What is Bixby & How it’s Different From Others?
Well you’ve heard a lot about Bixby right after the launch of Samsung Galaxy S8. So here’s my take on Bixby that what is this and How it’s different from others in the competition?
What is Bixby?
Bixby is an AI system that’s designed to make device interaction easier, specifically designed to avoid the complexity of increasingly fully-featured devices. It was launched in Samsung Galaxy S8 for the first time but is designed to work across a range of Samsung products.
Features
Bixby is a complete solution: it is designed to let you carry out a full range of interactions, rather than launching an app for example, or carrying out a single task.
Samsung says that Bixby will be able to do just about everything you can do with an app using touch. Bixby is contextually aware: this is one of the buzzwords of AI, demonstrated by Google Assistant, for example. This will mean that Bixby can recognise the state that the app is in and take the right actions based on your requests, also letting you mix voice or touch.Bixby understands natural language: this means that you don’t need to use set phrases, but you can give incomplete information and Bixby can interpret and take action. Natural language recognition has been key to the rise of Alexa, for example, and is now a key element of modern AI.
How you can find Bixby?
On the Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8+ there is a Bixby button on the left-hand side of the phone. This is used to open the Bixby agent so that you can speak a command. However I am not sure about the exact voice command that is used to wake this AI up. It could be “Hi bixby” or something else.
The Competition
Bixby has a tough competition from Google’s Ai, Apple’s Siri, Amazon’s Alexa and Hound but believe me it’s a little bit different from all of them while Google, Apple, Amazon and Hound can only work if you are connected to network (Online) Bixby is only one that can be used online and offline both but some features will only work if you are online.
It also has some nifty features that none of them will offer such as Device Control, Samsung vision and so on.
What Bixby can do for you?
If you are wondering the same then here are the things Samsung’s Bixby can do for you:
Device control
One of the main aims of Bixby according to Samsung, is to deal with increasingly complicated devices. Not only did Samsung say that in its blog post, but it repeated exactly the same thing when demoing Bixby to us, saying that devices are now very complicated and a smart AI can save you having to look through the settings.
On saying "show this on my TV", the Galaxy S8 screen was mirrored on a Samsung KS7000. On saying "use this as my wallpaper" the S8 saved the onscreen image as the wallpaper for the phone.Placing a call instantly.
Simple functions, but Bixby saved the need dig those things out, instead only needing a press of the side button and a spoken command.
Bixby Vision
Bixby Vision offers a range of functions that take advantage of the camera on the phone. Working in a similar way to Google Goggles or the Amazon shopping app you can either ask Bixby what something is, or open the camera app and hit the Bixby Vision button. This is a great feature, but one we've used plenty of times before in other apps.
Bixby Vision will essentially identify whatever the camera is pointed at, with options presented depending on what it sees, offering to identify an image, place, text or go to shopping options. These then lead into more information, once the device has been identified.
We've seen it:
Identify The Shard in London and suggest local restaurantsRecognise a box of Lindt Lindor (strawberries and cream flavour) and suggest shopping optionsSpot a bottle of Casillero di Diablo and offer details on the wine
The best bit about Bixby Vision is that it's not dependent on the full Bixby voice service, with direct access through the camera, so even those who don't get the full Bixby service will get Bixby Vision.
Samsung and third-party app integration
Samsung has confirmed that Bixby will be integrated with a number of apps, detailing that it would support 10 native Samsung apps at launch. This is where Bixby will hit rougher ground, because of the variety of apps that you'll have on your phone.Samsung hasn't detailed what those apps will be, but it's confirmed to work with:
Phone, Messages, Internet, Gallery, Camera, Contacts, Settings, BixbyReminder, Weather
Exactly what Bixby does with Bixby, I don’t know.
Samsung has also said that it plans to support third-party apps through an SDK, but the big question is surrounding Google apps.
Samsung relies on some core Google apps for the experience it offers - like Play Music and Google Maps, apps that definitely need integration.
Samsung has said that the supported apps will quickly increase, but there's plenty of question here still to be answered.
Bixby Home
There's another side to Bixby. For those not diving into the full voice service - or those who can't get it because it's not supported in their country - then there's Bixby Home.
In the UK this integrates the Upday new service (accessed via a left-swipe on the screen) or Flipboard for those elsewhere and pulls in cards from supported apps. We've seen it serving up weather and S Health steps as well as news highlights.
Samsung also showcased Bixby Home learning from your routine, updating to reflect how you use your phone throughout the day. It also showed an Uber card in Bixby home, suggesting that Uber will be on the list of supported apps. We can imaging "Bixby, call me an Uber" working nicely.
In essence, Bixby Home looks a lot like Google Now, or the evolved Google Search pages you get that serve up information cards based on your interests and so on.
Home appliances and other devices
Injong Rhee, executive VP and head of R&D software and services at Samsung has said:
"Bixby will be gradually applied to all our appliances. In the future you would be able to control your air conditioner or TV through Bixby."
Rhee goes on to say that because Bixby is a cloud service, all you need is an internet connection and a mic and Bixby could be set to task.
We've also seen some very clever demos with Samsung's 2017 televisions, which also offer full voice control. In a similar demo, we saw a voice command to change the contrast demonstrating the same sort of functionality. There was no mention of Bixby at this demo, but we've asked Samsung if it's part of the same system.
Bixby Pay
Samsung could include technology that will allow you to process payments through voice commands. The feature is supposedly being developed under the name Bixby Pay, according to Samsung Mobile, but there’s no confirmation of this yet.
When will Bixby Launch?
Bixby was officially confirmed on 20 March via a blog post from Samsung. It has been confirmed that Bixby will be on the Samsung Galaxy S8, which was announced on 29 March, going on sale around 20 April onwards. The date differs in different territories.
The Conclusion
Samsung’s Bixby is a whole new incarnation of S-Voice which was launched in galaxy s3 for the first time and the last time also 🤑. At that time S-Voice was not just more than a thrashcan but Bixby is not what the S-Voice was, it packs a lot of things that will definitely grab the attention of people who want an assistant which is very close to IronMan’s Jarvis, it can do almost anything that you can do by touching the screen of your smartphone. So it’s a great assistant which you can use on your smartphone but if you don’t use Samsung smartphone then you missed the chance.
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