Bixby Spotlighted as Samsung Pushes AI Across 2019 Products

January 9, 2019 by Rebecca Day|Consumer Electronics

Artificial intelligence dominated Samsung’s pre-CES news conference, giving the company’s late-to-the-party Bixby voice engine a starring role in connected homes. HS Kim, consumer electronics division CEO, spoke of Samsung’s expanded ecosystem in the IoT, citing partnerships with Amazon, Bose, Google and Sylvania. On 8K, another focus Monday in Las Vegas at CES (see 1901070063), Dave Das, general manager-consumer electronics product marketing, highlighted AI in smart TVs. AI in the TVs can recognize and upscale any content, Das said. AI will be in Samsung’s new Universal Guide for 2019 for customers to find content, including with Bixby. Started as a voice assistant for Galaxy phones, the virtual assistant will grow as more partners join the ecosystem, said Arvin Baalu, a Samsung Harman vice president. Bixby will let users control vehicles, Baalu said. Jim Elliott, senior vice president-sales and marketing-semiconductors, said Samsung chips will drive the shift in data processing from centralized data centers to edge devices. Samsung earlier announced a partnership with Apple, as did others (see 1901070033).