Samsung appears to be getting closer to a launch for its delayed AI assistant Bixby. The company has opened registration for an early access programme in the US; which indicates that it has solved at least some issues with the software.
Bixby was originally supposed to accompany the Samsung Galaxy S8 at launch. Providing a direct competitor to the Google Assistant out of the box. However, it was later announced that Bixby would instead be released at some point in late spring. Spring has come and gone, and it appears that yet more delays are in store.
While Samsung has not specifically explained what has been causing the delays, reports indicate that the company has been having trouble getting it to understand English. This is relatively corroborated by the fact that the AI assistant has already been rolled out in South Korea.
For now, the early access programme is only open to Galaxy S8 owners in the US; with a limited number of slot available. Signing up will not exactly guarantee the customer will be given access to Bixby, but it’s likely that Samsung will have no shortage of volunteers.
Early access is a good sign for Bixby. It shows that Samsung is inching towards a more polished release; rather than blindly rushing out a half finished product. This is a far more cautious Samsung that knows what it has to do to compete with the likes of Apple, Google, and Microsoft.
[Source: Samsung]
