Samsung Announces 'Bixby 2.0' Designed for Smart Home Products Like Refrigerators and TVs

Samsung today announced the second-generation version of its Bixby voice assistant, seven months after Bixby was first unveiled ahead of the launch of the Galaxy S8.

According to Samsung, Bixby 2.0 is a "fundamental leap forward for digital assistants" and a "bold reinvention of the platform," designed with the aim of making Bixby available on "any and all devices."


Bixby 2.0 will be available on smartphones, TVs, refrigerators, home speakers, and other connected technology products. Bixby 2.0 will be "open," allowing developers to choose how users interact with Bixby in their services.

Samsung says Bixby 2.0 features enhanced natural language capabilities to support more natural commands and complex processing, so it can "really get to know and understand" who you are and who members of your family are.

Bixby, a Siri competitor, was designed to be deeply integrated within apps, differentiating it from other AI-based assistants like Siri and Cortana. Samsung ran into trouble with Bixby early on, though, and was not able to include the assistant in the English versions of the Galaxy S8 and S8+ due to performance issues.

While Bixby performed well in Korean, its English voice recognition capabilities lagged behind, and so Bixby was not added to the Galaxy S8 and S8+ models in the United States until July, three months after the devices launched.

Galaxy S8 owners have complained that Bixby can be confusing and frustrating to use, and a lack of enthusiasm for the feature has even caused Samsung to implement a feature that allows the dedicated Bixby button on the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy Note 8 to be disabled.

Bixby was built using technology Samsung acquired from Viv, an AI assistant that was developed by some of the creators originally responsible for Apple's Siri.

Samsung is launching a private beta program with the Bixby SDK, available for select developers.

Tags: Samsung, Bixby

Top Rated Comments

GadgetBen Avatar
78 months ago
This is the problem with Samsung, they always announce new tech that simply isn't ready.

"Bixby, blow up my Samsung"
Score: 15 Votes (Like | Disagree)
69Mustang Avatar
78 months ago
Nope. Nope. Nope. Let people remap that dang button.:mad: Sammy, you really don't need an option for every Google service. Samsung Pay? Yeah, that's great. Really great. Murders Android Pay... murders all Pay's actually. Bixby? Give it the Elsa treatment: Let it go.

edit: Opinion as it relates to me. YMMV
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
JPack Avatar
78 months ago
Seems like Bixby and Microsoft Paperclip were made for each other.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
CB1234 Avatar
78 months ago
Siri is pretty useless, sure it recognizes the words, but it can't do anything. I always get... I'm sorry, I can't do that yet.

And the search results for Siri are awful. I find my self opening the chrome browser to use their search function as Siri's search result JUST SUCK!
For a minute I thought that this article was about Bixby, I was mistaken…
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
deanthedev Avatar
78 months ago
Bixby is amazing if you use it how it is met to be used. Much better than Siri.......
You mean if you ignore the things it can’t do but only use the ones it can? Sounds pretty amazing. /s
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
convergent Avatar
78 months ago
Typical Samsung, always throwing crap at the wall hoping some of it sticks.
Actually they are creating things that have real use. Bixby controls the internal functions of the phone, so it can be quite useful. Siri seems to be more of a party gimmick to ask it stupid questions and see what it says.

It’s a competitor to Siri? How do I get it to work with Apple Music, Apple Watch, and CarPlay?
Very intelligent.

You mean if you ignore the things it can’t do but only use the ones it can? Sounds pretty amazing. /s
If you try to use Microsoft Word to create a spreadsheet, it isn't go well. You use a tool for what it was intended. No, you can't be a moron and expect it to help you.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

iphone se 4 modified flag edges

iPhone SE 4 Details: Action Button, USB-C Port, Face ID, and More

Wednesday September 27, 2023 1:34 pm PDT by
Significant changes are expected to arrive with Apple's fourth-generation iPhone SE, in terms of both design and hardware, MacRumors has learned. The iPhone SE 4, known internally under the codename Ghost, is expected to receive a new design derived almost entirely from the base model iPhone 14. According to our sources, the iPhone SE 4 will use a modified version of the iPhone 14 chassis...
iOS 17

Apple Releases iOS 17.0.2 and iPadOS 17.0.2 for All iPhones and iPads

Tuesday September 26, 2023 12:47 pm PDT by
Apple today released iOS 17.0.2 and iPadOS 17.0.2 updates, with the software coming five days after the releases of iOS 17.0.1 and iPadOS 17.0.1. Today's iOS 17.0.2 and iPadOS 17.0.2 updates arrive as build 21A351 and can be downloaded on eligible iPhones and iPads over-the-air by going to Settings > General > Software Update. Note that iOS 17.0.2 was previously made available for iPhone...
iPhone 15 Pro Lineup Feature

Kuo: iPhone 15 Pro Overheating Issues Likely Due to Thermal Compromises, Not 3nm Node

Tuesday September 26, 2023 9:12 am PDT by
Complaints about heat issues with the iPhone 15 Pro models are not related to TSMC's 3-nanometer node that was used for the A17 Pro chip, according to well-respected Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. Kuo says that overheating could be caused by "compromises made in the thermal system design" that allowed Apple to cut down on the weight of the iPhone 15 Pro models. Kuo says that the reduced heat...
iOS 17

Everything New in iOS 17.1 Beta 1

Wednesday September 27, 2023 1:57 pm PDT by
Just a week after releasing iOS 17, Apple has seeded the first beta of iOS 17.1 to developers. iOS 17.1 adds some features that Apple promised were coming to iOS 17 in the future, plus it refines and improves some existing features. This guide covers everything new in the first iOS 17.1 beta. Apple Music Favorites You can favorite songs, albums, playlists, and artists in the iOS 17.1...
macos sonoma 4

Apple Releases macOS Sonoma With New Widget Features, Safari Updates, Screen Sharing Improvements and More

Tuesday September 26, 2023 10:01 am PDT by
Apple today released macOS 14 Sonoma, the newest version of the operating system that runs on the Mac. macOS Sonoma has been in beta testing for several months, and it is compatible with the 2019 and later iMac, the iMac Pro, the 2018 and later Mac mini, the 2018 and later MacBook Pro, the 2019 and later Mac Pro, and the Mac Studio. The ‌macOS Sonoma update can be downloaded for free on...