Samsung Reportedly Planning To Release Its Own News App That Supports Bixby

Everyone is already expecting Samsung to announce the Galaxy Note 8 soon, but it looks like the South Korean phone maker will also be announcing a new app along with it. A recent report is claiming that Samsung is planning to release its very own news app that will be called News Today.

Information on the new Samsung app was first reported by SamMobile, which cited “trusted sources.” The app will not only provide the latest news articles, but it will also apparently be able to provide users with podcasts. It’s believed that users will be able to subscribe to podcasters and channels, and they should also be able to search for podcasts as well.

What’s also interesting about Samsung’s rumored News Today app is that it will also work with the company’s Bixby voice assistant. Users will be able to play podcasts and control them by simply giving out voice commands to Bixby. The idea here is to provide users a hands-free way of getting the news while they’re traveling or doing something else.

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Samsung’s News Today app might also be used on the company’s rumored Bixby-powered home speaker. This would be similar to how Google Home is able to play podcasts for users through Assistant. Samsung’s smart speaker is said to be currently codenamed as “Vega.”

Samsung is making a lot of effort to further compete with its major rivals. Apple and Google already have their own respective news apps, so it isn’t really all that surprising that Samsung wants to do the same.

The company has already provided their own first-party solution for card-less payments with Samsung Pay to compete with Android Pay and Apple Pay. It also joined the AI race with the Bixby voice assistant to counter Google Assistant and Apple’s Siri.

With the rumored News Today app, it also seems like a way for Samsung to further convince users that Bixby might soon become a necessity with Samsung’s smartphones. However, Bixby still has a lot of catching up to do since its voice services are still not available in the United States.

Samsung is one of the biggest Android smartphone manufacturers in the world. The company already has a large number of customers, and the News Today app could potentially have plenty of users at launch, as pointed out by Ubergizmo.

READ: Apple Siri vs. Samsung Bixby: iPhone Assistant Is Ahead In User Adoption Despite Lagging Behind In Tech

What wasn’t really made clear by this new rumor is whether the News Today app will completely replace the pre-loaded Flipboard (called UPDAY in some regions) news service. The Flipboard app’s news services are available on some of Samsung’s smartphones straight out of the box.

There’s no confirmation yet on the existence of Samsung’s News Today app, so everyone should take this rumor with a grain of salt.

In related news, Samsung might be prepping to launch its Bixby voice assistant in the U.S. next week. A leaker on Reddit revealed that Bixby voice will launch on July 18, Tuesday. The leak was shared in the form of what appears to be an email informing staffers of the Bixby voice launch date, according to Phone Arena.