Google has come up with a digital assistant that it plans to introduce inside watches, smartphones, cars and just about anything that makes use of the internet. The Alphabet division of the company last week launched its smartphones with the artificial intelligence already embedded. It also said that other companies who wish could tap into the assistance to enjoy the services it has.
Just after some days that Samsung said it was ending the production of the Note 7, it announced that it was acquiring Viv Labs for it artificial intelligence voice-based assistant. Looking it at first, the move will be considered to be a big blow to Apple being that Viv is the people that created Apple’s voice assistant- Siri. But on a second look, the blow will go more on Google since Samsung remained the highest manufacturers of Android phones that run on Google’s OS for Android.
Google has channeled more energy to the assistant than it is channeling to its search engine because the assistant will be better for users to make use of when interacting with their internet-enabled devices. By making it available to all the phone manufacturers will ensure that the device gets into uncountable hands in no time.
Samsung’s plan to take over Viv indicates that there is something about assistants that phone makers are not ready to give out to others just yet. The company plans to make use of the Viv technology in its upcoming smartphones next year despite the crisis it witnessed with the Note 7, to which a Google has not commented to.
Executive chairman of a startup in Android software, Cyanogen, Kirt McMaster said that the importance that AI is assuming in recent times is such that hardware companies cannot do without. He also said that the move by Samsung will also cause others that are making use of Google’s Android to think of the line.
Google, however, seems to know beforehand that not all phone makers that make use of its Android OS would embrace the assistant that they have released.
Google and Samsung have been having silent issues over such things as distribution and the installation of apps which Samsung did not always adhere to. The latter had even made a phone that runs on a different OS that is not Android known as Tizen.
Viv has been in the forefront of startup companies that has a lot to offer to tech companies that are in need of assistant technology. It was founded by Chris Brigham, Adam Cheyer, and Dag Kittlaus 4 years ago to tackle voice technology for more tasks than is presently obtainable.
However, it is not going to be easy for Samsung to want to rival that of Google’s assistant with Viv. The former will have to go extra miles to prove that theirs is better than that of Google.
The latest blows from the Samsung’s Note 7 will unavoidably take some attention of the company away from Viv, but nevertheless, they have already joined the race.
Amazon, Apple, and Google seem to be pursuing the same thing – voice assistant and making it available for other developers to partake in. This is the first time they seem to work towards the same project.
