While Samsung’s flagship smartphone will launch with some of Bixby’s features, including Vision, Home and Reminder, the Galaxy S8 and S8+‘s heavily touted Bixby Voice feature has been delayed.
Samsung stated to Engadget, as well as a variety of other U.S. publications, that Bixby Voice will launch in the U.S. “later this spring.” The full statement from Samsung U.S. is below:
“With its intelligent interface and contextual awareness, Bixby will make your phone more helpful by assisting in completing tasks, telling you what you’re looking at, learning your routine and remembering what you need to do. Key features of Bixby, including Vision, Home, and Reminder, will be available with the global launch of the Samsung Galaxy S8 on April 21. Bixby Voice will be available in the U.S. on the Galaxy S8 later this spring.”
There’s no word yet on why Bixby’s voice features have been delayed, but it’s likely the less than stellar reception Samsung received from press based on early hands-on impressions.
In order to compete with Google’s Assistant, Amazon’s Echo and Apple’s Siri, three solid, established voice-activated assistants, Samsung’s Bixby needs to come to market ready with unique offerings at launch.
While the Galaxy S8 and S8+ will officially launch in Canada on April 21st, Bell, as well as other Canadian carriers, have stated that customers who pre-order the phone will receive it by April 17th. We’ve reached out to Samsung Canada to confirm if Bixby Voice is also delayed in Canada, though we assume that is likely the case.
MobileSyrup will have more on the S8 and S8+ next week leading up to the phone’s official launch.
Via: Engadget
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