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Samsung's upgraded Bixby assistant is still rough around the edges
Samsung understandably focused most of its attention on the Galaxy Note 9 at its Unpacked event, but it also used the media gathering to unveil the next generation of Bixby, and... well, it's a mixed bag. The new AI helper delivers some sincerely helpful functional improvements. It can find events near you, and it will not only attach Yelp ratings when you search for things to do but also deliver results based on your personal preferences. If you're fond of sushi, for instance, those restaurants will float to the top. You can also reserve restaurants, hail Uber rides and perform certain other tasks right from Bixby, with tight Spotify integration on the way.
One year later, Bixby is still half-baked
Oh, Bixby. What am I going to do with you? It's been a year since we first tried the virtual assistant on the Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus, and since then we've seen relatively little in terms of substantive improvements. It certainly doesn't help that Injong Rhee, Samsung's CTO and Bixby's de facto steward, recently left the company for a gig at Google. Few things seem more disheartening for Bixby's future than that.
Verizon's Galaxy S8 won't help you shop on Amazon
Samsung already gave a heads-up that Bixby wouldn't be complete when the Galaxy S8 launched, but Verizon customers will have to make do with less than most... for a while, anyway. The American carrier has confirmed to CNET that its version of the S8 doesn't currently let you use Bixby Vision to find products on Amazon just by pointing your camera. You can find images of that book you're looking for, but you can't shop for it. A Verizon spokesperson didn't explain why the feature wasn't available right away (Amazon and Samsung didn't say either), but did promise that the network was "working with Amazon" to provide it in the future.
