Samsung brings AI to IoT with Bixby 2.0

Samsung first introduced their virtual assistant Bixby with the launch of their flagship Galaxy S8 and S8+. It was a means to make smartphone and app operations easier for their users. Now, the company is ready to step it up and bring Bixby not only to smartphones but also to a number of different devices and services, particularly their Internet of Things (IoT) platform.

Samsung promises that Bixby’s update, conveniently dubbed as Bixby 2.0, will be ubiquitous and available on any and all devices. By any and all devices, the company meant that the virtual assistant, to be powered by the cloud, can now act as the control hub of your device ecosystem which includes your mobile phone’s, TV’s, refrigerators, home speakers or any other smart device and appliance.

Perhaps the most interesting of Samsung’s announcement though is that Bixby 2.0 will be an open platform. Which means, developers are given the freedom to model how Bixby works in their services, devices, or applications.

Other than that, they also announced that the first private beta program of Bixby SDK starts today which, for now, can only be accessed by select developers. Oddly enough, the company did not disclose any details on the virtual assistant’s updates or new features.