Samsung confirms Amazon Echo rival in the works

DJ Koh, the president of Samsung’s mobile division, has told CNBC a Samsung smart speaker isn't far off the horizon. This confirmation follows reports last month the company is working on a smart speaker.

"Maybe soon we will announce it. I am already working on it," Koh said.

Bixby, Samsung’s phone- and speaker-based personal assistant, will undoubtedly be at the speaker’s beating heart, answering your queries and following your commands. Earlier this week Samsung announced the assistant would be expanded to over 200 countries and territories, and yesterday confirmed its presence in its upcoming Galaxy Note 8 smartphone.

It’s about time the tech giant got in on the voice assistant action, which is currently being peddled by Amazon’s Alexa, Apple’s Siri and Google’s (creatively named) Assistant.

Indeed, whatever shape, size or price this Samsung speaker turns out to be, it will face stiff competition - most notably from the Amazon Echo and promising Apple HomePod wireless speakers. It certainly won't want to enter the market with catching up to do, as we believe Google Home has done.

Samsung better come with sharp elbows...

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Becky Roberts

Becky is the managing editor of What Hi-Fi? and, since her recent move to Melbourne, also the editor of Australian Hi-Fi magazine. During her 10 years in the hi-fi industry, she has been fortunate enough to travel the world to report on the biggest and most exciting brands in hi-fi and consumer tech (and has had the jetlag and hangovers to remember them by). In her spare time, Becky can often be found running, watching Liverpool FC and horror movies, and hunting for gluten-free cake.