Samsung could launch a $ 300 Bixby smart speaker at the August 9th event

Samsung has not yet managed to shake the dull reputation of its Bixby digital badistant, especially compared to rivals Google's Assistant, Alexa, and even Siri. But the company seems to want to make Bixby a clever speaker that will resemble Echo, Google Home and Apple's HomePod.

The Wall Street Journal reports that Samsung could announce this device in the next month. If this is true, the likely launch target would be August 9th, which is Samsung's Unpacked event for the Galaxy Note 9. It seems that the company is planning further surprises, based on this report . The price rumor? $ 300

Samsung has already directly confirmed the development of such a speaker. A new Galaxy Watch smartwatch could also be unveiled at the event Note.

According to the Journal, the Samsung speaker "has a bowled shape, with a bottomed legs and lights at the top . " would intend to market its product primarily as a premium speaker, with the "smart" features as an added convenience. The Bixby loudspeaker is said to include "sound transfer, where the speaker's audio can be directed to a person providing verbal commands". It is also likely to serve as a platform for the SmartThings ecosystem of the home. Samsung has already released high-end home speakers, such as the Radiant360.

Photo by Drew Angerer / Getty Images

But when he enters the smart speaker market, Samsung faces stiff competition at a price range. $ 300 would be less than Apple's HomePod speaker ($ 350) and Google's $ 400 Home Max, but it's still well above the $ 100 Amazon Echo and is even more expensive than high-end speakers like the Sonos One .

Bixby's main badet on Samsung smartphones is its ability to adjust granular settings or progress across multiple screens to perform actions – like posting a gallery photo on Instagram – that Google Assistant can not do. But on a speaker? We will see what distinguishes it.