The answer to this question is simple – Bixby is a virtual assistant that Samsung has developed for the needs of its devices. For starters, Bixby is available on the new Samsung Galaxy S8 and Samsung Galaxy S8 + phones. In all likelihood, in the future, we will meet him more and more often not only on phones but also on other devices manufactured by Samsung.
If you thought all we needed was another virtual assistant, you’re not the only one. There’s already Siri, Cortana, and Google Assistant on mobile and Amazon’s Alexa service preparing to take over the world, and now there’s Bixby with which Samsung is getting involved in this race. But let’s not be too strict with this newcomer and give him a chance. Let’s see what it is that Bixby knows and knows and how much will it really help us?
How did Bixby come about in the first place?
To remind you, Bixby is not Samsung’s first virtual assistant. In 2012, this company introduced us to S Voice, which did not have a more noticeable role in the market but remained available on most Samsung devices in 2012 and 2013. One of the biggest problems with S Voice was its sluggishness – it executed very slowly, so that was another reason why users didn’t accept it at all.
After the debacle with S Voice, Samsung decided to get serious, so it bought Viv. This company was started by a man who worked on the development of Siri for the needs of Apple, so based on his previous experience he made a “new and better” product and that’s how Bixby was created. As Samsung says, “Bixby is the heart of Samsung’s software and represents a new step in the company’s evolution.”
What are the characteristics of Bixby?
Like other VA applications, Bixby is activated by voice or touch. To start a conversation with him, you do not need to issue a special command, but he recognizes the context and answers you without a “call”. He is able to constantly maintain the conversation and follow your wishes and requests.
What’s interesting is that Bixby in addition to smart voice commands (the ability to recognize when you need it without using specific phrases) can integrate into most apps and track you through a variety of apps. This specifically means that this software can recognize the application you are currently in and guess what your next step will be so that based on that, it can give you a suggestion or offer exactly what you need.
It should also be mentioned that in addition to voice and touch commands on the new Galaxy S phones, Samsung has also added a Bixby button in case you want to call your new best friend this way. This button also has a function to speed up running processes, so it can be useful.
What can Bixby do?
Now that we know how it originated and what its characteristics are, let’s see what all Bixby can do. All his abilities are divided into blocks, and here are the fields in which Bixby is active:
- Bixby Vision – mainly used as an optional extra on your camera, and is also available when viewing images. When you point your camera at an object, Bixby Vision can tell you exactly what you’re looking at (which building, for example), how to get there, where to buy it with the “Buy Now” option, you can learn more about that brand, yes immediately you automatically scan the QR code or it will immediately translate what is written there if it is an inscription.
- Bixby Voice – a mode that receives voice tracks. We already mentioned that there is no need to use special phrases to activate your new friend, and this mode allows you to go a step further. Just tell your phone what to do and Bixby handles the matter. So you can tell him “Remind me to buy eggs and milk when I leave work”, “Email Jelena pictures from last night”, or “Don’t take calls after 9 am” and Bixby will do it for you.
- Bixby Home – most reminiscent of the Google Now page, with a little richer content. Bixby Home is activated via the Bixby button or by dragging the screen to the right. Here you will see all your obligations for today, the weather forecast, the most important news, important notifications from other applications, and everything else that is important to you.
- Bixby Reminder – although there are already a bunch of reminders as a standalone app or as part of a broader app (say a calendar), Bixby goes a step further and offers smart reminders. These reminders are special in that you can include some additional content in them – a picture, a website, and even a video. You can set a new reminder by tapping or dictating the content.
Will I be able to use Bixby if I buy a Samsung Galaxy S8 phone?
Now we have to disappoint you – unfortunately you will not be able to use Bixby in Serbia and in Serbian. For now, he only knows Korean and American English. Expansion to other markets is planned, but we still don’t know at what exact pace it will go.
Also, the options we have described are not yet available in all markets, so the question is which of all these will be available in Europe and Serbia when one day Bixby arrives in our country.
But since this is only the first version of Bixby software, we will be gentle and give it a chance. We know that Samsung works fast and that it makes good things even better in each new version, so we believe that it will be the same this time as well.
As far as we are concerned, we wish Bixby a warm welcome and we want him to develop quickly so that he can learn Serbian and the whole world understands him.