Nokia files trademark for personal assistant called Viki

2017 is slated to be an interesting year for Nokia, as several phones will be released with the company’s branding. HMD Global is fulfilling the actual designs, as we saw with the Nokia 6 that was revealed just a few days ago. It’s a mid-range device that’s exclusive to China for now, but if this new trademark filing is any indication it looks like Nokia could be stepping into the personal assistant ring.

The new trademark filed in Europe reveals that Nokia will be bringing its own brand of personal assistant to phones branded with its name. The trademark describes Viki as “software for the creation and monitoring of mobile and web digital assistances working with knowledge and combining all data sources into a single chat and voice-based interface.”

At this point, it’s too soon to tell whether Nokia plans on launching Viki on its upcoming smartphones like the Nokia 6, or if it will be made available to all Android devices, similarly to how the Z Launcher was released in the Play Store.

Perhaps the better question is how well Nokia’s new assistant will perform alongside the likes of Siri, Cortana, Google Assistant, and Samsung’s new Bixby assistant that’s rumored to be in the Galaxy S8.