Samsung may have not given voice control capabilities to its digital assistant Bixby at the time of the Galaxy S8, S8+ launch, but the company has started rolling out the same to users in its home country of South Korea.
Multiple videos and reports about Bixby’s voice control and speaking abilities have started emerging from Korea, and looks like Samsung’s first digital assistant has a few tricks rolled up its sleeves. For starters, Bixby can rap and beatbox just like Apple’s Siri or Google’s Assistant. Here’s what is sounds like
From what we hear (even though it's Korean), Bixby can really put down some beats. Besides rapping, here is how Bixby beatboxes.
What’s funny is that Samsung has secretly programmed Bixby to diss Apple’s Siri. Korean users noticed that when Bixby raps, the first letter of each sentence spells out the message – “I am better than Siri,” in Korean. Looks like Samsung is already taking digs at Apple’s virtual assistant as competition between the two tech giants heats up in the smartphone space. Bixby, however, has a long way to go before it can truly compete with Siri. It might be an intelligent assistant capable of much more that Siri, but it only supports Korean language as of now, which is a big hurdle in its mass appeal. Bixby also offers in-app integration, giving users the ability to take actions within apps, but that also is limited to native Galaxy S8 apps for now. Samsung claims all Bixby-enabled apps (when made available by developers) will eliminate the need for touch commands and engage users to perform app-specific actions with voice commands.
Currently, Siri is not doing a very clever job of taking on Bixby. When asked “Are you better than Bixby?” Siri replies saying, “No Comments.” We figure Apple might get back at Samsung with the upcoming Siri update expected at WWDC. The Cupertino-based iPhone maker is also expected to unveil a Google Home-like voice-controlled Siri Speaker.