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Samsung Reportedly Developing a Voice-Controlled Speaker To Compete With Amazon Echo (geekwire.com)

Posted by msmash on from the me-too dept.

Samsung may be working on a smart speaker of its own. The company is developing a smart speaker powered by its Bixby voice assistant, according to The Wall Street Journal. From a report: A new report from The Wall Street Journal claims Samsung is working on its own voice-controlled home speaker to compete with the likes of the Amazon Echo, Google Home, and other devices that will be launched over the next few months and years. Details about Samsung's speaker and when we might expect to see it on the market are scant, but The Wall Street Journal does say that the device will be powered by Bixby. Bixby -- Samsung's answer to Amazon's Alexa or Apple's Siri -- is available in South Korea, where the company is based, but the English-language version is still in the works. Meanwhile, other tech companies like Alibaba, Apple, and Microsoft are developing their own smart speakers to compete with Amazon and Alphabet.

16 of 65 comments (clear)

  1. Who wanted this to begin with? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    This is a solution in search of a problem. This is basically a music player that spies on you and your family.

    1. Re:Who wanted this to begin with? by 93+Escort+Wagon · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I don't understand it either; but Amazon seems to sell a lot of Dots - including to some of my friends.

      So there is a market... people like us just aren't part of it.

      --
      #DeleteChrome
    2. Re:Who wanted this to begin with? by fluffernutter · · Score: 2

      So I can either:
      1) Talk to my phone
      2) Phone translates my speech to text
      3) Confirm speech is correct
      4) It's not, correct speech
      5) Send text
      6) Await response, rinse, repeat

      Or,
      1) Call them

      I take the latter.

      --
      Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
    3. Re:Who wanted this to begin with? by 93+Escort+Wagon · · Score: 2

      Slashdot is (or at least was) a small, tight-knit circle of like-minded geeks. We pride ourselves on understanding technology in a way the masses never could. What we miss is that the masses never really WANTED to understand it this way.

      The IT Crowd hit the nail on the head: https://youtu.be/YDNmyyrEZho?t...

      --
      #DeleteChrome
  2. too bad... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Too bad Amazon already took the brand name "Fire".

    1. Re: too bad... by drinkypoo · · Score: 2

      Won't have batteries, so it won't catch fire.

      Samsung can make appliances catch fire even if they have water on board.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
  3. No!!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    No more spy devices!

  4. Correction to summary by 93+Escort+Wagon · · Score: 3, Insightful

    "Meanwhile, other tech companies like Alibaba, Apple, and Microsoft are developing their own smart speakers to compete with Amazon."

    Right now, Amazon is really the only player.

    --
    #DeleteChrome
  5. Re-Phrased by SuperKendall · · Score: 2

    Too much wireless. Bigger than a Nomad. Lame.

    --
    "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
  6. Comment removed by account_deleted · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  7. Comment removed by account_deleted · · Score: 2

    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  8. The market seems to agree by s.petry · · Score: 2

    We have all of these pushes for IoT and voice, but as we just read on /. earlier Intel is laying off a bunch of IoT staff. There is no real growth in voice recognition, we are just moving around people who already use it. Apple's Siri big advancement in the last couple years is adding new voices, not really improving or adding new technology. The work involved is more about data storage, transfer, and compression than "new" technology.

    Like VR, it's a niche market and overly hyped for exactly the reasons people dislike it. It's intrusive and can be used for nefarious purposes as well as just being easy.

    --

    -The wise argue that there are few absolutes, the fool argues that there are no probabilities.

  9. Technology to Migrate to other Samsung Products? by mykepredko · · Score: 2

    Unlike the other talking box providers, Samsung makes TVs and other consumer devices.

    I would think the incremental cost of adding this technology to something like a TV would be very small, making it something that you couldn't avoid unless you were to avoid Samsung (which isn't that a horrific prospect in itself).

    --
    Mimetics Inc. Twitter
  10. Re:Becsuse Apple does things right. by slaker · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Like the mobile keyboard that didn't display lowercase letters and instead used a color shift to indicate letter case for some reason, up until iOS 9 or something?

    Or a mobile OS that won't natively play a FLAC file and doesn't natively support general purpose file browsing until, hm, whenever the next version gets released?

    Yeah. Those guys sure do have a handle on getting stuff right.

    --
    -- I wanna decide who lives and who dies - Crow T. Robot, MST3K
  11. They already have that by gweihir · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Their TVs already listen to everything ans dens it to Samsung, last I heard. Just leave out the TV screen and they are almost done...

    --
    Most ACs are not even worth the keystrokes to insult them. Be generically insulted by this and ignored otherwise.
  12. Comment removed by account_deleted · · Score: 2

    Comment removed based on user account deletion