Samsung Is Getting Ready to Introduce Second Smart Speaker

By Janko Roettgers

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – Samsung still isn’t selling its Galaxy Home smart speaker, but the company may be getting ready to introduce a second model soon: An FCC filing for an “AI speaker” suggests that the new model, like the original , will be dual-branded, featuring both ’s own brand name as well as that of its audio subsidiary AKG

The new speaker seems to have a smaller form factor, but keeps the same overall bulbous shape as the original Galaxy Home. It dons the model number SMV310, which is not a complete surprise to anyone following the company closely: Late last year, Sammobile.com reported that Samsung was looking to introduce a cheaper Galaxy Home using that model number.

Samsung first introduced its original Galaxy Home speaker in August of last year , but has since delayed the launch of the device multiple times. Samsung CEO DJ Koh told Cnet earlier this year that the Galaxy Home would launch by April; the company later said it would become available in the first half of this year. Samsung also hasn’t released official pricing for the device.

Samsung’s Galaxy Home is being powered by the company’s own Bixby assistant, which is likely also at work in this new smaller version. Both devices will be competing with speakers from Google and Amazon, as well as a number of third-party speakers integrating Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant. Sonos was first to make both assistants available through its speakers this month, and Bose announced a similar feature on Tuesday.