plans to launch its own digital assistant, VIV.
Even though Samsung hasn't announced anything related to the VIV digital assistant, rumor has it Google has already asked the South Korean company to avoid including its own digital assistant in the Galaxy S8 and provide consumers with just one such app, Google Assistant.
This isn't the first time Google and Samsung don't agree on something related to the Android ecosystem. About two years ago, Samsung released a few tablets that were running a forked version of Android, its own take on Google's operating system.
Soon afterwards Google and Samsung had a chat and the result was the fact that Samsung stopped customizing Android on its devices, and even allowed Google to include the “Powered by Android” tagline on the boot-up screen.
If Google indeed asked Samsung not to implement its own VIV personal digital assistant in the Galaxy S8, we don't think there's anything the South Korean company can do to prevent that from happening.
Since these are all just rumors, let's wait for Samsung to make its plans for VIV known to the world in the coming months.