Samsung’s Bixby — the company’s answer to Siri and Google Assistant and the like — got off to a bit of a rocky start when it launched back in 2017, but they’re forging ahead with it.
The company just announced at CES that Bixby will be integrated into all of its new U.S. smart TVs in 2018.
It’ll let you do all the basics you’d expect of a voice assistant, from asking questions about the weather to finding new TV shows with your voice. But it’ll also all hook into Samsung’s SmartThings hub app, allowing you to control your myriad IoT devices by way of your TV.
At least based on the onstage demo, it looks like voice input is handled via a mic in the remote in the same vein as Siri on Apple TV or Alexa on Fire TV. Push a button, talk to your remote and you’re set.
I still prefer the various voice assistants around my house to be standalone speakers for the time being, particularly as all of the companies involved work out the kinks and iterate on the concept. If I decide to switch from one assistant to another, it’s a whole lot easier to replace a $50 speaker than it is to replace a $1,500 TV.
