Samsung's virtual assistant Bixby finally supports voice globally, with the South Korean giant rolling out the update in over 200 countries around the world. The company has confirmed that Bixby's voice capabilities are now expanding to countries worldwide. This comes a month after it began rolling out in the US for Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ users. Bixby still understands voice commands only in English and Korean.
"Starting today, Galaxy S8 and S8+ users can enable Bixby's voice capabilities by pressing the Bixby button to begin onboarding," Samsung said in a blog. Bixby's voice capabilities was first available in South Korea and later rolled out in the US. Starting Tuesday, the feature will be available in countries including the UK, Australia, Canada, and South Africa. The update is yet to roll out in India.
Samsung says that it plans to continue expanding Bixby's voice capabilities to additional countries, languages, devices, features and third-party applications, which will help improve the AI's learning process to offer more intelligent and personalised assistance.
Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ users around the world can check whether voice support has rolled out to their devices by tapping the Bixby button to begin onboarding. Bixby voice can be activated by holding the dedicated button on Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ smartphone or by simply saying "Hi, Bixby."
Samsung's voice assistant works similar to Google Assistant and Apple's Siri. Users can use Bixby voice to set alarms and send text messages and perform various actions via pre-installed apps and third-party apps that support Bixby. She of the third-party apps that support Bixby as of now include Google Maps, Google Play Music, YouTube, and Facebook.
The global rollout of Bixby voice comes just a day before the launch of Samsung's Galaxy Note 8, which is also expected to feature a dedicated Bixby button. This could suggest that the phablet will come with Bixby voice support out-of-the-box once shipping begins.
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