Multiple trademark filings have revealed that the Samsung Galaxy S8’s Viv-powered digital assistants could be named Bixby or Kestra.
Rumours emerged earlier this year revealing that Samsung – fresh after acquiring Viv, the artificial intelligence built by the co-founder of Siri – has now cemented plans to install its own dedicated virtual assistant aboard its next flagship, the Galaxy S8. Now, we seem to have a name (or two) to put to the persona we might soon get to know; Bixby or Kestra.
The names, listed in multiple trademark filings lodged with Korean and European intellectual property regulators, demonstrate what could be a version of Viv aboard the Galaxy S8.
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The chaebol, moving on from its dismal S-Voice system, has elected to grant its new virtual assistant with a name this time around in a bid to render the system somewhat of a more personable entity.
Whereas Google’s simply-named Assistant offers utility and Apple’s Siri has now expanded to the Mac, it’s clear that Samsung sees a future in the presence of an intelligent assistant and is moving to secure its own dedicated solution before Google Assistant reaches general Android phones beyond the Pixel and Pixel XL.
Both the KIPRIS (Korea Intellectual Property Rights Information Service) and EUIPO (European Union Intellectual Property Office) have registered entries for different pronunciations and spellings of ‘Bixby’ and ‘Kestra’ underneath Samsung’s brand name.
Both assistants are reported to be used for purposes limited to smartphones, including dictation, voice recognition, and other tasks requiring voice control.
One hypothesis is that either the ‘Bixby’ or ‘Kestra’ name could refer to different voice sets (hypothetically, male or female) while other pundits and predicted that different intelligences might handle different tasks. Another alternative is that the system will make use of different names in different territories.
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What are your thoughts? Is ‘Bixby’ or ‘Kestra’ an enticing name for Samsung’s new virtual assistant? Be sure to let us know your thoughts in the comments below!
Follow Bryan Smith on Twitter: @bryansmithSA
