Voice assistants have been all the rage in the past few months, and when Samsung took the wraps off its flagship Galaxy S8 smartphone, it also acquainted the world with Bixby.

It's Samsung's attempt to take on the likes of Apple's Siri, Amazon's Alexa and Google Assistant in a move described by one analyst as the "most important" in the company's history.

Technology giants are in a race to take the lead in voice, which is seen as one of the key ways people will be interacting with not only their phones, but all connected devices, particularly in the home. The house has become the latest battleground, and Samsung's entrance is significant because it's the world's largest smartphone player and is a massive manufacturer of TVs and appliances.

At Wednesday's launch event for the Galaxy S8, the company showed what Bixby could do, which will be limited at the start then grow. Users can take a picture of something such as a monument and Bixby can recognize the place and provide information about it. Bixby also can handle complex requests such as finding all the pictures in your photo album that were taken in London.