Samsung Opens Its Voice Assistant Bixby To Developers as It Pursues Alexa and Siri 41
Samsung said Wednesday it was rolling out new voice-assistant features to challenge its U.S. rivals' dominance in AI. At its developer conference, where the company is also expected to unveil its first foldable smartphone, the company said it was fully opening its virtual assistant, called Bixby, to third-party developers and businesses for the first time. The move may help the company challenge incumbent players Amazon's Alexa, Apple's Siri, and Google's Assistant.
Much of the assistant market is yet to be tapped, and it is the right time for developers to embrace Bixby, an executive said. The company said it is offering a no-trade off set of tools (what it calls Bixby Developer Studio) to developers to make use of Bixby. It's the first time any company is offering the full suite of tools that it uses to make its assistant to developers, the company said.
Further reading: VentureBeat.
Much of the assistant market is yet to be tapped, and it is the right time for developers to embrace Bixby, an executive said. The company said it is offering a no-trade off set of tools (what it calls Bixby Developer Studio) to developers to make use of Bixby. It's the first time any company is offering the full suite of tools that it uses to make its assistant to developers, the company said.
Further reading: VentureBeat.
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When I think "Bixby"... (Score:2)
...I think Jerome Bixby, the science fiction author of "It's a GOOD life," the story of the evil little boy with god-like powers, made into memorable Twilight Zone segments twice.
Maybe not the association you should be aiming for, unless you want to be wished into the cornfield...
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...I think Jerome Bixby, the science fiction author of "It's a GOOD life," the story of the evil little boy with god-like powers, made into memorable Twilight Zone segments twice.
Maybe not the association you should be aiming for, unless you want to be wished into the cornfield...
Makes me think of Bill Bixby, AKA TV's The Incredible Hulk.
Just don't make him angry ... you wouldn't like him when he's angry ...
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Wasn't "Clayton Bixby" Dave Chappelle's black white supremacist character?
Samsung is trolling us.
Please open up the off switch (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Please open up the off switch (Score:5, Informative)
My wife bought a Samsung "smart refrigerator" with Bixby built-in. I can assure you that Bixby is no where near the privacy threat that Alexa and Siri are, because IT DOESN'T UNDERSTAND ANYTHING YOU SAY.
Bixby is way behind where Siri and Alexa were even back in 2015. The interface is clunky: You say "Hello Bixby" and then wait for it to acknowledge (which it often fails to do), and then you make your request, which it then either ignores or misunderstands.
Using the Bixby voice interface to, say, show the contents of the refrigerator on the touchscreen, is going to take ten times as long as just opening the door and looking.
It is not all bad. The speakers on the Samsung smart fridge are actually very good, with a deep base and full range. So if nice sound quality is something you look for in a refrigerator, it might be a good choice.
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Using the Bixby voice interface to, say, show the contents of the refrigerator on the touchscreen, is going to take ten times as long as just opening the door and looking.
You make a very good point there. With the current personal assistants, not only are they quite limited in what they can do but, in addition, when they can do something, most of the time it is faster and easier if you just do it yourself.
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Bixby is a crappy interface, but I don't think you can extrapolate from that to say that smart appliances are inherently crappy.
I also have an Alexa, which requires no acknowledgement, and understands what I say 99% of the time. If the fridge had an Alexa interface, and I could just say "Alexa, show the contents", it would be fine.
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The fact that it sucks doesn't mean it isn't continuously uploading what you say to Samsung.
The fact that it communicates through my local Wifi, and sends only a tiny blip of data if, and only if, I say the "Hello Bixby" trigger, means that it is extremely unlikely to be "continuously uploading" anything.
You should find a more plausible conspiracy theory to glom onto. The Flat Earth Society is looking for new members.
About No Link (Score:5, Insightful)
I can't wait! (Score:2)
I told our work Alexa it was creepy, maybe that why Amazon has been delaying my game shipements the past year or so. Doh! So sorry Alexa McCreeperton.
Who is the legend responsible for naming it Bixby? (Score:2)
How many use Bixby? (Score:3)
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