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The Bixby speaker is real. Here's what we know about Samsung Galaxy Home

Bixby, tell me a joke.

David Katzmaier Editorial Director -- Personal Tech
David reviews TVs and leads the Personal Tech team at CNET, covering mobile, software, computing, streaming and home entertainment. We provide helpful, expert reviews, advice and videos on what gadget or service to buy and how to get the most out of it.
Expertise A 20-year CNET veteran, David has been reviewing TVs since the days of CRT, rear-projection and plasma. Prior to CNET he worked at Sound & Vision magazine and eTown.com. He is known to two people on Twitter as the Cormac McCarthy of consumer electronics. Credentials
  • Although still awaiting his Oscar for Best Picture Reviewer, David does hold certifications from the Imaging Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Standards and Technology on display calibration and evaluation.
Ty Pendlebury Editor
Ty Pendlebury is a journalism graduate of RMIT Melbourne, and has worked at CNET since 2006. He lives in New York City where he writes about streaming and home audio.
Expertise Ty has worked for radio, print, and online publications, and has been writing about home entertainment since 2004. He majored in Cinema Studies when studying at RMIT. He is an avid record collector and streaming music enthusiast. Credentials
  • Ty was nominated for Best New Journalist at the Australian IT Journalism awards, but he has only ever won one thing. As a youth, he was awarded a free session for the photography studio at a local supermarket.
David Katzmaier
Ty Pendlebury
2 min read
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Sarah Tew/CNET

Alexa , get ready for more competition.

Today Samsung announced its first smart speaker with the Bixby virtual voice assistant, the Galaxy Home. The announcement was made at the company's Unpacked event in Brooklyn, New York, alongside the Galaxy Note 9 phone.

The Galaxy Home has full-range speakers, onboard subwoofer, "sound steering" and audio tuning by AKG. It also has eight far-field microphones for use with the assistant. And the strange, three-legged, cauldron-like design is sure to set it apart from the Amazon Echo and  Apple HomePod  devices of the world.

Details on the device are scant, and Samsung did not announce pricing or availability. It promised more details at its developers' conference in November.

Watch this: Galaxy Home: Samsung's answer to the HomePod

Bixby, a talking robot voice similar to Amazon's Alexa, Google Assistant and Apple's Siri , debuted on Samsung Galaxy phones and tablets last year, and has since appeared in the company's smart refrigerators and smart TVs. Now it's available in a standalone smart speaker, just like its rivals.

Read more: Can Samsung's Galaxy Home help Bixby catch up to Siri, Alexa and Google Assistant?

A Bixby-powered speaker has been rumored for awhile, and at Mobile World Congress in February Samsung mobile CEO DJ Koh said it would be coming in the second half of 2018.

The speaker is up against some stiff competition: For example, there are dozens of speakers that feature Amazon's Alexa, including the popular Echo series, while Google Assistant speakers including the Google Home come in second place. Plus, there's the Apple HomePod featuring Siri. All three systems have evolved over a number of years and Bixby has a lot of catching up to do.

Samsung's first Bixby speaker, the Galaxy Home, revealed

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