This mini-robot can replace your smartphone and be your personal assistant

Sharp, the Japanese electronics maker, has collaborated with Japanese engineer Tomotaka Takahashi to launch a tiny personal robot named RoboHon that doubles as a smartphone.

The miniature humanoid robot can make calls, text, check email, act as an alarm clock, take photos, and even project video, photos, maps, and other content onto a wall or screen. But unlike your smartphone, RoboHon has social characteristics that make him feel more like a companion than a device.

Standing 7.5-inches tall and weighing 13.5 ounces (less than a pound), the bi-pedal robot can move around like a human: RoboHon can walk, sit up and down, and dance, and has a facial recognition feature so it can read people’s faces to get a general idea of their mood.

Controlled by voice with the ability to connect to Wi-Fi, 3G, and LTE, RoboHon may also play games with the user and can act as cameraman.

While it’s unclear whether or not personal robots will become as mainstream as smartphones are in the U.S., humanoid social robots are becoming increasingly popular in other parts world, such as Japan.

In June 2015, Softbank’s humanoid social robot Pepper, priced at $1,600, went on sale in Japan and sold out of its initial supply of 1,000 robots in just one minute.

We’ll have to wait and see how popular this tiny personal assistant robot will be.

At the moment, RoboHon does not have a listed price, but is expected to hit store shelves in the first half of 2016.

Via Tech Insider