What do you get for those who cross an AI cellphone with a DJI Osmo digicam? The reply is one thing much like the robotic cellphone, which is being developed by the Chinese know-how firm Honor.
The cellphone maker teased the idea gadget in a video it launched on Wednesday, promising extra at MWC in March.
I used to be instantly intrigued by the design of this cellphone, which seems to incorporate a self-aware robotic digicam. The much less stated concerning the video itself, the higher. But if you will get over the truth that it is clearly AI-generated with inventory music that sounds ripped from a Netflix Christmas sequel, it is price watching simply to grasp the idea.
@cnetdotcom Announced alongside the launch of the HONOR Magic8 sequence, the corporate has simply shared a teaser video of a robotic cellphone that they’ll current with extra particulars at MWC 2026 #robotphone #honor #smartphone #honormagic8 #robotics ♬ one thing authentic: CyberPulse Music 2077
The design incorporates a pop-up digicam that opens from the again of the cellphone, positioned on a gimbal-like robotic arm.
This will not be a easy selfie digicam. The video reveals the digicam nodding approvingly at an outfit being tried on by the individual holding it and taking part in hide-and-seek with a child when the cellphone is face down on a desk. Honor says in a press launch that it needs to remodel telephones into gadgets that perform as “emotional companions that really feel, adapt and develop with their customers.”
We are already seeing how telephones evolve, with the incorporation of AI Agentsinto all-knowing digital private assistants. What Honor envisions is a step additional: introducing robotics into the combination to create a next-generation gadget that may bodily reply to individuals and their setting.
The concept is compelling and never unpalatable amid a panorama of generic cellphone design. However, it stays to be seen whether or not engineering will be capable to ship on the imaginative and prescient generated by AI. I’ll be at MWC in Barcelona subsequent yr and I’m already excited to see if the corporate can present me tangible proof that the Robot Phone is greater than only a idea.
Meanwhile, the corporate additionally launched the Magic 8 sequence in China. Honor calls this newest flagship gadget “the first self-evolving AI smartphone,” one that can proceed to get smarter by AI-powered studying. It comes outfitted with a devoted AI button to activate Honor’s YOYO AI agent, which it says can execute duties in 3,000 totally different situations. This might embrace telling your cellphone to delete all of your blurry screenshots or summarizing a month of bills and sending them to your supervisor.
The Magic 8 will probably be one of many first telephones to characteristic the most recent from Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 Chiptogether with a 7200 mAh silicon-carbon battery with 120-watt SuperCharge and an AI-powered telephoto digicam system. However, it is price noting that this model of the cellphone will solely be out there in China, so specs could also be totally different for its European launch later this yr.
