Bixby On Galaxy S8 To Support Samsung Pay, New Leak Confirms

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There is a lot riding on the upcoming Galaxy S8, the first flagship smartphone from Samsung after the Galaxy Note 7 disaster. It is rumored to come with Samsung’s own AI assistant called Bixby. Now the Korean electronics giant has accidentally confirmed that the AI assistant is indeed in the works, and would support Samsung Pay. Bixby is based on technology from Viv Labs, which was acquired by Samsung a few months ago.

What’s Samsung Pay Mini?

Images first spotted by Dutch publication GalaxyClub on Samsung’s website indicate that Bixby will support payments through Samsung Pay.  The AI assistant will be integrated with the company’s own apps as well as Samsung Pay Mini. Mini is the stripped-down, lighter version of Samsung’s mobile payment system that can be used only to make online payments. The full Samsung Pay would also allow you to make payments in physical stores.

You can send payments to friends and family simply by giving voice commands to Bixby. Though the image confirms that Bixby is in the works and will be integrated with Samsung Pay, the company has not mentioned the Galaxy S8. It’s expected that an important feature like Bixby would come with the flagship handset. There are also speculations that Bixby would be made available to older Galaxy S and Note line handsets that would receive Samsung’s latest Android Nougat-based OS.

Samsung may still show off Galaxy S8 at MWC

Last month, reports coming out of Samsung’s home country claimed that the Galaxy S8 would be unveiled in New York in late March or early April. The phone would hit the store shelves on April 18th, added the report. Now The Investor has learned from its sources that Samsung could still unveil the handset at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) next month, though the release date of April 18 would remain unchanged.

Sources familiar with the matter told The Investor that the Galaxy S8 would enter mass production in March. Samsung plans to produce 5 million units of the flagship device ahead of the April 18 release. The Korean company aims to sell 60 million Galaxy S8 units. By comparison, the Galaxy S7 sold 48 million units in 2016 and Galaxy S6 sold 45 million units in 2015.

Leaked image confirms many of the rumored specs

Last week, SlashLeaks obtained leaked images of the upcoming smartphone, confirming many of its key features. The Galaxy S8 features a dual-edge curved display. It has a nearly bezel-less display with screen-to-body ratio of about 90%. There is Samsung branding at the bottom. The leaked image of the device shows Chinese text, indicating that it could be a prototype that Samsung has been testing in China.

The leaked image also confirms that Samsung would ditch the traditional home button with the Galaxy S8. The handset is said to have the home button and fingerprint scanner placed in the display. The phone is also rumored to be abandoning the 3.5mm headphone jack, replacing it with wireless in-ear headphones or a USB Type-C port.

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