Samsung Unpacked – Where’s Bixby?

Lots of Google. Little of Samsung,

• Samsung‘s new s24 line-up looks exactly like the s23 but the hope is that the new AI features (almost all of which come from Google) will provide all of the incentive to upgrade to a new Galaxy or horror of horrors switch from iPhone.
• As usual, there are three devices the s24, the s24+ and the s24 Ultra with a matt finish, a titanium body and some camera tweaks being the main changes from last year.
• All of the devices are running Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 and the combination of Google, Qualcomm and Samsung all working together is what has infused the device with AI-powered functions.
• Infused is the right word to use because there are no new apps or services but in many of the existing apps there is now a group of stars lurking in a corner from which the new functionality can be accessed.
• Those who are paying attention will realise that this group of stars is the Google Bard logo and so it is pretty safe to say that all of the new functionality that Samsung hopes will drive sales comes from Google.
• Of Bixby, there was no mention, but it is in the same place as before and I am pretty sure that users will quickly turn it off when they get their phones and then forget that it exists.
• I have seen no real progress in Bixby for years and with the latest crop of generative AI assistants, it looks even more dated and outclassed than ever.
• However, the AI features that Google is powering now finally have a chance to shine as limiting them to the Google Pixel almost guaranteed that no one would notice. ‘
• This is a classic example of why Samsung and Google should work much more closely together as each excels in the area where the other flounders.
• Deeper integration of Samsung and Google is the only hope for the Android ecosystem to mount a challenge to Apple and progress on this front is extremely slow.
• The new AI features are pretty much what Google announced for the Pixel such as real-time translation, generative AI photo editing, slow motion enhancement, circle to search and so on.
• When it comes to these sorts of features, Apple is miles behind but while Samsung continues to mess about with software and Google pretends that it has a chance in hardware, it ceases to matter.
• To be fair to Samsung, the device software that it does do is pretty good these days, but it has taken Samsung many years to get there and now all of the differentiation is in AI-enabled features.
• I don’t see AI as a core competence of Samsung so its best option to compete against Apple remains to go all-in with Google.
• AI is also Google’s best shot against Apple and Samsung remains its best chance at getting its new AI services into the hands of users and breathing new life into the Android ecosystem.
• This is going to take some time and so for the moment the challenge to Apple from Samsung and Google has yet to materialise in a meaningful way.
• However, the more AI drives device functionality, the more Apple is likely to fall behind and the legacy of the iOS ecosystem will only hold up for so long.
• AI is becoming a pressing issue for Apple where it has struggled for years but it has more resources than anyone else giving it the opportunity to catch up.
• With difficulties in China and a high valuation I would choose Google over Apple if forced but in absolute terms, I would not own either.
• There are better options elsewhere as big tech carried 2023 and I suspect that 2024 might be a different story.