Samsung’s next generation Galaxy S8 has not yet launched, but already most of the details have been revealed. Beyond numerous upgrades to the camera, display and sensors, the new flagship smartphone will also include Samsung’s new Bixby virtual assistant.

Bixby is an Artificial Intelligence (AI) –powered virtual assistant from Samsung which will compete with the similar Google Assistant and Apple Siri. The Galaxy S8 will have a dedicated side-key that will launch Bixby at the press of a button.  Bixby promises to deliver contextually aware information, based on how users interact with applications on their phones, time of day and where they are.

Samsung Bixby Logo

We believe that an AI-based virtual assistant for Samsung’s flagship smartphone is a smart move to help differentiate it from competitors. However, it will be sharing users attention with Google Assistant in many cases and may not always measure up in every application versus the more seasoned solution from Google. Samsung will need to take a long-term approach to Bixby, constantly improving it and helping it to become an important differentiator for its devices. This will be a continuous process and Samsung should not expect to hit a home run with first-generation Bixby in the near term.

Our full view on Bixby can be found in our Emerging Device Strategies service report Samsung Bixby Takes AI Plunge available to clients.