Bixby has been enhanced with huge language models, but is still designed to handle phone features such as changing device settings. Gemini is intended to be used for general web queries and more convoluted activities. You can even have two heated words, one for each assistant. I predict this will all be confusing; in a quick demo, I asked Gemini to change the device’s font settings and received a response that it couldn’t do so. I asked for Bixby and it did the job. I have no idea why Gemini couldn’t delegate this task to Bixby.
If these sound familiar, it’s because phone manufacturers have been promising variations of these commands for almost a decade. Hopefully they will work better now, especially since Gemini is fluent in natural language and queries don’t have to be so unyielding. Speaking of which, in Samsung’s Gallery app you can now search for elderly photos using conversations, similar to what Google implemented in Google Photos last year. Circle to Search can listen to audio sources to determine the title of a song – another long-standing feature that has been improved for the AI era.
All these AI features have resulted in a up-to-date app: Now Brief. Samsung calls this proactive assistance (remember Google’s Now on Tap?), which provides a morning report with weather, upcoming calendar events, stock details, news articles, and suggestions for running routines. There is also an evening brief containing a summary of the day’s events with photos. Since this feature can be connected to email, it will send you reminders about expiring coupons and upcoming travel tickets. Samsung says it may even suggest changing your 8:45 a.m. alarm even earlier if it sees a 9 a.m. meeting on your schedule.
The lock screen has a “Now Bar” widget at the bottom, similar to Apple’s Live Activity. It will provide quick access to the Now Brief app, but will also show updates on your favorite sports teams along with clear directions from Google Maps.