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Samsung's Bixby Voice Assistant Is Finally Coming to the US -- But Only As a Preview (techcrunch.com)

Posted by BeauHD on from the better-late-than-never dept.

When the Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8+ went on sale in the North American market, it was missing one of its most touted features -- the Bixby smart assistant. Technically, it was available on launch day but its voice functionality was missing due to issues with the English language version, thus rendering the dedicated Bixby button on the side of the S8 and S8+ nearly useless. Today, Bixby Voice is finally making its stateside debut -- but only as a preview. TechCrunch reports: The company is positioning this is a "sneak peak" for the feature that was initially planned to debut on its new flagship phones. Starting this week, a select number of Galaxy S8 and S8+ can sign up to be among the first in the U.S. to test it out. From the sound of it, Samsung's still working on some tweaks here, using this limited launch to basically do some public beta testing. The company didn't have a lot to say about the closed launch, aside from reiterating some of its grandiose plans for making Bixby, "an integral part of our connected ecosystem," according to the company's CTO.

21 comments

  1. bill by turkeydance · · Score: 1

    is that you?

    1. Re:bill by dlleigh · · Score: 1

      Don't make your voice assistant mad. You won't like it when it's mad.

    2. Re:bill by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I came in here for this. Thank you for the chuckle

    3. Re:bill by Mike+Van+Pelt · · Score: 1

      Uncle Martin? Are you there? Quit fooling around. Dang it, I hate when you do that invisibility thing.

    4. Re:bill by TWX · · Score: 2

      Same here. God we're getting old.

      --
      Do not look into laser with remaining eye.
    5. Re:bill by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "People let me tell you 'bout my best friend, he's a warm hearted person who'll love me till the end."

      And now we all throw up in our throats a little.

    6. Re:bill by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No Lou, for the last time it's not me. I died over 23 years ago.

      p.s. How do you keep getting my new number? All of these calls are starting to make me angry...

    7. Re:bill by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      is that you?

      Wrong number, this is Jerome.

    8. Re:bill by davester666 · · Score: 1

      Clippy will help you through this difficult transition.

      --
      Sleep your way to a whiter smile...date a dentist!
  2. YAVA by GlennC · · Score: 2

    Yet Another Voice Assistant, that I have no intention of using. I'm satisfied with my Galaxy S5 that I'm running rooted Lollipop on. I'm going to check out LG or BLU for the replacement once this finally gives out. At least they don't have one a voice assistant...at least, not one that I know of.

    --
    Go on, citizen, stamp the vote card. R or D, your choice.
    1. Re:YAVA by TWX · · Score: 2

      Heh. I'll use a voice-assistant when it runs locally and I have the ability to control what stores.

      If it has to connect to someone else's server just to process then I'm sorry, I don't want it.

      --
      Do not look into laser with remaining eye.
    2. Re:YAVA by sexconker · · Score: 1

      I would recommend you avoid all LG devices. They pretty much all overheat and bootloop.

  3. I want Begbie by mfearby · · Score: 1

    A Begbie voice assistant would be cool. I'd use that :-)

  4. No Thanks by sexconker · · Score: 1, Insightful

    Samsung has a terrible record on privacy, security, and safety. From exploding batteries to exploding washing machines to TVs and fridges that spy on you and inject ads into content and are susceptible to ransomware DDoS.

    Layer Samsung on top of Android, the world's most insecure, least efficient OS, and you've got a recipe for fucking disaster.

    Despite all the lock down (fuck you, Knox), shitty bloatware (S Suggest, Samsung Pay, Samsung Me Too for everything), I still wanted a Note 7 because I thoroughly enjoyed the Note II. But they exploded. And now Samsung has gone so far down the path of shitty apps and services and awful lockdown that I can't follow them. Not even when the device is free (due to work paying for it).

    Sorry Samsung, you had your chance. You were on top and all you had to do was iterate to stay on top. Your ever-increasing prices and your insufferable bloatware (such as Bixby) will be the end of you. You're likely too far long the path to reverse course, because you got too big for your bitches.

