Samsung will integrate digital assistant from Siri makers into smartphones in 2017

Samsung will integrate the new digital assistant that the makers of Siri are developing into smartphones next year. Before that, electronics giant acquired Viv Labs, the company Siri developers founded after they left Apple.

The intention is that Samsung will also integrate Viv in other equipment in addition to smartphones, the manufacturer says. For example, Viv should become a digital assistant that users can use on multiple devices. In addition, Samsung wants to enable developers to build services into the software.

Viv’s assistant should differentiate itself from current digital assistants by being able to handle more complex tasks and combine services, so that users can, for example, not only book a restaurant, but immediately book a taxi to get to and from the establishment. Viv first demonstrated his assistant a few months ago.

Before the founders of Viv Labs started their new digital assistant, they worked at Apple. Apple acquired their startup Siri in 2010 and integrated that assistant into iPhones starting in 2011. Siri can also be used on Mac computers since this year.

It is unknown what Samsung pays for Viv. In addition to an attack on Siri from Apple, the step also seems to be a step to thwart Google’s Assistant. Google has put its Assistant in its Pixel smartphones, but that function is not yet available in other smartphones.