Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.’s 2017 flagship smartphone – the Galaxy S8 – is set to be unveiled next month, if the rumors are to be believed. In addition to a rumored increase in RAM and storage, the Galaxy S8 will also possibly have an edge-to-edge display, upgraded wireless charging and more.

One of the features that users can definitely look forward to on the Galaxy S8 is the inclusion of an artificial intelligence assistant. Samsung executives have confirmed that the company is working on a digital assistant, which will be part of its upcoming flagship device.

While we know that the Galaxy S8 will include a digital assistant, there are plenty of rumors making the rounds of its various features. Here’s a roundup of what we could expect to see:

Samsung Bixby

When Samsung acquired Viv Labs Inc., who was founded by the creators of Apple Inc.’s digital assistant Siri, in October it came as no surprise when Samsung announced the following month that it was developing a voice assistant.

Various names for the AI assistant have been registered, including Bixby, Bix and Kestra. There could be one name or come in both male and female variants.  

Launch date and availability

According to Evan Blass, renowned tech leaker, the Samsung Galaxy S8 will launch on Mar. 29, together with the introduction of AI assistant Bixby that will be used in all the native apps on the S8. The Galaxy S8 will go on sale on April 21 in the U.S.

Support for up to eight languages at launch

According to SamMobile, Bixby will support between seven and eight languages at launch, including support for English, Korean and Chinese. Google Assistant, which was launched with the Pixel and Pixel XL smartphones in October, currently offers support for five languages.

Dedicated button

Rumors have suggested that the Galaxy S8 will get a dedicated button on the side of the device that will be used to launch the AI assistant. This could indicate that Bixby won’t be voice-activated, but at this stage, the rumor is based on prototypes that aren’t final yet so plenty could change before Mar. 29.  

Control native apps and third-party services

Samsung executives have said that the AI assistant will be able to control most of the native apps that will be on the Galaxy S8. In addition, the digital assistant will also be able to integrate with various third-party services.

Bixby Pay

Samsung’s AI assistant could also be used to make payments. According to SamMobile, Samsung is working on the technology that will allow payments to be processed via voice commands.

The technology is also rumored to be developed under the name Bixby Pay, further confirming the name for the AI assistant.

Camera

Bixby will also reportedly be able to use the Galaxy S8’s camera for visual searches, which could include object recognition and optical character recognition.

Harman speaker with integrated Bixby

When Microsoft Corp. announced the Cortana Devices software development kit for manufacturers in December, Harman Kardon, a brand under Harman International Industries Inc., was one of the first partners to integrate Cortana. Harman Kardon is planning to launch an Amazon Echo-like speaker, which will be voice activated and will work with third-party services.

Harman is owned by Samsung after being acquired for $8 billion in November. Perhaps we could also see a Harman Kardon speaker powered by Bixby in the near future.

Available in other Samsung devices

Bixby won’t be limited to the upcoming Samsung Galaxy S8, but is rumored to eventually be expanded to Samsung’s other devices, like wearables and home appliances.

Source: Pocket-lint

Image credit: Răzvan Băltărețu; Flickr