As a result of, apparently, telephones that pay attention aren’t sufficient—now, they need to be companions.

Perhaps I’m uninterested in seeing AI slapped onto each new product this 12 months…or I’m simply getting cranky in my outdated age. However “eh” was my response once I noticed the teaser video for the Honor Robotic Telephone, an idea that can go on show at MWC in March. Our telephones already pay attention in. Do they really want to look at and discuss to us, as nicely? This Wall-E-like cellphone appears to assume so. 

Regardless of my internal curmudgeon, I couldn’t assist however rewatch the video. As a result of a cellphone with a digital camera that serves as a robotic head is both genius or utterly unhinged…and I wished to know which.

What the Honor Robotic Telephone really is

So, what precisely is the Honor Robotic Telephone? For now, we solely have the teaser video to go on. However right here’s what we all know: it’s received a built-in gimbal-style digital camera that rotates and tilts like a mini robotic head. It follows no matter or whoever it’s pointed at. Consider the DJI Osmo Pocket 3, however constructed right into a smartphone.

Honor calls it an idea machine, which suggests they’re testing it out, seeing if individuals like me can be intrigued. There’s a ton of AI performance rumored, too. So the digital camera isn’t simply shifting for present…it’s speculated to work together with people; discuss and reply to them.

A part of me is impressed. As a working mother, I’d love a cellphone that’s a bit smarter, one which helps out extra. If it may have a look at my open fridge and design a meal plan for your complete week utilizing solely what I’ve readily available, I’d be thrilled. Particularly if I received a bit robotic nod of approval for cooking the recipes proper. Since I don’t have specifics about that, I can solely dream.

Cool…but in addition a bit creepy

I perceive why Honor is asking this the longer term. Telephones that transfer and observe like this might really change how we work together with tech. Video calls may lastly really feel much less awkward, selfies would at all times prove nice, and creators may discover the built-in gimbal indispensable. On paper, it’s fairly intelligent.

However however…an AI cellphone that actually locks its eyes on me feels…uneasy. I really like my devices, however I’m unsure I’m able to have my cellphone watch me. I’d half-expect it to start out giving me recommendation: “Lauren, perhaps skip the third cookie.” And whereas the AI options are in all probability simply attempting to make life simpler, I’ve to marvel: do we actually need our telephones to behave like companions, as a substitute of units?

It’s a fragile stability. With chatbots, we’ve seen that expertise that interacts in human-like methods will be each enjoyable and useful. However as soon as it’s in your cellphone and might affect {hardware}, it turns into a presence.

Why we’re so obsessive about humaniod tech

Perhaps that is the place we’ve been heading all alongside. Our telephones already end our sentences, predict what we’ll kind, and discuss again after we ask them for the climate. The following logical step was giving them a face—or at the very least one thing that mimics one.

There’s one thing comforting about tech that behaves like us. It feels acquainted and private, moderately than chilly and expressionless. That’s why we identify our robotic vacuums, discuss to Alexa like a roommate, and depend on voice assistants to maintain our lives organized. The Honor Robotic Telephone takes that familiarity a step additional—giving bodily type to the AI in our telephones.

Welcome to the longer term, I suppose

On the finish of the day, the Honor Robotic Telephone is an idea, a glimpse into what telephones may appear to be sometime. I can see it altering the way in which we movie, talk, and work together with our units. How a lot it interacts with people as a companion stays to be seen. And to the extent that it does, I’d count on the units to have equally complete privateness controls.

So sure—Honor needs its robotic cellphone to speak to you, comply with you, perhaps even perceive you. Welcome to the longer term, I suppose. And if nothing else, it’s a reminder that smartphones aren’t simply getting smarter—they’re beginning to work together. We’ll have to attend till the MWC occasion subsequent 12 months to be taught extra.

The Robotic Telephone served as Honor’s “Yet one more factor…” announcement following a launch occasion for its two Magic 8 flagship telephones. They’ll go on sale in China later this month and can launch globally earlier than 2026.