We heard from the CEO of Samsung's mobile division DJ Koh three months ago that Samsung is going to introduce Bixby 2.0 with the Galaxy Note 9. This has now been reiterated by Gray G. Lee, the head of the AI Center under Samsung Research.

Bixby 2.0 on Galaxy Note 9

At a press conference to announce Samsung's vision for artificial intelligence, Lee confirmed that Samsung is going to introduce Bixby 2.0 with its upcoming flagship smartphone that's due in the second half of this year.

Samsung's vision for artificial intelligence has five directions – user-centric, always learning, always there, always helpful and always safe. To further improve its AI platform and technologies, Samsung will continue to set up AI centers in different parts of the world and will also seek mergers and acquisitions of promising AI companies.

He didn't go into a lot of details about the improvements that the updated platform will bring but did add that it features improved natural language processes, enhanced noise resistance capability and quicker response times.

Koh had previously explained that Samsung's goal with Bixby 2.0 is to provide users with a wider scope of voice-assistance features so it's going to be quite feature-heavy. With Bixby 1.0, Samsung was merely focused on rolling out its digital assistant swiftly which made it difficult to expand the ecosystem at the same time.

Bixby 2.0 will also be the foundation of Samsung's upcoming smart speaker which will certainly help the company expand the ecosystem for its digital assistant. Samsung is also going to bring Bixby to a variety of consumer electronic devices as well.

As far as the Galaxy Note 9 release is concerned, multiple reports suggest that the upcoming flagship will be out earlier than expected due to Samsung's accelerated release schedule. If word on the street is believed, Samsung is going to launch the Galaxy Note 9 either by late July or in early August.