Big Galaxy S8 Feature Just Confirmed by Samsung

Samsung recently published to its webpage images of the services that will support its mobile-payments platform Samsung Pay. Among the services listed was an as-yet announced offering called Bixby.

While the Samsung leak on Bixby doesn't shed too much light on how it works, SamMobile says you'll be able to issue a voice command to Bixby to send someone money and it will do it through Samsung Pay. Again, Samsung hasn't confirmed that's the case, but judging by the leaked image, which was captured by BGR, it appears something like it could be in the works.

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While Bixby might not mean much at first blush, it's rumored to be the name Samsung is assigning to the virtual personal assistant it will bundle in its next flagship smartphone, the Galaxy S8. Several recent reports have said Samsung will call its virtual assistant Bixby, and the company has already filed trademark papers to ensure it can do just that. Bixby would compete with the likes of Apple's Siri, Microsoft's Cortana, and Amazon's Alexa.

Last year, Samsung acquired Viv Labs, an artificial-intelligence company that was founded by two of the people behind Apple's Siri. Viv has created what many consider one of the market's most capable and reliable virtual personal assistants. After Samsung acquired the company last year, however, Viv was folded into its operations.

Over the last few months, rumors have been swirling that the Galaxy S8 could come with an AI feature based on the technology delivered by Viv. The handset will reportedly have a button that users could press and activate the Bixby.

Samsung is expected to announce the Galaxy S8 in April and launch it the same month.

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