Samsung Says 'Bixby 2.0' Smart Speaker Will Feature Multi-User Voice Recognition

[MacRumors]

Samsung has announced at the Mobile World Congress that version 2.0 of its Bixby voice assistant will launch with the Galaxy Note 9 and come with support for recognizing individual voices (via ZDNet).

Samsung mobile chief D J Koh said that Bixby 2.0 is being tested by approximately 800 partners and is helping the company to develop a "wider scope of voice assistant features", one of which is the ability to recognize individual voices on devices supporting multiple users.

Development of the feature makes sense given Samsung's plans to launch a television set with built-in Bixby next month, as well as a Bixby-enabled smart speaker set for release in the second half of 2018.

Amazon's Echo devices and Google's Home smart speakers already include voice matching settings which let multiple users access personalized services, however Apple's HomePod lacks such a feature.

For Siri commands that interact with user-specific information, only the Apple ID account holder who sets up the HomePod speaker is able to use the additional functionality, and Apple hasn't revealed any plans to bring multi-user voice recognition to its Siri virtual assistant anytime soon.

Article Link: Samsung Says 'Bixby 2.0' Smart Speaker Will Feature Multi-User Voice Recognition

 

[cardfan]

Bloatware speakers...lol. Can’t imagine who’d want this.

 

[Bswails]

Something I do hope is a simple software update?

 

[Return Zero]

I love Bixby... It's the one reason I can honestly say that Siri isn't the worst digital assistant out there.

 

[HQuest]

For Siri commands that interact with user-specific information

Other than Reminders and SMS text, is there anything else it currently can access as personal information?

, only the Apple ID account holder who sets up the HomePod speaker is able to use the additional functionality

So if multiple persons are sharing the same Home, only the main owner can use Siri? This looks different from other users reports...
(Still waiting wife to come back home to test this by myself)

 

[Statusnone88]

I love Bixby... It's the one reason I can honestly say that Siri isn't the worst digital assistant out there.

I’ve seen a real time demo of the new translate feature from the Bixby camera in the new S9. Holy crap it works amazing fast and smooth.

 

[TrueBlou]

Other than Reminders and SMS text, is there anything else it currently can access as personal information?

So if multiple persons are sharing the same Home, only the main owner can use Siri? This looks different from other users reports...
(Still waiting wife to come back home to test this by myself)

No, anyone can use the HomePod, but it’s only linked to the account which set it up for the time being. My wife uses Siri on my HomePod.

So any commands to add things to reminders or send messages, or whatever all happen on the account which set the HomePod up.

It’s bound to change to multi-user voice recognition eventually. Apple filed a patent for just such a feature last year. So once they’ve perfected it, it’ll come in a software update.

 

[rikscha]

Give it two more years before this comes to Siri..

 

[5105973]

I’ve seen a real time demo of the new translate feature from the Bixby camera in the new S9. Holy crap it works amazing fast and smooth.

It’s built off of Google Translate, which also works decently fast on iPhone and Google Pixel and current Samsung phones. I’m not sure if this new Bixby version saves any steps and is faster, though. I need to see the demo you saw.

Bixby isn’t horrible but needs a lot of work. The thing is, Samsung seems very committed to developing it and they’re like a dog with a bone when they want to get something right. They will keep pushing.

 

[Return Zero]

I’ve seen a real time demo of the new translate feature from the Bixby camera in the new S9. Holy crap it works amazing fast and smooth.

I remember when that Word Lens app first came out... It was like magic. I guess google ended up buying them. Anyway, I actually have no idea how well Bixby is in the day-to-day, since I've only used it once or twice.

 

[69Mustang]

So if multiple persons are sharing the same Home, only the main owner can use Siri? This looks different from other users reports...
(Still waiting wife to come back home to test this by myself)

Slight misinterpretation of what that statement from MR means.
Multiple people can use the HomePod. Only the Apple ID owner used in the set up can access personal information. In your case, you can read your texts. Your wife cannot read her texts.

In an ideal world, Apple will update the HomePod with the ability to differentiate your voice from hers and act on each of your information separately.

