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Samsung gave us our first glimpse of its AI home companion robot, Ballie, just before CES 2024, and now it looks like the little rolling assistant is finally ready to make its debut in the real world. The updated Ballie was equipped with a projector, helping organize daily schedules, providing weather updates, and stepping up to handle household tasks. The South Korean consumer electronics giant has now announced that Ballie will officially be shipping in the U.S. this year.
We don’t have an official release date, but we do know that the little Wall-E-like robot can respond to voice commands. Plus, thanks to its cameras and sensors, Ballie can figure out the best angle to project an image based on where the user’s face is.
It can recognize whether the user is facing the ceiling and adjust to project the image or video up at the right spot. If you ask it to “make the screen bigger,” Ballie will find a larger wall to use. The smart robot also comes with built-in speakers for sound. However, Samsung hasn’t shared the price yet or said when (or if) Ballie will be available in other countries.
Samsung, Apple, and Amazon compete in the smart robots market
Samsung isn’t the first company to foray into the world of robotic assistants. In April, ReadWrite reported that Apple was looking into building a mobile robot designed to follow users around their homes and an advanced table-top device featuring a robotic arm to move a display.
While Amazon first introduced Astro in 2021, essentially an “Alexa on wheels.” However, smart robots have not gained traction as expected. In September 2024, the e-commerce company announced it would discontinue the Astro for Business robot security guard to focus on its home version instead.
An Amazon spokesperson said at the time: “To accelerate our progress and ongoing research to make Astro the best in-home robot, we’ve made the decision to wind down support for Astro for Business.”
ReadWrite has reached out to Samsung for more information.
Featured image: Samsung
