Samsung's new Galaxy S8 phone is stunning. But its $100 price hike is hard to swallow. That's how much extra you'll shell out for the S8, which starts shipping Friday for about $750 -- $100 more than the iPhone 7 and last year's Galaxy S7 when it launched. A larger sibling, the S8 Plus, goes for about $850. True, the S8 phones come with several refinements that, totaled up, are indeed worth more than $100.

It's the quiet-but-pressurised noise of Samsung executives holding their breath as they wait to see if the new Galaxy S8 is the success they so badly need it to be. After the Galaxy Note 7 had to be withdrawn last autumn because of safety issues, the S8 really must not fail. I've been using the S8 and its larger sibling, the S8 for a week. So, is it sigh of relief or hard, disappointed exhale for the execs? The look of the Galaxy S8 is a refinement of the Galaxy Note 7 and the Samsung Galaxy S7 edge.

Last year's Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge were excellent phones, and so was the Galaxy Note 7... until it started bursting into flames. While some within Samsung were tasked with figuring out what happened and how to prevent it from happening again, others were trying to build a phone that would make people move on. The Note 7 won't disappear so easily from our collective memory, but I have to hand it to Samsung: The S8 siblings are impeccably built, thoughtfully designed devices. It's not hard to look at these smartphones as the first steps on a road to redemption, and after a week of testing, I can confidently say these are two of the best smartphones money can buy. I just wish its virtual assistant wasn't so half-baked. Text and photos don't do the S8 ($750) and S8 Plus ($850) justice. From their rounded edges to their precisely formed metal-and-glass bodies, they feel like smaller, sleeker versions of the Galaxy Note 7. That's a hell of a compliment, battery insanity notwithstanding -- the Note 7 was a beautiful device and I'm glad that DNA lives on. The S8 and S8 Plus's rounded Infinity displays -- which are 5.8 and 6.2 inches big, respectively -- only add to the phones' appeal. We'll dig into these curved screens more later, but people seemed to like them enough that it didn't make sense to have non-curved flagships anymore.

USA Today's Ed Baig tries out Samsung's new smartphone before it hits store shelves. Samsung Electronics' Galaxy S8 and S8 smartphones are shown off during a media day in Seoul, South Korea, (Photo: Lee Jin-man, AP) NEW YORK--Samsung's Galaxy S8 and its larger sibling the S8 are strong new smartphones I can highly recommend. The devices, which hit stores Friday (for around $720 on up), aren't perfect. Cool-sounding features like iris and facial recognition were extremely spotty for me. Water and dust resistance are great, but other phones now share these traits.

Samsung will delay the full rollout of the Bixby virtual assistant on its upcoming Samsung Galaxy S8 smartphone series, but if you want to change the S8's dedicated Bixby button to do something else? You'll likely be out of luck. Samsung is disabling third-party workarounds that previously allowed users to customize what the Galaxy S8's Bixby button could do, according to XDA Developers. On the left side of the phone, the S8 has a physical button that is used to activate the Bixby assistant. As XDA Developers reports, the closed loophole comes as part of a pre-release update patch from Samsung. By using the free All In One Gestures app on Google's Play Store, early Galaxy S8 users could previously reset the phone's Bixby button to perform tasks like opening the camera or launching a preferred app.

Samsung's new virtual assistant won't be able to respond to voice requests when the Galaxy S8 launches later this month, the company confirmed to TIME on Wednesday. Such capabilities will be coming to the S8 later this spring, while the digital helper's other features will be available when the phone launches on April 21. The news was first reported by The Wall Street Journal. The smartphone maker has flaunted its new Bixby digital aide as one of the Galaxy S8's standout features, along with a nearly borderless screen and compatibility with a dock that allows the phone to function as a desktop computer. But the English language version of Bixby's voice recognition technology hasn't performed as well as the Korean edition during internal tests, the Journal reported.

Samsung has delayed the launch of its new voice-activated personal assistant feature on its latest smartphone. Voice-powered assistant Bixby - which allows users to search and categorise photographs and information by using voice commands - was due to debut on the electronics giant's new Galaxy S8 smartphones as an answer to Apple's Siri. The South Korean company announced that the much anticipated Bixby feature was being dropped just days before the launch of the S8. Samsung's eagerly anticipated iPhone rival the Galaxy S8 (left) and Samsung Galaxy S8 (right) were launched at joint events in New York and London last month The global roll out of the phone will take place on 21 April. While Samsung did not give a reason for the delay, previous reports have suggested the software was lacking in the days ahead of its launch.

The good: Sharp screen; Compact design; Wide front facing camera; Good battery life The bad: Easily picks up fingerprint smudges, Power button and fingerprint sensor placement can feel awkward; Lacks other new features that differentiate it from other new smartphones Who should buy: Android loyalists who want more screen space in a smaller device will be happy with the G6. But it may be worth waiting to check out the Samsung Galaxy S8. With Samsung on the proverbial ropes following its Galaxy Note 7 fiasco, rival Android smartphone makers like HTC and LG had a rare opportunity to leapfrog the perennial market leader. The former's effort, the HTC U Ultra, largely failed in that regard. LG's new G6 Android phone is radically different from last year's G5, which was designed around a customizable "modular" concept that never caught on with consumers.

UK mobile phone carrier Vodafone has announced the launch of a new artificial intelligence chatbot called TOBi. TOBi is designed to help customers and act as a virtual customers service agent, it will be available soon in the My Vodafone app and also online. Vodafone UK has launched TOBi – the artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot – as an innovative way of offering our customers a quicker web chat service. TOBi, a virtual customer services' agent, can handle a range of customer queries including device troubleshooting, usage and order tracking amongst many others. TOBi is already available to some customers through our online web chat service.

Vodafone UK has launched TOBi – the artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot – as an innovative way of offering our customers a quicker web chat service. TOBi, a virtual customer services' agent, can handle a range of customer queries including device troubleshooting, usage and order tracking amongst many others. Recent research shows that 55% of UK consumers say that the most important factor in the ideal customer experience is getting a prompt and effective response to queries[1], highlighting the need for companies to provide faster and more integrated customer service responses. With 75% of all consumers aged 18-25 already using instant messenger everyday [2], TOBi is our answer to providing customers with the quick and easy web chat service they want. TOBi is already available to some customers through our online web chat service. Later this month messaging will also be available through the My Vodafone app, so customers will be able to speak to advisors whenever they want and while they are on the go.