Samsung trademarks Bixby and Kestra voice assistants

Samsung Galaxy S8 promises to be a very interesting handset. Not long ago, Samsung acquired Viv Labs, and then we heard rumors claiming that this move would lead to an AI assistant for the next-gen Galaxy that can even process payments. Now, it looks like Samsung has been busy filing the paperwork for various trademarks related to the upcoming voice assistant.

The technology that will allow voice-driven payments is apparently developed under the Bixby Pay name and this confirms the previous rumor that mentioned Bixby as the name of the upcoming voice assistant. However, it looks like Bixby is the male voice assistant and it will have a feminine counterpart as well. Known as Kestra, this possible competitor for the likes of Cortana and Siri has been named using a term associated with the Star Trek universe.

Jerome Bixby was a writer who wrote four episodes for the Star Trek series, while Kestra was Deanna Troi's sister. Samsung Galaxy S8 with Bixby and Kestra on board is expected to show up just in time for MWC 2017, but we should encounter them in many rumors until then.