After launching with a new digital assistant that could not hear or understand your voice, Samsung is now shipping an update to it's Bixby Digital Assistant on its new Galaxy S8 and S8+ devices that finally gives Bixby ears for U.S. English in the United States and Korea.
Many questioned the need for another digital assistant alongside of current offerings such as Siri, Google, and Cortana but that did not stop Samsung from making ther plans for Bixby including a dedicated hardware button on their flagship handsets for activating Bixby and Bixby alone. Well, OK, there were some apps that allowed you to remap that button but a couple of times Samsung disabled them as well wanting to keep that button solely for Bixby.
I am a fan of choice so I hope Samsung sees their way to providing customers the option to select the digital assistant of their choice for that hardware button but in the interim that button on the left side of the S8/S8+ is just for Bixby.
In fact, you just need to use that button to turn on Bixby and you will be prompted to update the app to gain its new capabilities.
The gallery here shows you the update and setup process for Bixby and its crash course in what Bixby is capable of doing including interacting with apps and learning your voice to facilitate even unlocking your device.
I am in a noisy environment right now so I still need to finalize the voice recognition and setup but all of the various screens for all elements of the update and learning process are here for you to peruse.
Make sure you comment and let us know your experience with Bixby now that it can hear you.
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