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Samsung’s Bixby Assistant Is New Headache For Galaxy S8 Owners, LG Announces Mid-Range Smartphones

Ever since the Galaxy S8 came out, Samsung has been trying to push Bixby onto owners. Samsung appears determined to make Galaxy S8 owners use its Bixby voice assistant.

The latest software update to the T-Mobile version of Samsung's flagship phone disables third-party apps from customizing its "Bixby button," according to a recent report from Android Police .

It's not yet clear if a similar update will come to the Verizon, Sprint, and AT&T versions of the Galaxy S8. Nevertheless, the update continues a months-long back and forth between Samsung, which has struggled to get Bixby off the ground in the US, and hardcore Galaxy S8 owners, many of whom have expressed frustration over their devices having a dedicated physical button with limited functionality.

To recap, Samsung released the Galaxy S8 in the US in late April. One of its leading features was intended to be Bixby, a voice assistant in the vein of Apple's Siri and Amazon's Alexa, except with a focus on helping users get around the various functions of their phone. The company was so eager to have people use Bixby that it added a button to the side of the Galaxy S8 that's explicitly designed to launch the assistant.

However, Samsung was unable to get Bixby's voice recognition system ready in time for the Galaxy S8's US launch. (Other features, like a "Bixby Vision" tool that can identify real-world objects and display corresponding info onscreen, have been available.) Months later, Bixby still has not been rolled out to Galaxy S8 devices beyond a limited "early access" program. The Wall Street Journal reported in May that the delay was due in part to Samsung struggling to get Bixby to fully comprehend English.

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In response to all of this, various software developers have built workarounds that effectively allow the Galaxy S8's Bixby button to open other apps and perform other functions. For instance, a Galaxy S8 owner could have the button activate Google Assistant, Google's voice helper that is baked into every Android phone by default.

The first of these shortcuts popped up prior to the phone's release, but Samsung said it disabled that shortly thereafter. That led to the current crop of Bixby remapping apps available in the Google Play Store today.

With its latest update, Samsung appears to be hitting back again. Of course, Samsung is not the first company to patch an unintended workaround – far from it – and it's still possible to disable the Bixby button entirely. In general, we still consider the Galaxy S8 one of the better phones available.

In general, Samsung's desire to make Bixby a stong platform (at a time where voice assistants are expected to be the next dominant interface) is understandable. The WSJ recently reported that the company is even planning a Bixby-powered smart speaker.

But it seems safe to say that tethering the Galaxy S8 to a button that's borderline useless to many users isn't doing Bixby's reputation any favors. Given that Android is an operating system known for its customizability, it's hard to call this a pro-consumer move as well. And despite Samsung's updates, it may only be a matter of time before developers find another way to let Galaxy S8 owners use their hardware however they'd like.

LG Announces Mid-Range Smartphones

LG has just announced the LG Q6, a handset which was rumored quite heavily in the last couple of weeks. The LG Q6 is essentially a mid-range variant of the LG G6, and it is also dubbed as the LG G6 Mini, though that's not its official name.

This is the first LG-branded smartphone which belongs in the company's 'Q' series of devices, and it basically looks like a smaller version of the company's flagship, the LG G6, though unlike the LG G6's metal + glass finish, the LG Q6 does not come with a glass back, and the device also does not sport a fingerprint scanner nor a dual camera setup on the back.

Having said that, LG has actually announced three different variants of the LG Q6, the LG Q6, the LG Q6 Plus and the LG Q6α. The only difference between these three models of the LG Q6 comes down to RAM and storage counts, the LG Q6 sports 3GB of RAM and 32GB of native storage, the LG Q6α comes with 2GB of RAM and 16GB of storage, and the LG Q6 Plus features 4GB of RAM and 64GB of internal storage. All three of these phones are fueled by the Snapdragon 435 64-bit octa-core processor, along with the Adreno 505 GPU for graphics.

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The LG Q6 smartphones sport a 5.5-inch fullHD (18:9 aspect ratio) FullVision display, and a 3,000mAh non-removable battery. A 13-megapixel snapper can be found on the back of the LG Q6, and a 5-megapixel wide-angle shooter is placed on the front side of the LG Q6. Android 7.1.1 Nougat comes pre-installed on the device, and on top of it, you'll be able to find LG's custom UI. The LG Q6 phones offer support for 4G LTE, and they weigh 149 grams. The LG Q6 smartphones also look identical, they measure 142.5 x 69.3 x 8.1mm, in case you were wondering.

The LG Q6 comes in Astro Black, Ice Platinum, Mystic White and Terra Gold color variants, while the LG Q6α also comes in all those colors, except for Mystic White. The LG Q6 Plus will be available in Astro Black, Ice Platinum and Marine Blue color options. All three of these devices also come with face recognition technology, as they do not sport a fingerprint scanner.

The LG Q6 will go on sale in 'key markets' in Asia next month, and will then roll out to Europe, Latin America and North America, says LG. LG did not release a price point for either of the LG Q6 smartphones, and the company also said that specifications may vary from market to market.


Source: Samsung's Bixby Assistant Is New Headache For Galaxy S8 Owners, LG Announces Mid-Range Smartphones

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