One of the few things we know for sure about the Samsung Galaxy S8 is that it will come with a new AI assistant, but it seems we might get two versions of it, with both male and female voices potentially in the works.
Earlier this month Samsung applied to trademark the name Bixby, which was at the time thought to be the name of the assistant, but GalaxyClub has spotted that Samsung has also now registered the name Kestra, along with several variations on Bixby, such as Bix-bee and BixBy.
Kestra sounds like a female name, leading to rumors that there will be two versions of the assistant, which would make sense, as giving users a choice of voices could help its popularity.
But this is just a rumor for now – it’s possible that Bixby and Kestra have nothing to do with Samsung’s AI.
That’s not the only new Samsung Galaxy S8 rumor as according to prolific Weibo leaker I ice universe, the Galaxy S8 will come with up to 256GB of built-in storage – up from a maximum of 64GB in the Samsung Galaxy S7.
Pricier to build, but not to buy
With all these rumored improvements, which according to earlier leaks could also include a dual-lens camera, 6GB of RAM and a fingerprint scanner built into the screen, the bill of materials could be 28% higher than it was on the Samsung Galaxy S7, according to the same Weibo source.
Yet SlashGear, which pulled all these rumors together, claims that extra cost won’t be passed on to consumers, with the Galaxy S8 apparently set to have the same price tag as the Galaxy S7.
That would make the S8 – at least in its smallest storage size – £569/AU$1149 (around $750). Hopefully that’s more than just wishful thinking, but we should know for sure soon, with the phone likely to be announced right before MWC 2017 at the end of February.
Sourse: techradar.com
I’m pretty sure S Voice can have male or female voices. Doesn’t change the fact that it’s not as good as Google Now…