Samsung’s voice assistant service started with S Voice in the Galaxy S3 and introduced the Bixby voice assistant in the Galaxy S8, which was launched in 2017. In the past period of time, Samsung has even set up a special Bixby voice wake button on the phone hardware.

Samsung did away with the dedicated Bixby button on the Galaxy S20 models, leaving only the regular volume and power keys. However, users can wake up Bixby by long pressing the power button.

In the Android 13-based OneUI 5.0 update, Samsung introduced a Good Lock module called RegiStar. Through this module, you can personalize the power button, users can choose to open an application, or assign it to system functions including Google Assistant. However, the new module does not support its own Bixby voice assistant.

Samsung introduced something called Bixby Routines in the Galaxy S10, but Bixby must be enabled to use this app, otherwise it cannot be accessed. In OneUI 5.0, Samsung named the app “Modes and Routines,” and it no longer requires Bixby to be enabled.

Samsung announced in 2020 that it would no longer develop the AR feature Bixby Vision. These features allow you to try on makeup, decorate your home, and more. Basic visual search and translation features are still there, but much of what the service has to offer is gone. Two years on, this basic functionality is still there, seeing no improvement at all.

Beyond software, Samsung plans to take on Google and Amazon with its Galaxy Home smart speaker. Announced back in 2018, it ultimately never made it to market. Instead, Samsung ended up delivering a stripped-down Galaxy Home Mini, but never really invested in promoting it, or even launching it in most markets.

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Samsung is recently releasing firmware updates for a number of older models like the Galaxy S7 / S8 to improve their GPS stability, SAMMOBILE reported yesterday. Yesterday, Samsung provided a firmware update for the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge with firmware version G93xFXXU8EVG3, while the last update for these two phones was back in November 2020. Meanwhile, Samsung has also provided an update for the Galaxy S8 series with firmware version G95xFXXUCDVG4, which was last officially updated in April 2021.

As you can see from the changelog, this update aims to improve GPS stability. According to GalaxyClub, Samsung plans to provide the update for more older models, including the Galaxy S6 series, which was launched in 2015, and the Galaxy S9 series, as many older models that were discontinued, are still being used. However, this update will not bring the latest security patches, but only improve GPS stability.

In early August this year, Samsung pushed out a firmware update for the 7-year-old Samsung Galaxy J7 with firmware versions J700FXXU4BVG2 (for SM-J700F models) and J700HXXU3BVG2 (for SM-J700H models), which also improved the GPS stability of the Galaxy J7.

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These models include Galaxy S7, Galaxy S7 Edge, Galaxy A5 2017, Galaxy A7 2017, Galaxy S8, Galaxy S8 Plus, Galaxy Note 8, etc..

In the advertisement, Samsung claims that the above models can be used in pools or seawater, but in fact these phones are not seawater-proof and the charging port may be damaged by erosion.

It is reported that hundreds of users have complained about Samsung because they are not seawater-proof, and these users’ phones are not working properly at all.

Samsung Australia said that the problem only affects the seven Galaxy smartphones mentioned above and does not affect other models. In addition, the lawyer hired by Samsung denied that the company misled consumers in the first place.

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