Samsung has unveiled the next-generation Bixby, a smarter AI assistant for Galaxy users. Powered by large language models (LLMs), the new version can understand natural language and context much better. It made its global debut in China today. The Samsung W25 and W25 Flip, the Chinese versions of the Galaxy Z Fold Special Edition and Galaxy Z Flip 6, ship with the next-generation Bixby.
Samsung’s Bixby AI assistant gets major update
Earlier this year, Samsung announced Bixby integration for its high-end home appliances, promising an upgraded digital voice assistant with advanced contextual understanding. This enhanced Bixby can handle more natural language, recognize sentences with multiple commands, remember past conversations, and provide detailed information about connected devices for a seamless experience.
This update is now rolling out to mobile devices, starting with the Chinse version of Samsung’s latest foldables. The Korean firm’s demo provided a few examples of how the new Bixby is better than the current version. When you say, “It’s cloudy outside. What should I wear to work today?” Bixby understands you aren’t sure about the weather projections for the day and pulls up the relevant information.
If there are chances of rain, it can advise you to wear a raincoat on the way to work. You can continue the conversation with a command like, “How much time will it take for me to reach there?” Bixby will understand that you are asking about the traffic conditions and the estimated arrival time considering the weather outlook. It will provide the necessary information, including the quickest route to your workplace.
Additionally, Bixby can provide step-by-step guides for various tasks on your Galaxy phone. The AI assistant can explain the procedure to add a watermark to images captured using the camera, find the calendar entry for your family function, and fetch information from other apps. It can even offer contextual help based on what’s on the screen, including directions to an address your friend sent over a message.
This update also brings a UI overhaul
Alongside major functional upgrades, the new Bixy gets a UI overhaul. It offers multi-colored animations similar to Google Gemini and Apple Sire. The app now has a fullscreen UI and can be summoned on top of any other app. This allows you to get contextual help based on what you are doing on your phone. If you are creating a presentation, Bixby can help you generate a spreadsheet from the provided data.
You can converse with Bixby through text or voice. Now that the new version is available on phones, expect a global rollout soon. Or maybe we’ll have to wait until the One UI 7.0 update. The Android 15 update for Galaxy devices is expected to hit the beta stage later this month. The stable version arrives with the Galaxy S25 series in early 2025. Stay tuned for more about the “new Bixby” and One UI 7.0.
