ISLAMABAD ( MEDIA REPORT )
Samsung has announced that the upcoming Galaxy S8 smartphone will include the company’s own digital assistant.
Executive Vice President Rhee Injong told Reuters that the acquisition of Viv Labs will power the new platform, which will also expand into the wearables and other smart home devices.
“Developers can attach and upload services to our agent,” she said. “Even if Samsung doesn’t do anything on its own, the more services that get attached the smarter this agent will get, learn more new services and provide them to end-users with ease.”
Viv Labs is run by a co-creator of Siri, which was eventually purchased by Apple. Samsung hopes to differentiate its smartphones for the next cycle as a way to win back skeptical buyers and stand apart from Google’s Pixel, which is the only phone so far to include the Google Assistant.
Why this matters: Artificial intelligence is the next wave of computing. Google has created the best mobile integration so far with the Google Assistant in the Pixel and Google Home. However, Microsoft, Apple, and now Samsung want to ensure their devices can be smarter and better anticipate your needs. AI in the next Galaxy S8 may win buyer attention in a store, but hard-core Android fans aren’t likely to give up their reliance on Google so quickly.