Samsung is gearing up to launch its 2017 flagship device on March 29, and leaks about the Galaxy S8 have been overflowing. The latest one brings more information about the rumoured digital assistant Bixby, hinting that it will come with support for 8 languages.
South Korean publication ETNews reports that Bixby will support eight different languages on launch. This is even more than Google Assistant that was launched last year, which supports few languages including English, Hindi, German, and Portuguese (only on Allo). Bixby is expected to support eight in comparison. However, Apple will still rule in this department with Siri offering support for more than 30 languages.
Bixby is also expected to be integrated into native apps like Camera to help in doing visual search and text recognition. The female voice of the virtual assistant is said to be called Kestra, while Bixby will be the name for the male voice. Recent images hint that the Samsung Galaxy S8 will have a dedicated Bixby button on the edge of the smartphone to activate the digital assistant easily. Samsung acquired Viv Labs (the folks who made Siri), and Bixby is a by-product of that acquisition. The company looks to integrate Bixby into future IoT products as well.
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Samsung Galaxy S8 specifications and features
Rounding off all the rumors and leaks, Samsung is expected to launch the Galaxy S8 in two variants with display sizes of 5.8-inch and 6.2-inch. At the core of the smartphone, it could run either the in-house Exynos 8895 chipset paired with Mali-G71 GPU or Qualcomm’s latest Snapdragon 835 chipset. In terms of RAM and storage, the Galaxy S8 could come with 4GB of RAM and 64GB onboard storage. The alleged higher variant dubbed Galaxy S8 Plus could feature a bigger 6GB of RAM and 128GB onboard storage.
For photography, Samsung could retain the 12-megapixel camera on the rear end which will be equipped with f/1.7 aperture. Up front, the Galaxy S8 could house an 8-megapixel selfie camera which is said to come with auto-focus and iris scanner as well. For power, the Galaxy S8 could use a 3,250mAh battery whereas the Galaxy S8 Plus would use a bigger 3,750mAh battery. Samsung is reportedly discussing a supply deal with Japan’s Murata Manufacturing for its batteries, instead of the company’s usual battery supplier, China’s Amperex Technology. In terms of connectivity, the Galaxy S8 will feature a USB Type-C port, and unlike Apple’s iPhones, it will come with the 3.5mm audio jack.
Talking about its features, the Galaxy S8 is expected to come with the AI assistant Bixby, which will have a dedicated button on the side. This button will launch Bixby on pressing it. The Galaxy S8 is also said to come with a Continuum-like desktop feature. For this feature, the smartphone will come with a dock called DeX which will allow one to use the smartphone as a desktop by connecting it to a monitor and keyboard. This will presumably be similar to Microsoft Windows’ Continuum feature.
In terms of pricing, the Galaxy S8 will most likely cost more that the Galaxy S7. The 5.8-inch Galaxy S8 variant is expected to be priced around €799 (Rs 58,100 approximately), and the 6.2-inch variant could be placed around €899 (Rs 65,400 approximately). In comparison, the Galaxy S7 was launched for Rs 48,900, while the Galaxy S7 edge was launched for Rs 56,900. The Galaxy S8 is expected to go on sale starting April 21.
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