Samsung trademarks a male and female voice assistant called Bixby and Kestra

The rumored Samsung Galaxy S8 voice assistant already had a name: Bixby. But now it has a feminine alter ego by the name of Kestra (another Star Trek reference – Kestra was Deanna Troi’s older sister). New trademark documents reveal identical applications other than the name, revealing that Samsung is an equal opportunity AI employer.

Trademark filings don’t always pan out to anything in the real world, with many OEM’s “camping” on terms they may or may not ever take to market. But considering all we’ve heard about the Galaxy S8’s AI virtual assistant, there’s no reason to doubt we won’t have a male and female voice option when the Galaxy S8 arrives around MWC 2017.

The trademark applications, filed in both South Korea and Europe, relate to “interactive computer software,” “speech recognition software” and, most tellingly: “computer software for enabling hands-free use of a mobile phone through voice recognition”. Hit the source link if you want to peruse the documents for yourself.

Samsung has also applied to trademark multiple spelling variations for Bixby, including Bix-bee, Bix-by, Bix:)bee and Bix:)by. Meanwhile, SamMobile claims to have information related to Bixby Pay, a voice-based payment system that will also arrive with the Galaxy S8. Stay tuned for more Galaxy S8 rumors as we close out the year and get closer to go time.

Would you use a voice-based payment system?