Samsungs Ballie robot companion still comes in yellow, but has more AI and a promised 2025 launch

Date:
Mon, 06 Jan 2025 03:00:53 +0000

Description:
TechRadar saw the cheerful yellow robot and chatted with Samsung's Head of Home Entertainment Product

FULL STORY ======================================================================Samsung' s Ballie robot is back at CES 2025. It has an identical design to the one shown in 2024, with new 'Vision AI' features. Samsung says Ballie will launch in the first half of 2025 with support for English, Spanish, and Korean for
an unknown price.

If youve been wondering where Samsungs cheerful yellow AI robot companion has been, we finally know the answer. Ballie, Samsungs robot, which was first unveiled back in 2020 and then was relaunched last year in 2024 with a boatload of AI, will be arriving in 2025, specifically the first half.

Ballie is still bright yellow with wheels to move around your house, a boatload of sensors, and a projector to let it play games, cast answers to queries, and even project films on various surfaces. And I got the chance along with TechRadar Managing Editor, Lifestyle Josephine Watson to check
out Ballie firsthand and see it go through a few motions.

And yes, it is still undeniably cute, and thanks to wheels, it will effortlessly glide over flat surfaces; this latest demo was on a soft wood surface in a pre-mapped space. It still boasts a front projector, which is a Full HD triple-laser projector and should deliver quality close to the Premiere 5. Further, its the world's first switchable lens projector,
allowing it to project content both near and far. (Image credit: Future/Jacob Krol)

Why is that important? Well, in this demonstration, we saw it list options on the floor in front of you, but it can also cast content like directions to
the Sphere from Caesers Palace, or project a movie onto the wall.

Its voice-activated thanks to four built-in far-field microphones and
responds to "Hey Ballie". It gets its sight from two cameras a 2K camera on the rear and a 4K camera on the front as well as sensors including LiDAR and a Time of Flight (ToF) sensor. Our hope is that learning from Samsung's slightly wobbly Samsung Bespoke Jet Bot Combo AI performance have factored in .

Samsung promises a launch in 2025, specifically in the first half of the
year, with English, Spanish, and Korean support. The company did not,
however, provide any hints at pricing, exact features or specifications, or even confirmed launch regions.

Like saying "Hey Google" on an Android smartphone or asking for Siri on a HomePod , Ballie is a fully responsive voice-activated robot. Its still being billed as an AI robot companion that can glide around your home and essentially be at your beck and call. As you might suspect, its set to integrate with other devices, including the ability to control them. Id guess this is enabled via SmartThings, but in this demo, Ballie was asked to turn
on a connected light and a monitor feature in a gaming setup.

We also saw Ballie provide a list of things to do in Las Vegas, suggesting
the fountains at the Bellagio and the Sphere; it could understand a more conversational response and then gave us more info on the Sphere. When first asked, and Ballie was directly in front of the user, it projected the list on the floor; then it opted to cast a larger view with more details on the Sphere, including images, on the wall.

Seemingly, it will automatically decide where to cast content, but you can be more specific and even ask for a larger screen when streaming a movie it might even switch the surface its casting on.

As far as Ballies interesting road to launch, we asked Samsungs Head of Product, Home Entertainment, Lydia Cho.

We really wanted to perfect this, making sure it came to market at the right time, with the right features, and the right concept. So thats why the
process took a bit longer, but I think its really the right time with us launching VisionAI, explained Cho. She also called out that the new AI suite, which is also launching on Samsungs latest TVs, is all about personalization and customization.

Noting that this device can be personalized to your lifestyle and is squarely focused on perfecting the interaction, Cho says: We just think its the
perfect companion for you to meet all your needs", before noting it can tell you the weather, where you want to go, your dietary needs, a childs homework assignment, and even your schedule. (Image credit: Future/Jacob Krol)

Even so, there is still a road to market for Ballie, and it will be interesting to see the final feature set, tech specs, Samsungs pitch to consumers, and how well it performs in real-world use. We still havent been able to truly direct Ballie or see it outside of a test space, but its clear that robots are a sector that isnt leaving. Ballie, with its cheerful yellow paint job, is certainly less scary or unassuming than Telsas humanoid bot or Boston Dynamics robot dog, and with Amazon's Astro in a perpetual invite-only status, there's room for market domination, should Samsung play its cards right.

Remember, this is the day before CES even starts, and Samsung showed this off before its official press conference at its First Look event, typically reserved for new home entertainment. Its clear that Ballie is central to the mission, and you bet were trying to get a more formal hands-on. (Image
credit: Future) Were covering all of the latest CES news from the show as it happens. Stick with us for the big stories on everything from 8K TVs and foldable displays to new phones, laptops, smart home gadgets, and the latest in AI. And dont forget to follow us on TikTok for the latest from the CES
show floor! You might also like... LG unveils 2025 flagship OLED TV line-up, including brightest-ever models, and smarter wireless 4K video tech United Airlines is speeding up its free and fast Starlink rollout, here's which planes will get it first This might be the coolest iPhone accessory at CES 2025, perfectly mixing tech and aesthetics



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Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/home/smart-home/samsungs-ballie-robot-companion-stil l-comes-in-yellow-but-has-more-ai-and-a-promised-2025-launch


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