Is Bixby the Samsung voice recognition system set to go the same route as their ill fated Tizen OS.
Samsung has recently moved to allow users to disable the Bixby button on Galaxy 8 and Note 8 phones and at the recent IFA Show in Berlin executives at Harman a Company that was recently purchased by Samsung refused to say why the had not developed a Bixby voice speaker after revealing offerings built on the Amazon, Google and Microsoft voice recognition platforms.
Research has revealed that users of the S8 haven’t felt the need for the dedicated button or have been annoyed by how often its placement caused them to accidentally launch the assistant – but until now Samsung wouldn’t allow users to turn it off.
The latest Bixby update, now, includes a new toggle that lets you choose to disable the launching of Bixby Home from the button.
To do so, all users have to do is install the update, open the new toggle or Bixby setting, and select ‘don’t open anything’
Users, cannot disable Bixby itself – this will only disable the command from the dedicated Bixby button, and users can still swipe left or use voice commands to summon the assistant.
And while the Bixby button can be disabled, it can’t be assigned to do anything else.
Due to users’ frustration with the button, third-party developers have created apps that allowed users to remap the button to launch different apps instead, but Samsung blocked these.
It appears that the option is rolling out slowly to Galaxy 8 and Note 8 users, as the option to turn it off has been appearing on only some of the Bixby-enabled devices so far.
BIXBY’S KEY FEATURES
– Operates through ‘Quick Commands,’ which allows users to create custom voice commands
– Uses deep learning technology to understand the way you speak, ask questions and make requests
– Improves over time to recognise your personal preferences and style of speaking
– Acts as an intelligent interface, and can be integrated into other apps
– When an application becomes Bixby-enabled, the assistant will support almost every task that the application is capable of performing using voice, touch or text.
