Samsung’s mobile head D.J. Koh has official confirmed that his company is working on a smart speaker powered by its digital assistant Bixby that will debut in the second half of this year.
According to The Wall Street Journal on Monday, Samsung’s technology roadmap extends to 2025 and on it is a voice-activated speaker.
It should focus on sound quality like HomePod because Bixby is still rough around the edges and not very capable compared to Alexa and Google Assistant. Samsung owns Harman Kardon so their speaker should give HomePod a run for its money in terms of audio quality.
A yet-to-be-named device will target a higher-end of the market rather than scraping the bottom of the barrel by competing with Amazon’s Echo range.
“When I introduce the first model, I don’t want to give the impression that Samsung delivered another affordable mass model,” said Koh. “I want to focus on more premium.”
Pricing for Samsung’s upcoming Bixby tabletop device is still not determined, though it could eventually be set at different tiers, the executive added.
HomePod went on sale last month and received some glowing reviews, with many reviewers praising its sound and build quality. In terms of smart assistant integration, however, HomePod’s Siri falls behind Alex on Echo devices and Google Assistant.
Image: HomePod’s Siri listening graphics