A lot of people might have given up on Bixby but it seems Samsung is still willing to make it mainstream with a rumored launch of a smart speaker running Bixby 2.0 at its "Unpacked" event taking place on August 9.
The new smart speaker will directly compete with the likes of Google Home, Amazon Echo and Apple’s very own HomePod that's powered by Siri. The rumored smart speaker by the Korean tech giant was initially confirmed to be launching midway in 2018 according to DJ Koh, the president of Samsung’s mobile division.
A new report from The Wall Street Journal claims that the new speaker might make an appearance alongside the Galaxy Note9 – the upcoming Note flagship from the company. The report from WSJ also mentions the rumored price to be $300, which is a price point that tackles Google’s $400 Home Max and Apple’s HomePod which retails at $350.
The new smart speaker will supposedly be running Bixby 2.0; Samsung launched the SDK for Bixby 2.0 last year, and at this year’s MWC Samsung Co-CEO Koh Dong-jin claimed that the company will be able to showcase the new version of their virtual assistant with the Galaxy Note9.
As per the report, Samsung’s version of their Bixby smart speaker “has a bowled shape, with a legged bottom and lights at the top.” With a $300 price tag, Samsung will definitely try to market the new smart speaker as a premium one and it might even act as a hub for the company’s SmartThings suite of smart home accessories.
Bixby has remained less than appealing on the smartphones that the company has to offer but it does have the ability to do things that other virtual assistants aren't yet able to, such as being able to post content on social media platforms.
It will definitely be interesting to see what plans Samsung has with its smart speaker.
Source: The Wall Street Journal via The Verge
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