The World’s First Android Smartphone

For one reason or another, someone decided smartphones should have personalities. iPhones have Siri, Windows phones have Cortana, but these are just pieces of software, and not a physical representation of a personality. This may soon change with Sharp, with help from famous Japanese roboticist [Tomotaka Takahashi], releasing RoBoHoN, the first robotic smartphone.

RoBoHoN is by any measure a miniature humanoid robot; it can walk on two legs, it can wave its arms, and it can fit into excessively large pockets. This robot is also a phone, and inside its cold soulless chassis is a 2.0″ LCD, camera, pico projector to display movies and pictures on flat surfaces, and the electronics to turn this into a modern, mid-range smartphone.

In the video for RoBoHoN, this friendly little phone can do everything from hail a cab, add stuff to a shopping list, and be the life of the party. According to Akihabara News, Sharp should be releasing this tiny robot sometime in early 2016 but no word yet on price.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?&v=HQtIlxe_ZkY

38 thoughts on “The World’s First Android Smartphone

  1. This could be a game changer. I don’t see how they could make a reasonable price point with everything they showed in the demo. Also the traditional to the ear use needs to be rethought. It looks a little…intimate.
    I do think people could adjust to the form factor.
    The whole thought reminds me of the legendary Chinese brush monkeys. This could be the first practical personal use of robots.

  2. Wow. I took me wayyyy too long to figure out that “Android” in the headline meant “Android” and not “Android — Google’s OS for smartphones”.

    Completely forgot that android originally meant “humanoid robot”. Derp.

    1. Except it’s not an android. Androids are designed to pass as humans. This is simply a humanoid robot, and the author of this article should be ashamed. I expected more out of Hackaday and Benchoff is a complete idiot. Rabble rabble I don’t have to put up with this clickbait

      1. I can’t be certain, but you sound a little bitter. Time for a vacation, methinks!

        I wasn’t trying to be mean. It was my failure for not remembering what the word meant, not yours.

      2. ROFL I totally clicked expecting to be a dick about android OS. TOTALLY happy I read it. This cute little fucker gives me feels. Pity the phone doesn’t dock in their stomach, so they can point to their tummy for phone calls and stuff… They need to integrate a hands free device into it though. Talking into the crotch looks awkward as hell.

  3. Makes me think of Chobits, anime from 2002 where plenty of people have persocoms and there are mobile models that are about 4 inches tall. They experience basic emotions, can remember things, provide directions, and be a modem. They didn’t if I’m honest seem that useful but hey :P

  4. You try to make a phone call only to find your droid’s battery is flat. Suddenly you realize that having it dance all night at your party was a bad idea. Kind of a neat idea though. Not sure about it being my main phone.

  5. The idea is solid, but the tech still can’t quite deliver. What’s great about this little robot is that it can take pictures, display video, and verbally communicate without the need to physically move it. Unfortunately the convenience ends when you need to leave the room. Your only options are to carry it around like a small child’s stuffed animal, or awkwardly attach / hang it from yourself. It would be great if you could simply tell it to follow you between rooms. But obviously those little legs won’t get it far.

    Science fiction would solve the problem by simply making it fly (with anti-gravity). Weebo from the movie Flubber comes to mind. It’s pretty much exactly what this little robot wants to be (except for the troublesome AI).
    http://disney.wikia.com/wiki/Weebo

  6. I wondered what it would cost as I wouldn’t mind owning one. A search of the creators name brought me to Wikipedia where I found a robot sister, MANOI PF01. Just a quick searching and she costs USD $4,784.85…
    I still want one!

  7. once it evolves a synthetic skin and betavoltaics, its introduction to an uncontacted people would make for an interesting video documentary. Except for those inbreeding murderous folk on that one island where they throw spears at helicopters and boaters. we could have these little robotic duende running around, smurfs even. people who have no introduction to technology would be fun to interact with. (ditch the screen, go full android, communicate with native tribes and make interesting videos and scientific observations)

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