Ai-assisted Home Appliances
In the first half of the year, Samsung Electronics will launch TVs and washing machines loaded with Bixby, an AI assistant. The company is planning to accelerate its AI solution upgrade by expanding Bixby into entire household appliances after releasing Bixby-based smartphones and refrigerators last year.
According to Samsung Electronics on February 13, Samsung Electronics will officially launch a new TV model in New York of the US in March. In addition, the Korean electronics giant will apply Bixby to its washing machines in line with the start of the spring season. "The time of the launches will vary slightly from country to country," a Samsung Electronics official said. “It is part of a strategy to load Bixby into all of our products by 2020."
Bixby is an AI voice recognition service that rivals Google's Google Assistant and Amazon's Alexa. Samsung Electronics first applied Bixby to its smartphone which is a mobile device and the refrigerator for the first time among home electronics products. Recently, Samsung also launched an air conditioner loaded with Bixby.
In the case of Bixby-based TVs, they are expected to provide a service that enables users to easily find desired contents on TV channels. Consumers do not search by remote control. They only say commands such as "Show a movie starring Leonardo DiCaprio" and "Turn off the TV in three hours." Bixby-based washing machines are expected to have the function of recommending consumers to washing courses and the amount of detergent input. In addition, they are expected to easily learn frequently used washing methods by households, order detergents and diagnose product errors.
Samsung Electronics is accelerating the launch of Bixby-based home appliances in order to raise its AI level as quickly as possible. This is because Samsung aims to compete shoulder to shoulder with Google and Amazon already leading the AI market by building massive consumer data. The more consumers use Bixby, the higher its level goes up as information such as consumer habits and language are accumulated.
In the industry, it is said that the Bixby ecosystem which Samsung Electronics will build on its own be put to the test in earnest. LG Electronics, Sony, and Haier among others are using AI assistants of Google and Amazon, but Samsung is sticking with Bixby. "If experiences provided by Bixby are differentiated, Bixby can secure a solid position. Otherwise, it can weaken the competitiveness of Samsung's home appliances," an industry official said.