14 DAY TRIAL // Recently, Finnish company HMD Global announced the latest Nokia-branded smartphone, Nokia 6, which will be made available in China exclusively. But it seems that Nokia may be working on more surprises for the market, including a virtual assistant.
Nokia has filed for a trademark in the EU for the name of “Viki.” The trademark filing describes Viki as a “software for the creation and monitoring of mobile and web assistants working with digital knowledge and combining all data sources into a single chat and voice-based interface,” according to GSNInfo.
The description suggests that Viki might be Nokia’s own voice-activated assistant to be featured on upcoming phones. However, this is just speculation at this point, since Viki could very well be related to other projects that Nokia may be working on. And although there’s a high chance that Viki is indeed a voice-activated virtual assistant, there’s no way of knowing for sure at this point.
If that’s the case, then Viki will join the ranks of other virtual assistants on the market, including Apple’s Siri, Google Assistant, Microsoft’s Cortana, Amazon’s Alexa, and Samsung’s Bixby. The latter is said to be featured on the upcoming Galaxy S8, expected to be officially released in mid-April.
Many phone makers integrate AI assistants on flagships
More and more smartphone makers are including virtual assistants on their flagships. Google made its AI assistant available on a number of devices, including the Pixel, Pixel XL and Google Home; Huawei announced that it integrated Amazon Alexa for the Mate 9 in the US, as to enhance functionality and user experience on the phone; and Apple has been making Siri available on its devices since 2011.
Nokia’s Viki seems like a natural move for the company, especially if it wishes to make a proper comeback for the Nokia brand and stay in line with trends on the market, so it can take on major smartphone makers.