Users Can Download Bixby Capsules from Marketplace
Samsung Electronics has begun to expand the ecosystem for Bixby, its artificial intelligence (AI) personal assistant.
The company opened a Bixby marketplace on June 27 where some Korean and U.S. users of its smartphones can download “Bixby Capsules.” The “capsule” concept was first introduced by Samsung Electronics last year with the launch of the Galaxy Note 9 and New Bixby (Bixby 2.0). A Bixby Capsule is similar to Amazon Alexa’s “skill.” Each capsule contains everything Bixby needs to know about a domain, from defining use cases and models to dialogs and layouts.
A Bixby Marketplace update will be carried out sequentially for users until early July. Users will be able to use the functions through the latest Bixby Voice update at Galaxy Store.
Users will be able to download capsules from Bixby Voice without installing a separate application.
At the time of the Bixby Capsule service launch, capsules were limited to Mango Plate and Starbucks. But at the moment, the number of capsules grew to about 50 with the addition of capsules for T Map, Everland, and Lotte Cinema. You can download the Samsung Fire Direct Capsule and say, “Let me know about the coverage of my insurance policy” and listen to news from CBS Capsule by receiving it from Bixby Marketplace.
In November last year, Samsung launched Bixby Developer Studio, an integration tool for Bixby application development. By providing developers with Bixby Software Development Kit and an integrated Bixby development environment, everyone can develop Bixby Capsules.
At present, all capsules are provided free of charge. But Samsung Electronics is considering expanding the capsule business into paid premium capsules and subscription capsules in the future.