One of the more controversial features of the Galaxy S8 is Samsung's 'Bixby' assistant, which has a dedicated button to activate it. But Bixby isn't very helpful, partially due to Samsung delaying English voice command support. But if you're in the United States and have an S8, you can sign up for Samsung's new Bixby Early Access program to try out voice commands.
Signing up is pretty easy; just head to the source link at the bottom of this post and enter the email assigned to your Samsung account. You'll have to make an account if you don't have one already. If you make it into the early access program, Samsung will send you additional details.
Samsung warns that not all accents, dialects, and expressions will be recognized by Bixby. The company plans to continuously update the assistant with support for more languages, features, and devices (maybe it will come to older phones?).
Source: Bixby Early Access
PRESS RELEASE
RIDGEFIELD PARK, NJ– JUNE 16, 2017 – Samsung Electronics America, Inc. (SEA), announced today that it will offer select Galaxy S8 and S8+ owners in the U.S. early access to Bixby’s upcoming voice-control capabilities, allowing them to engage Samsung’s intelligent interface and get more done on their smartphone using just their voice. Galaxy S8 or S8+ owners can sign up today to participate in the early preview test, which will launch in the near future.
“We see Bixby as an intelligent interface for your phone — an integral part of our connected ecosystem,” said Injong Rhee, CTO and Head of R&D, Software and Services, Samsung Mobile. “From phones, to televisions, to refrigerators, we think that Bixby will provide users with a simpler, more intuitive way to control their favorite devices, and live a more connected life.”
Launched this past Spring with Samsung’s latest S8 and S8+ smartphones, Bixby is an intelligent, personalized interface for using your smartphone. The upcoming Bixby update will give you a new way to interact with the Galaxy S8 and S8+, enabling you to navigate through your phone’s apps, services and settings with a mix of voice commands and touch.
Unlike other voice-assisted services on the market, Bixby is designed to assist you in completing complex tasks across many apps, to tell you more about what you’re looking at and where you are, to learn your routine and remember what you need to do. For example, with one command you can tell Bixby to gather all the photos you took last week into a new album labeled “Vacation,” and then share those photos with your friends. You can ask Bixby to take a selfie and text it to someone, or ask Bixby to send your friends your location, and then later remind you where you parked. Bixby can handle complex tasks however you describe them.
Samsung plans to continuously update Bixby, including support for additional languages, features, third-party apps and devices.
To sign up for an advanced look at Bixby Voice, S8 and S8+ owners can visit https://sso-us.samsung.com/sso/profile/bixbyepa.
For more information, please visit Samsung.com.
