Samsung still needs more data to launch Bixby in English, report says

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English-speaking Galaxy S8 owners will have to wait even longer for the digital assistant Samsung promised them well before the phone’s launch.

Things just aren’t getting any better for Bixby. The English-language version of Samsung’s virtual assistant was supposed to debut before the end of June, but that due date came and went without any noise. Now, the latest report from the Korea Herald may explain why.

Bixby’s inability to process English grammar and syntax is, in fact, the result of a lack of data, according to the article. This is not terribly surprising, given that the machine-learning models which underpin digital assistants thrive on repeated usage. If Samsung is trying to install Bixby with a deep understanding of the language, it will need an abundance of trials to make it possible.

That could explain why Samsung emphasized further beta testing in a statement made in May. “Bixby Voice benefits from time to further enhance natural language understanding,” a representative from the company told Digital Trends at the time, “and we are currently growing our user testing in the U.S. to prepare for launch.”

This is now the second major delay the virtual assistant has faced since Samsung’s flagship Galaxy S8 smartphone launched in April. The handset released alongside other Bixby features, such as Vision, Home, and Reminder, though the Voice portion of the software — easily the most significant aspect — was curiously omitted outside the South Korean market.

Koh Dong-jin, Samsung’s mobile chief, said the English version would be out by May. When that did not happen, the company turned everyone’s attention to last month.

The continued absence is even more striking considering Samsung’s bullish move to place a dedicated Bixby button on the side of the S8. One day, that key should trigger Bixby Voice. As of now, it still only leads to Hello Bixby, a Google Now-like card interface that aggregates weather, calendar appointments, news stories, and other areas of interest.

So where could Bixby be headed from here? Unsatisfactory responses from beta testing in the States seemingly instilled the company with doubt over a full release in June. Samsung will need even more time to catch up to Google, Amazon, and Apple in terms of data to perfect its assistant — and it was already well behind to begin with. Closing the gap has proved difficult, thanks to another roadblock mentioned in the Herald’s report.

According to an anonymous source referenced by the publication, geographic and language barriers have broken down communications between the American and South Korean development teams. That ironic twist means the Korean version has advanced at a far quicker pace than the English software.

Analysts expected Bixby’s English debut wouldn’t be delayed past the fall, but that possibility is looking more and more likely as Samsung’s struggles continue. Meanwhile, rumors suggest the company has been forced to push back plans for a stand-alone Bixby-powered smart speaker, similar to Amazon’s Echo, Google Home, and Apple’s upcoming HomePod.