Samsung may delay the launch of its next flagship smartphone several weeks after its usual launch date, as the South Korean company works on a deep integration of its upcoming artificial intelligence (AI) virtual assistant.
Just last month Samsung acquired the company who developed the technology behind Apple’s Siri, Viv Labs. Viv is said to be working on a next generation version of Siri, promising to be more powerful and extensible – presumably on third-party apps and hardware.
Internal prototypes of the upcoming Galaxy S8 device shows a dedicated button on the side which launches the virtual assistant, according to a report from the Wall Street Journal. Presumably, this assistant should be able to be summoned by voice as well, just like every other assistant available today.
Given the tight timelines, Samsung is supposedly ready to delay the launch of the Galaxy S8 until April – several weeks past the traditional showcase at the annual Mobile World Congress trade show in Barcelona. It appears the South Korean company does not want to repeat the error made in rushing its previous Galaxy Note 7 flagship, and instead fine tune and provide ample lead time for the product’s development.
The virtual assistant is expected to be able to pull data from third party apps and services, giving it the potential to be very powerful. The AI technology is also expected to integrate with Samsung’s other business units, specifically its home appliances division where smart home appliances are a core feature of the Internet of Things (IoT).
At this point, it is clear to see that Samsung is set to enter the virtual assistant race with its next smartphone as a standout feature. But with contemporaries such as Google, Apple, and even Amazon having a large head start, Samsung will need to enter the scene in a genuinely big way.
(Source: Wall Street Journal)
