While the highlight of Samsung's presentation at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2018 in Barcelona is the unveiling of its latest flagship smartphones, the Galaxy S9 and S9 Plus, the company also mentioned a few details about its next high-end tech coming later this year. Particularly, the Samsung Galaxy Note 9 is now expected to feature Bixby 2.0, which means that the premium phablet is likely to boast more advanced voice commands.
Speaking at the MWC 2018, Samsung CEO for mobile division DJ Koh has confirmed that the upgraded Bixby version is underway, and the Galaxy Note 9 is expected to be the first recipient of this update in 2018. As of now, the South Korean tech giant is testing the beta version of Bixby 2.0 with more or less 800 partners. At this rate of development, Koh believes that the Bixby 2.0 will be just in time for the launch of Galaxy Note 9 sometime in August or September.
To recall, Samsung already teased about the Bixby 2.0 last year during the company's Developer Conference in San Francisco, California. The Bixby 2.0 is promised to be a huge step-up from the current Bixby platform in the Samsung Galaxy S8 and Note 8 handsets, turning the basic functions of the digital assistant into a more intelligent set of tools for users. Samsung encountered difficulties in introducing Bixby 1.0 to the public, but now that the voice assistant is now in place, the challenge in Bixby 2.0 is to strengthen its features.
Meanwhile, following the launch of the Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9 Plus earlier this week, it is speculated that some of the new features introduced by the latest flagship smartphones will make their way to the Galaxy Note 9 later this year. For one, the Galaxy S9 Plus is revealed to sport a dual-lens rear camera setup, with the lenses arranged vertically. It is likely that the Samsung Galaxy Note 9 will adopt this change, coming from the Galaxy Note 8's horizontal dual lens arrangement.
Lastly, the Samsung Galaxy Note 9 could also feature a new position for the fingerprint reader, as the Galaxy S9 now has the biometric scanner below the rear camera lens. This is a much-welcomed change as the previous location of the fingerprint sensor in the Galaxy S8 and Note 8 right beside the lens was proven to be inconvenient for many users.
