14 DAY TRIAL // Samsung started updating its Bixby virtual assistant and added support for short voice commands, according to multiple reports from Korea. The feature was made available only in Korea, the only market where Bixby’s voice component is currently available.
Bixby’s voice commands are powered by deep learning algorithms, one of the main features of Samsung’s personal assistant. The virtual assistant’s short voice commands will be based on users’ various habits and speech patterns, allowing them to use shorter versions of previous commands and accomplish the same tasks.
A Samsung official has even said that the new functionality works together with the recently added support for voice-enabled payments. The new features allow users to simply say “account balance” to check funds, but only if they previously said the phrase at least once in the past.
Bixby short voice commands to arrive to the US and other markets
The official added that even though users can access personal information using Bixby Voice, all other security checks apply for this method. Still, voice-enabled payments might not arrive in other countries anytime soon, considering that they rely on identifying users via the iris scanner, which is available only in Korea at this point. However, short voice commands will most likely arrive in the United States and other countries as soon as Bixby Voice starts rolling out.
Bixby is one of the main features on Samsung’s recently released Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ smartphones, but the virtual assistant has one shortcoming that prevents it from properly competing against Alexa or Google Assistant.
Samsung has yet to enable the Bixby Voice feature in markets other than Korea, as the company is said to have faced some issues connected to syntax and language learning operations. Samsung is reportedly having trouble teaching Bixby English and it might miss its deadline for releasing Bixby Voice in the US. Bixby voice commands were expected to arrive in the spring, but it seems that they might be rolled out after June 21.