Samsung Galaxy Home smart speaker promises to catch up

Foldable phones side, Samsung had a lot to say about its artificially intelligent voice assistant, Bixby at the annual conference of the company's developers this week. This included an update to the bizarre Galaxy Home smart speaker, which is looking to give Alexa, Siri and Google Assistant new competition by bringing Bixby straight into your living room.

The problem? We still do not know when the Galaxy Home will arrive or how much it will cost.

That's a bit surprising considering that Samsung initially launched the Galaxy Home at three feet in the end version 2018. Now, with the holiday shopping season already underway, it seems unlikely that we will see it this year. The Korean conglomerate does not need to look any further than Apple to understand the potential pitfalls of such a delay – the company's smart speaker, powered by Siri, Apple HomePod, has seen its release postponed from late 2017 to early 2018 and has since is struggling to capture a significant share of the smart speaker market.

the Galaxy Home will face even harsher headwinds when it arrives, as the category continues to mature at a rapid pace, but Samsung remains optimistic about its catch-up chances, and praises Bixby's smart speaker as "a gateway to your connected life". For now, here is everything we know about it so far.

It's going to direct & # 39; the sound towards you

The Galaxy Home is equipped with Harman speakers and subwoofer hardware inside, but these are Samsung's software that could really help differentiate the product from the competition. Namely, a feature called "direction of sound" will aim to determine where you stand relative to the speaker each time you ask him to play something. From there, Samsung will direct the audio to your exact location.

Samsung says that it improves clarity and allows you to hear audio in the way it was meant to be heard – but how will it work if multiple people listen?

He can make and receive phone calls *

* Provided you use a Samsung phone, of course. Samsung also says that you can ask the speakerphone to ring your phone if you have lost it.

It will work well with Spotify

Something else that Samsung touted during its developer conference – a partnership with Spotify that aims to offer "the most complete Spotify experience possible" from a smart speaker. We have not heard much about what exactly that means, but given Spotify's popularity, it could become one of the president's most compelling selling points if it ended up causing him a problem. .

This is open to developers

The new "Bixby Developer Studio" software will allow third-party developers, other than Samsung, to create new uses for Bixby, including those running on the Galaxy Home.

Samsung is also opening Bixby's multimedia playback control software. So do not be surprised if some of these tasks translate into coordination between the Galaxy Home range and Samsung's smart TV line, similar to how you can use Amazon's Echo devices to control Fire. TV Streamers.

It looks weird, yes

There have been do not miss jokes on the cauldron since Samsung showed us for the first time what the Galaxy Home looks like – and yes, it's a bit strange with this trio of metal feet that support the device.

I retain however my judgment until I have the opportunity to hear the thing, however – raising the bottom of the device out of your counter could actually help the clarity of the sound, because you have a more uncluttered speaker surface to work with. If this is the case, audiophiles and casual listeners might be willing to forgive the appearance of Galaxy Home. (And for the record, I would not go so far as to say that the thing is ugly… at least I do not think so? Again, I want to see it myself before making a judgment.)

So how much will it cost?

That, with "when will he come here?" are the big issues of the day. For now, we do not know and Samsung does not say it. Our pros in the CNET audio team suspect that it's going to sell for at least $ 200but we still have to speculate at this point.

Whatever the case may be, we will stay tuned for updates and keep you informed as soon as we hear anything. And of course, expect a full review as soon as we get one. Stay tuned.