Samsung seeks AI-powered comeback with Galaxy S8

Samsung plans to equip its next Galaxy S smartphones with a Siri-like digital assistant, seeking to make a strong comeback after the global debacle that precipitated the death of its flawed Note7.
 
Samsung, which last month acquired US-based artificial-intelligence software company Viv Labs, will pack next year's Galaxy S8 with AI-enabled features "significantly differentiated" from those of Apple's Siri or Google, executive vice president Rhee In-jong said.
 
Those services now offer up potentially useful information from the weather to flight times based on user activity.
 
The flagship Galaxy S line will prove crucial to salvaging Samsung's reputation in the wake of the fiasco surrounding a Note7 device prone to bursting into flame.
The recall and eventual cessation of the line is estimated to have cost upwards of $US6 billion ($7.82 billion) and pushed profits at Samsung's mobile division to a record low in the September quarter.
 

The company is now investigating the root cause behind the fires, but would not comment on progress so far.Global technology players are vying to build devices attuned to users' lifestyles and daily behaviour.

Amazon is trying to sign up more developers for its Alexa voice technology. Apple has recently touted more Siri capabilities and opened the technology to other developers. Google, considered the leader in artificial intelligence, is making its own push.