https://youtu.be/HQtIlxe_ZkY
This is RoboHon, a smartphone in the shape of a robot from Sharp. Wait, scratch that; it’s actually more of a robot than it is a smartphone. Based on the teaser video above, it seems like RoboHan boasts several interesting features that can work really well in day-to-day usage.
Designed by Tomotaka Takahashi, a well-known roboticist, RoboHon is a very functional robot with several smartphone-like features. These include the ability to read out messages, set reminders, and of course, make and receive phone calls. RoboHon even features facial recognition, which it can supposedly use to identify people. Interestingly, it seems to be running on a custom operating system as well; no Android here.
In the hardware department, there’s a rather tiny 2-inch 320 x 240 resolution display on the back of RoboHon, and powering the robot (or smartphone) is a Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 processor. Other specifications include LTE connectivity, WiFi, as well as a camera and a projector built into its face. While these are not exactly high-end specifications, Sharp seems to be marketing RoboHon as a companion more than anything else.
Sharp said that RoboHon will be released in the first half of 2016. As expected, no pricing details have been given yet, but considering how capable RoboHon is (based on the teaser video, anyway), it probably won’t come cheap.
