When Samsung introduced the Galaxy S24 with Galaxy AI final January, many people seen a conspicuous lack of promoting for the corporate’s horrible digital assistant, Bixby. Whereas Bixby had some helpful options for some time — like real-time translation or textual content scanning — it usually felt redundant alongside Google Assistant and Gemini, which each provide a plethora of options and higher voice recognition than Bixby ever had.
However Bixby’s huge return appears to be inevitable because the teaser for Samsung Unpacked 2025 — which can see the announcement of the Galaxy S25 collection on January 22, 2025 — all however confirms. Within the 16-second video, which you’ll be able to watch beneath, a voice speaks to a familiar-looking microphone icon, asking it when Samsung Galaxy Unpacked takes place.
The invitation notes that we’ll see “the following evolution of Galaxy AI,” which can be “extra pure and intuitive.” Historically, that is been a code phrase for voice activation, and it traces up completely with the brand new Bixby we noticed launch on China’s unique Galaxy W collection in November.
This transfer is a curious one since Samsung used the Galaxy S24 collection to ship a public present of its sturdy relationship with Google by together with many new Google search and AI options first. Options like Circle to Search did not seem on different Android telephones for months, and Samsung telephones have usually been used as launch platforms (alongside the Pixel collection) for Gemini developments all year long.
Whereas it is doable that Samsung developed quite a lot of the brand new Bixby options particularly for the Chinese language market — Google companies are banned in China, in spite of everything — Samsung was among the many first smartphone firms to launch a significant new AI computing platform with Galaxy AI, and it might make sense for the corporate to proceed growing its ecosystem with a predictive voice assistant for the Galaxy S25.
Samsung says the brand new Bixby can “deeply understand” what a consumer desires, in addition to preserve a pointy understanding by means of multi-step directions. This sounds so much like what Gemini and ChatGPT can do, but it surely’s not clear if Samsung is tapping into both service or if it is Samsung’s personal Massive Language Mannequin (LLM) working the present.
Samsung says the brand new Bixby can “deeply understand” what a consumer desires, in addition to preserve a pointy understanding by means of multi-step directions.
Samsung can also be stated to be upgrading Bixby’s understanding capabilities so it will probably “cleverly combine textual content and video” into the dialog. The brand new Bixby additionally upgrades workplace doc enhancing and era, letting customers generate total Phrase, PowerPoint, and different paperwork primarily based on their wants.
OnePlus just lately launched one thing related with the OnePlus 13, permitting customers to generate total paperwork primarily based on quick concepts, however Samsung’s Bixby will probably combine extra voice-driven instructions into the equation.
Whereas quite a lot of this sounds “good,” it is anybody’s guess for now as to how usually it will truly be utilized by Galaxy customers frequently. I do not know a single one who loved utilizing Bixby when Samsung pushed it because the default assistant on its units, and I am unable to see generative AI altering individuals’s minds and making them need to use it extra.
I do not know a single individual that loved utilizing Bixby when Samsung pushed it because the default assistant on its units, and I am unable to see generative AI altering individuals’s minds and making them need to use it extra.
I actually do not suppose anybody desires a brand new Bixby and would moderately simply see it go away perpetually. That stated, I do suppose Samsung can profit from this chance to additional push its edge in offline AI computing. The corporate just lately introduced a new offline AI mannequin that is designed to “combine into merchandise to ship increased ranges of comfort and personalization.”
If that does not sound like a brand new voice assistant mannequin, I do not know what does.
Samsung is among the few firms that gives customers the choice to solely course of AI-related duties on-device, even when meaning some options are slower or unavailable to be used. It permits customers to prioritize native computing and privateness over extra feature-rich cloud processing.
It additionally presents the potential for having AI options long run, as cloud-based AI capabilities like Gemini Superior require customers to pay a month-to-month subscription price to keep up server prices. If Samsung has any edge within the AI recreation, it is this offline processing performance and a extra mature backend software program stack due to how shortly it moved to combine AI into its telephones.
However Samsung must be cautious right here. Including one other annoying digital assistant to a cellphone that is already chock filled with complicated and typically redundant options is a recipe for frustration. Folks don’t need two gallery apps. They do not need two assistant apps. And so they positively don’t need extra AI to boost the value of their telephones for the third yr in a row.
The query is that if Samsung is listening to customers or simply its buyers, and I am not absolutely satisfied it is the previous.