 

[nfl46]

Siri > Bixby

That's rare. Lol. Apple Maps and Siri are hilariously bad.

 

[Quibs]

No, anyone can use the HomePod, but it’s only linked to the account which set it up for the time being. My wife uses Siri on my HomePod.

So any commands to add things to reminders or send messages, or whatever all happen on the account which set the HomePod up.

It’s bound to change to multi-user voice recognition eventually. Apple filed a patent for just such a feature last year. So once they’ve perfected it, it’ll come in a software update.

“...it’ll come in a software update.”

You mean doled out in small incremental hardware refreshes.

 

[orbital~debris]

Can’t imagine HomePod will linger for long without this capability.

A software update - a la the transition from early versions of watchOS to a more rounded, nuanced edition - should do it, as the hardware is very capable.

 

[TrueBlou]

“...it’ll come in a software update.”

You mean doled out in small incremental hardware refreshes.

Oh there will definitely be those over the course of the next several years. I’m also one of “those” who believe there will be a HomePod Mini somewhere down the line.

But I do expect individual voice validation to be a software update. Just as the sound profiles to reduce bass for late night listening will be a software update soon.

I’m most curious to see what developers do with SiriKit for HomePod. I’m looking at it for one of my upcoming apps. Though I’d like them to open it up a bit more. In typical Apple fashion they probably will, roll on WWDC.

There’s a lot Apple can add to HomePod via software and they do have as good a track record of supporting existing hardware, as they do hardware revisions. Just look at Apple Watch or even AirPods. They’ll update it over time with new features as usual.

 

[mtneer]

Come on MR, which one is it - a Bixby "smart speaker" or the Bixby "assistant"?? The headline seems to talk about hardware and the article seems to talk about software.

 

[neutralguy]

I love Bixby... It's the one reason I can honestly say that Siri isn't the worst digital assistant out there.

Yes. If we can't be better, let's find someone or something that's worse than us to make us feel better.

 

[TrueBlou]

Yes. If we can't be better, let's find someone or something that's worse than us to make us feel better.

Aye, there’s nothing like just being happy with what you have

 

[neutralguy]

I’ve seen a real time demo of the new translate feature from the Bixby camera in the new S9. Holy crap it works amazing fast and smooth.

It's there on S8 too. I bought a boy scout survival kit for my son from Amazon. And the instruction sheet inside was in Chinese. All I had to do was turn on bixby and point the camera at the sheet. In a few second, I got the whole translation in English.

 

[conceptvbs123]

I love Bixby... It's the one reason I can honestly say that Siri isn't the worst digital assistant out there.

It's pretty clear you haven't used Bixby. You'll be surprised how capable it is. Siri IS the worst digital assistant.

 

[Return Zero]

It's pretty clear you haven't used Bixby. You'll be surprised how capable it is. Siri IS the worst digital assistant.

Actually I don't doubt that... I have only used it once or twice. I'm just going off its reputation, most of which has to do with how much people hated the dedicated Bixby button

 

[neutralguy]

Actually I don't doubt that... I have only used it once or twice. I'm just going off its reputation, most of which has to do with how much people hated the dedicated Bixby button

I hate that button too. I think bixby option in the camera app is pretty good. But I notice some incremental improvements to Bixby. Now if I press the button, I get news, weather everything at one place.

 

[sidewinder3000]

Apple hasn't revealed any plans to bring multi-user voice recognition to its Siri virtual assistant anytime soon.

Apple rarely reveals future development plans. But if they aren’t working behind the scenes on multi-user voice recognition, they’re making a big mistake.

 

[TrueBlou]

Apple rarely reveals future development plans. But if they aren’t working behind the scenes on multi-user voice recognition, they’re making a big mistake.

As I mentioned earlier in the thread, Apple was granted a patent last year for multi-user voice recognition. So the good news is they’re almost definitely bringing it to Siri, it’s just a matter of when.

 

[Tmelon]

It’s just a matter of time before Bixby ends up in the grave with S Voice and all of the other discontinued Samsung apps that were headline features of previous Galaxy S phones.