Samsung's Ballie,??? ?? ???? a ball-shaped robot that the company's been working on for five years, is finally coming to market.
The company originally announced Ballie in 2020, and displayed a redesigned version during CES 2024.
Now, the home AI companion robot – as Samsung calls it – is actually becoming a real product. It will be able to move around the house, and engage in "natural, conversational interactions" to help you out with stuff like setting reminders, greeting people at the door, and telling you you look beautiful (or recommend a different shirt). Ballie can hear and see you, as well as move around the house freely, though most technical details are absent from Samsung's announcement.
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What we do know, however, is that the robot will get its AI capabilities from Google Gemini. So, if you tell Ballie, "I feel tired today," the robot should be able to provide advice on how to improve your energy levels, optimize your sleeping environment, and the like.
For an idea of how smart the robot will be, you can probably just pick up a Samsung Galaxy S24 device (or later), as those phones use Gemini for AI smarts as well.
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Samsung has a promo page for Ballie, with a couple of videos. One video shows Ballie projecting an interactive video on a wall, so the robot will probably have a built-in projector. The company does warn that the video is for illustrative purposes only, and that certain features and functionalities may differ from the actual product.
Ballie will launch in the United States and Korea "this summer." There's no word on the price, but you can pre-register to purchase one when it becomes available.