Samsung Granted Patent On "Audio Device" Possibly Bixby Speaker

[DroidModderX]

Voice activated assistants seem to be the next big thing in Mobile tech. Amazon has been leading the way with Alexa, while Google is coming in strong with Google Home powered by Google Assists. Even Microsoft is getting in on the action with Cortana powered speakers. Samsung has been pushing their Bixby pretty hard trying to get you to ditch Google assist in favor of their own virtual assistant.

It looks like they also aim to compete as your living room virtual assistant with what appears to be a Bixby speaker. Samsung has recently been granted a design patent for an "Audio Device". This appears to be Samsung's answer to the Amazon Echo. For now the design patent is all that we have, and Samsung has not voiced any interest publicly about producing a Bixby speaker. I won't be replacing my Google Home with a Bixby powered speaker, but I can see this being useful for someone who has not already committed to one platform.

via SamMobile