Samsung Electronics has launched voice commands for its digital assistant Bixby in the US. The voice features were delayed for more testing after Samsung originally planned to launch the service with the Galaxy S8 smartphones in April.
Galaxy S8 and S8+ owners in the US can now use the Bixby software to control their phone and apps. Samsung said Bixby is designed to help customers get the most out of their phones. Users can use their voice to do many things rather than the touch screen, such as ask Bixby to complete tasks like turning on the flashlight, taking a screen shot or taking a selfie. Bixby can also set reminders and calendar events or complete more complex tasks like creating a photo album of all the pictures a user took last week.
Bixby will be fully integrated across several core Samsung apps at launch, with plans to expand to support additional languages, features, third-party apps and devices. Samsung has already launched Bixby voice commands in its home makret Korea.
At launch, users will be able to access Bixby’s voice capabilities in third-party apps on an opt-in basis via Bixby Labs. These include Google Maps, Google Play Music, YouTube and Facebook, and other apps will be available in Bixby Labs to test.
Bixby is available in the US by pressing the Bixby button on the phone and downloading a software update.
