While Amazon and Google have already made their mark, another new contender has shown its arrival, with Apple’s very own HomePod smart speaker, powered by Siri. With the Smart speaker market now saturated with three different AI-powered entities, Samsung still thinks it has something to offer in the segment, with the company coming out with its very own Bixby-powered speaker.
Rumors on Samsung’s own AI-powered speaker comes just days after the HomePod announcement (file photo)
South Korea’s leading newspaper, the Korea Herald had recently spread word about the company’s new undertaking in the smart speaker space. Their report indicated that Samsung was working on a home audio device which is most likely to feature the company’s home-baked AI.
It will be the same assistant that was found in the Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus, but how different it will be compared to the competition is yet to be seen. There has been some talk from the company itself regarding expanding its products and services to include a more connected eco-system of devices to market, with Bixby at the centre of this connection.
There are speculations that the speaker by Samsung will probably not be arriving any time soon. This is owing to the recent announcement by the company regarding the delay of the AI platform to US Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus handsets.
The firm as of yet, still has the speaker under development, but it seems that the company has sorted the patent formalities behind the speaker so far. Samsung will want to directly compete with the other new kid around the block – Apple’s HomePod, but it seems as though it will be sometime before we will get to see the Bixby speaker in action.
The patent filed by Samsung regarding the speaker shows it will feature its own screen that will be mounted on top of a tripod. What conflicts this story is that Harman, which is a subsidiary of Samsung, has now partnered with Microsoft to bring about its very own smart speaker powered by Cortana. So, it seems unlikely the Samsung may consider the same kind of technology powering its AI. The clues are very vague so far, but there are numerous rumors circulating around Samsung’s involvement into the smart speaker scene.
The HomePod is going to be more expensive than the Alexa powered Amazon Echo or the Google Home, making it twice as expensive as the current competition. What is supposed to set the HomePod apart from the Echo and Google Home is its affinity for high-quality sound. Only time will tell whether Apple and Samsung will be able to overtake the current segment leaders.
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