How Voice Computing Will Transform the Way We Live - Issue #42

This week Samsung showed the first glance for the Galaxy Series latest model the S10. The video ad was mainly showcasing Bixby, their smart assistant. We also learned just yesterday after the Samsung’s Unpacked event that Bixby is going global, launching support for 4 European languages, official versions of British English, German, Italian and Spanish are now globally available. Samsung’s smart speaker will be available in April. If you combine this information with the Apple acquisition of PullString (Plus the executive shake up), the two companies that have been the farthest behind in the voice technology race are showing their heads with the potential to change the market space. I talked back in November of last year when Samsung presented Bixby:

My opinion hasn’t changed over the months, specially since Samsung is also hiring developer evangelists and reaching out to developers to ensure they have the support of the company in their development process. That’s increasingly relevant: Developer attention is the currency for modern platforms and digital assistants are no exception.

Lastly, Facebook, another company who has been trailing at the smart speaker and digital assistants race, signaled that shouldn’t be discounted. Facebook Chief Scientist Yann LeCun said to The Financial Times:

This is going to be a very interesting year for voice technology. Expect more announcements from the major technology companies in the world in the battle to own the voice.

Join me at the SuperBot Conference 2019.

The SuperBot conference will be held San Francisco next Tuesday April 2nd. You can use code “mari” to register and get 25% off price here. See you there!

As always, much ❤️.

Will really love to start a discussion around this and hear different opinions on it. Hit me up!

The community will comprise several roles highlighting an ethics code, voice first ratings and other committees that will work to provide guidance on standards for marketing analytics, standards for interoperability, and standards related to specific industry verticals such as healthcare, manufacturing, banking, and more.

Needless to say this is outstanding. The leadership shown by the two biggest community events organizers for voice events: Bradley Metrock and Pete Erickson is only shadowed by the wideness of their ideas. Very excited for a voice first community, and looking forward to collaborating and helping in the community.

This article is adapted from Talk to Me: How Voice Computing Will Transform the Way We Live, Work, and Think, by James Vlahos, to be published in March by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

This is the one you shouldn’t miss this week. Fascinating read on the modern digital assistant space.