CES 2019: Samsung to focus on AI and IoT tech, Bixby smarts at annual consumer show

CES 2019 is fast approaching and tech companies like Samsung have already started to drop Easter eggs regarding what’s in store for the week ahead. Now CES is not the sort of tech event where you expect a company like Samsung to launch the next Galaxy S flagship device, so don’t even think about it. You’re probably better off waiting for MWC in February, should you be looking for a high-profile Galaxy S phone launch. Well CES is where every other form of tech – unreleased, even prototype – comes into the limelight, and how. 

If you’ve been closely following the tech world, you’d know, 5G is on the top of the radar for almost every tech company. It is the next big thing, so to speak. So is AI, although, AI seems to have been the buzzword for longer. AI, in fact, was one of the main highlights of CES 2018 as well, and going forward into CES 2019, we can expect tech companies to present further advancements in this field. Samsung will be one of those companies. 

A teaser page that has gone live on Samsung’s website claims, “At CES 2019, Samsung Electronics will showcase innovative ways that its latest AI and IoT technologies simplify daily life. These include brand new applications for AI and IoT, new ways to make AI do more, as well as new devices that place AI and IoT at the center of users’ connected lives.” 

For Samsung AI and Bixby are inseparable. Bixby, in case if you haven’t heard, is Samsung’s personal voice assistant designed to take on the Google Assistant, Apple’s Siri and Microsoft’s Cortana. Bixby will invariably play a major role in Samsung’s CES keynote this year. It is inside its Galaxy smartphones, inside its TVs and refrigerators and washing machines, its smartwatches and its recently announced Galaxy Home smart speaker. 

While it is expected of Samsung to showcase brand new smart products – TVs, refrigerators and washing machines – it is also expected to showcase brand new ways to interact with them through Bixby. Bixby has so far done just ok, but Bixby 2.0 showed Samsung’s intent to make it even more accessible and useful for end-users. It may not be in the same league as the Google Assistant or the Amazon Alexa, but Samsung isn’t giving up on it just yet. The same reason why it announced a smart speaker called the Galaxy Home alongside the Galaxy Note 9. 

While it is still to announce pricing and availability of the Galaxy Home, rumours of an even more affordable Galaxy Home mini have surfaced online. Come to think of it, a Galaxy Home mini can help Samsung make headway inside more homes: something that Bixby needs to grow and evolve. Samsung may take the stage at CES this year to announce price and availability of the Galaxy Home, while also dropping a hint or two regarding the Galaxy Home mini.    

Samsung Electronics has already announced that it is heading to CES on the back of a flurry of smart home devices. It has announced that it will showcase eight new projects related to Artificial Intelligence (AI), developed from its C-Lab (Creative Lab) program, at the trade show. If that wasn’t enough, eight start-ups which have been spun off from C-Lab will showcase their newly released commercial products at CES 2019.

Also Read: Samsung Maybe Working On Affordable Bixby Smart Speaker To Take On Amazon Echo