Samsung’s virtual assistant Bixby might make Google redundant for smartphone users

Tech giant's answer to Siri can reportedly find the real-world items around you online, letting you make quick purchases

The virtual assistant will debut on the Galaxy S8, but it's not yet clear if Bixby will come to existing Samsung devices (REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY)

Exciting new details about Bixby, the virtual assistant set to debut on Samsung’s upcoming Galaxy S8, have emerged in a new report.

According to SamMobile, Samsung’s answer to Siri and Google Assistant will be able to leverage the handset’s camera in order to identify real-world objects.

The camera app on the S8 is said to feature a dedicated Bixby button, which will launch a search tool capable of recognising any object the camera happens to be focused on.

From there, you’ll be able to track down the item online and even purchase it, which could prove a dangerously convenient feature for shopaholics.

It sounds like an enhanced version of Google’s old Goggles app, which also analysed the real-world objects around you, bringing up additional information about them.

However, Bixby will reportedly also use optical character recognition to process any text within the frame, potentially allowing you to track down quotes without forcing you to feed them into Google search.

The virtual assistant is expected to be capable of processing payments and controlling all of the Galaxy S8’s native apps too, though whether or not it makes its way to older Samsung devices is not yet clear.

The South Korean firm is expected to unveil the Galaxy S8 within the next couple of months, but has another enormously important date in the diary beforehand.

On 23 January, it is set to reveal exactly why several models of the Galaxy Note 7 malfunctioned so spectacularly last year, prompting a global recall.