Despite Samsung’s best efforts, it looks like its own digital assistant Bixby is lagging behind its competitors like Siri, Alexa, and of course Google Assistant. Even some Samsung users prefer to use the latter instead of Bixby. But the Korean OEM continues to try and bring new things to their consumers to entice them into making it the assistant of choice. A couple of days ago we told you about the Bixby Marketplace and now it’s already live in the US and South Korean markets.
If this is the first time you’re hearing of this, Bixby Marketplace is similar to Alexa’s skills. It is actually a one-stop shop to look for “capsules” or services that should “enhance their Bixby experience”. While you could already connect 3rd-party services previously, this is an easier way to find all of them in the same place. They are organised in categories like Productivity, Business and Finance, Shopping, Entertainment, etc.
To access the Marketplace, go to the Bixby main page by tapping the dedicated key and then swiping left. You’ll see the various categories but you can also search by name, developer, or even keyword. There are also curated staff picks in case you don’t know what to add to your Bixby features. To add one, just tap on the capsule you choose and it’s a pretty painless process (at least on paper).
You can also set some of these as your “preferred capsule” for some of the things that you use often. For example, for ride sharing services, you can set Uber as the default capsule so that when you say “Get me a ride to the airport”, Bixby knows that’s the service you’re talking about. Customization is what Samsung is going for with Bixby, although of course its competitors are doing the same as well.
For now, Bixby Marketplace is only available in the US and Korea but obviously they will expand that to other markets as well. They’re also open to developers adding more capsules of course so if you’re one, you can explore how your app or service can work better with Bixby.
