Samsung Cuts Out Bixby Wake Word Training, Personalizes App Preferences
Samsung has rolled out a new update to the Bixby voice assistant with a few significant updates and adjustments to its operation. The voice assistant no longer requires training to understand its wake word, and the AI now offers more personalized suggestions for apps based on what the user has done before.
Waking and Personalizing
The “Hi Bixby” wake word has always needed the user to recite it five times in a row so that the voice assistant would learn the user’s voice and know when it should activate. The update shifts the default option to no longer needing to train the voice assistant before Hi Bixby works to alert the AI that it is being activated. While that adjustment depersonalizes Bixby, the voice assistant is now better at attuning itself to the user in other ways. Enabling the Personalized Bixby option will get Bixby to show app-based hints on what you might like to do, drawing from previous activities by the user. At the same time, the long-promised compression of the voice assistant on the screen is now active, putting results from any question into a card that doesn’t take up the whole screen the way Bixby did previously.
Bixby Boosters
Bixby’s new elements augment the major upgrade to the voice assistant that Samsung began rolling out last fall. Those improvements condensed all of Bixby into a single screen for every Capsule. The rumors that Samsung was dropping Bixby in favor of Google Assistant now seem even more unlikely in any visible time frame, despite Samsung shutting down Bixby Vision and reassigning the Bixby developer marketing team. Samsung seems especially keen on the personalization potential for Bixby.
“Using Bixby feels more personal in the latest update, as the service now offers customized voice command suggestions based on your usage patterns and other devices you have registered with Bixby, Samsung said at the time. “With recommendations for a variety of apps and services, the new tailored experience helps you discover more ways to use Bixby and improve your Galaxy experience.”
Follow @voicebotai Follow @erichschwartz
Samsung Debuts Bixby-Enabled Robot Vacuum Cleaner/Pet Sitter
Samsung May Replace Bixby With a 3D Virtual Assistant Named Sam
