After several delays, Samsung has finally launched the Bixby Voice assistant in U.S. English for Galaxy S8 and S8+ users in the United States and Korea. The Samsung Galaxy S8 series phones come with dedicated Bixby hardware button that lets you access Bixby Voice by pressing and holding it. At the announcement Samsung said that Bixby will only understand US English and Korean.
With full voice capabilities for U.S. English, Galaxy S8 and S8+ users can easily activate voice commands such as turning on the flashlight, taking a selfie, setting reminders, find photos from your gallery and more.
“At launch, Bixby will be fully integrated across core Samsung apps and support for additional native and third-party apps will be available via Bixby Labs, which includes select applications that are offering preliminary integration with Bixby,” said Samsung.
“Bixby understands natural language, so users can complete tasks by using everyday speech, rather than pre-set and inflexible commands. Through iterative deep learning technology, Bixby can improve over time to recognize the user’s different preferences and ways of speaking,” it added.
Since Bixby is deeply integrated into the device, you can easily switch between voice, touch or text commands. Bixby voice can be activated by pushing the dedicated Bixby hardware button on Galaxy S8 and S8+, or by simply saying Hi Bixby.
Users in the U.S. can start using Bixby’s voice service by updating the application to the latest software version. Samsung said that it will add support for additional languages and devices in the near future.