Samsung Galaxy S8 latest: New AI assistant Bixby to speak eight languages
That pushes it in front of Google's virtual helper but leaves it trailing behind Apple's Siri
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.New details about Bixby, the Samsung Galaxy S8’s AI assistant, have emerged ahead of the phone’s unveiling next month.
The virtual helper will support up to eight languages at launch, including English, Korean and Chinese, according to SamMobile.
That pushes it out in front of Google Assistant, which supports English and German on the Pixel phone, as well as Hindi, Japanese and Portuguese through the controversial Allo messaging app.
However, both trail some way behind Apple’s Siri, which supports over 20 different languages.
Bixby, which is yet to be announced, is expected to be capable of recognising real-world objects through the Galaxy S8’s camera and tracking them down online, allowing users to make quick purchases.
It’s also said to be able to use optical character recognition to process any text within the phone’s camera frame, presumably to help users translate phrases and save time while copying and pasting information.
Samsung will not launch its new flagship at Mobile World Congress later this month, as many of its main smartphone rivals plan to, because of the fallout surrounding the disastrous Galaxy Note 7.
Instead, the South Korean company is set to unveil the Galaxy S8 towards the end of March, ahead of a late April release.
However, it recently released the Samsung Galaxy A5, a gorgeous, waterproof handset that costs less than £400.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments