New Rabbit R1 demo promises a world without apps and a lot more talking to your tech

Date:
Tue, 12 Mar 2024 15:00:52 +0000

Description:
AI-powered voice controls are the future of tech - at least, thats what
Rabbit Inc. thinks.

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Weve already talked about the Rabbit R1 before here on TechRadar: an
ambitious little pocket-friendly device that contains an AI-powered personal assistant, capable of doing everything from curating a music playlist to booking you a last-minute flight to Rome. Now, the pint-sized companion tool has been shown demonstrating its note-taking capabilities.

The latest demo comes from Jesse Lyu on X , founder and CEO of Rabbit Inc., and shows how the R1 can be used for note-taking and transcription via some simple voice controls. The video (see the tweet below) shows that note-taking can be started with a short voice command, and ended with a single button press. another week, another homemade r1 demo. note taking with r1 with playback/download/AI summary.still need bit of touch but its both intuitive and functional. more to come. pic.twitter.com/3r5hCsYMe1 March 11, 2024 See more

Its a relatively early tech demo Lyu notes that it still need bit of touch [sic] but its a solid demonstration of Rabbit Inc.s objectives when it comes to user simplicity. The R1 has very little in terms of a physical interface, and doubles down by having as basic a software interface as possible: theres no Android-style app grid in sight here, just an AI capable of connecting to web apps to carry out tasks.

Once youve recorded your notes, you can either view a full transcription, see an AI-generated summary, or replay the audio recording (the latter of which requires you to access a web portal). The Rabbit R1 is primarily driven by cloud computing, meaning that youll need a constant internet connection to
get the full experience. Opinion: A nifty gadget that might not hold up to criticism

As someone who personally spent a lot of time interviewing people and frantically scribbling down notes in my early journo days, I can definitely see the value of a tool like the Rabbit R1. Im also a sucker for
purpose-built hardware, so despite my frequent reservations about AI , I
truly like the concept of the R1 as a one-stop shop for your AI chatbot
needs.

My main issue is that this latest tech demo doesnt actually do anything I
cant do with my phone. Ive got a Google Pixel 8 , and nowadays I use the Otter.ai app for interview transcriptions and voice notes. Its not a perfect tool, but it does the job as well as the R1 can right now. The Rabbit R1's simplicity is part of its appeal - though it does still have a touchscreen. (Image credit: Rabbit)

As much as I love the Rabbit R1s charming analog design, its still going to cost $199 (159 / around AU$300) and I just dont see the point in spending that money when the phone Ive already paid for can do all the same tasks. An AI-powered pocket companion sounds like an excellent idea on paper, but when you take a look at the current widespread proliferation of AI tools like Windows Copilot and Google Gemini in our existing tech products, it feels a tad redundant.

The big players such as Google and Microsoft arent about to stop cramming AI features into our everyday hardware anytime soon, so dedicated AI gadgets
like Rabbit Inc.s dinky pocket helper will need to work hard to prove themselves. The voice control interface that does away with apps completely
is a good starting point, but again, thats something my Pixel 8 could
feasibly do in the future. And yet, as our Editor-in-Chief Lance Ulanoff puts it, I might still end up loving the R1 You might also like What exactly is
the Rabbit R1? CES 2024's AI breakout hit explained Rabbit r1 hasn't shipped yet and it's already received a major upgrade This Blackberry-style phone
with an E-Ink screen wants to fix your scrolling addiction



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Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/computing/artificial-intelligence/new-rabbit-r1-demo -promises-a-world-without-apps-and-a-lot-more-talking-to-your-tech


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