    If you care about security, functionality, and reliability, you get an iPhone. (Check my post history, I fucking hate Apple, but they're the only ones who give half a shit about the quality of their device and the security of their users.)
    If you care about the freedom to use your device as you want, you get an AOSP device, not an "Android" branded device since Google keeps locking down "Android" more and more tightly.

    If you want both, you have a few halfway-decent but critically flawed options from untrustworthy parties (i.e., Google and their Pixel, Samsung and their shiny bombs, LG and their boot loops and broken speakers and lack of security updates, or One Plus and their rootkits/backdoors).

    1. Re:No Thanks by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Can't be as bad as Sony. I have a $1800 Sony smart TV that can't even change the volume without lagging. Seriously. That's a pretty fundamental operation for a TV - listen to the remote control and change the volume. This Sony TV sometimes fails to show the volume meter or just can't/won't change the volume. Latest firmware is noticeably slower and more laggy than the previous firmware. POS.

    2. Re:No Thanks by Presence+Eternal · · Score: 2

      The Note 4 is quite good. Its sole flaws are the fingerprint sensor being quite poor and the whole issue with """"security"""" updates. More people than I have called it the last great Android smartphone. It's like the smartphone equivalent Who Framed Roger Rabbit. It will likely never be equaled in its category because the industry has moved on and no one is willing to try.

    3. Re:No Thanks by sexconker · · Score: 1

      I was eyeing the Note 4 but decided my Note II was fine (and it was). Then the Note 5 came out and it was a step back from the Note 4. SO I said fuck it - I'll stick with the II for another year and wait for the Note 6 - surely they'll respond to the backlash from the 5 and get their shit together.

      When the 7 (the 6 was skipped, as you likely know) came out, I was ready to jump on it, even with Knox and all the other horseshit. But thankfully I waited a bit to let the dust settle, and by then the explosions and recalls were happening. Now with Bixby and the direction of the S8 and S8+, I fear Samsung has completely lost the plot on what made their devices good to begin with. At this rate, a Note 8 (if one ever exists, regardless of name) will just be an S8+ with the S Pen. And it'll cost $1200.

    4. Re:No Thanks by Voyager529 · · Score: 1

      There were a handful of things that makes the Note 4 worthwhile, especially since good condition Note 4's are pretty cheap on eBay and Swappa. The S-Pen works for the back and task switch buttons (which were finger-only on the Note 2). The IR Blaster is helpful as a universal remote, and the front-facing camera is definitely better. The Note 2 had a better S-Pen, though.

      I just bought a refurbed Note Edge that I'm pretty happy with. I'm a stickler for removable batteries because I'm a die hard fan of aftermarket, high-capacity batteries. ZeroLemon is my jam, though I've been happy with Gorilla Gadgets in the past, and PowerBear is pretty good so far.

      I think you're pretty much on point with the Note8 being an S8 with a pen, which is sad because no one seems to want to make an enthusiast phone anymore. Honestly, I've got a real close eye on Blackberry, because their renaissance of the keyboard may well make other OEMs take a look if they achieve any level of success in the market. If that happens, it as good a reason as any for phone manufacturers to look beyond 'bent glass' and 'even more anorexia' and ask what people actually want in their phones.

  5. Please let us disable Bixby Button first! by mimino · · Score: 1

    What does the left-side hardware button do in the US version of S8 and S8+? Because having non-disableable Bixby on it is VERY annoying.

  6. My S8+ by hduff · · Score: 1

    My new S8+ keeps prompting me to use Bixby. I just activated it and it seems to run just fine, so what's all the hubbub about?

    --
    "I believe in Karma. That means I can do bad things to people all day long and I assume they deserve it." : Dogbert
  7. How to Turn it off? by OppMan29 · · Score: 1

    This is the only thing I hate about my GS8.