Samsung Electronics is focusing on making the second edition of the digital assistant Bixby more conversable on upcoming flagship products ranging from wearables and smartphones to TV and other home appliances in the second half of the year, according to the industry on Monday.

Anticipations are high on the expected unveiling of Bixby 2.0 with the Galaxy Note 9 on Aug. 9, as Samsung spent nearly one year and six months on improving the artificial intelligence platform’s accuracy in voice recognition and boosting machine learning capabilities.

“Samsung has been working to raise the accuracy rate, quicken the response time and expand the database in partnership with third-party software developers for Bixby 2.0,” said an industry insider. “And one of the most outstanding features of Bixby 2.0 is that the upgraded version will be more conversable than the previous edition.”

The Korean tech giant has shifted its research and development capabilities from hardware to software by creating an AI center under its R&D organization and scouting renowned AI experts globally.

Starting with the Note 9 smartphone, Bixby 2.0 will be applied to an array of Samsung wearables including Gear S4, and home appliances including TVs, air conditioners and refrigerators in the coming months. The company aims to connect all of its products with Bixby by 2020.

In particular, the tech titan is preparing to launch a Bixby 2.0-based “conversable” TV in the coming months. 

For example, with the support of the upgraded Bixby, a Samsung smart TV will be able to ask users about their condition or mood in order to recommend better channels or programs and provide additional information that they seek while watching TV.

Instead of just executing voice commands by human users, the Bixby 2.0 TV will be able throw several questions back to the users, as if they are having a real conversation.

“Things are underway to launch the Bixby 2.0-supported TV in the second half of the year, but we can’t confirm the schedule,” said a Samsung official. The enhanced Bixby will also land on the company’s first AI speaker, temporarily dubbed Bixby Speaker, with a schedule to hit the market next month.

By Song Su-hyun (song@heraldcorp.com)