This AI handheld wants to use your apps on your behalf with just your voice
The Rabbit R1 handheld uses a different type of AI that learns how to use apps. It wants to find a way to control your apps regardless of how you access them.
The AI devices we’ve seen so far have been promising, but they’re all essentially a digital version of a chatbot. Which you can do from one of the latest smartphones. Don’t get us wrong, that’s going to be helpful – but is it what AI was designed for? Thinking a little more outside the box, this fledgling startup is hitting CES 2024 with an AI handheld that wants to control your apps using just your voice. The Rabbit R1 might be gunning for your smartphone in the future, but for now, it just wants to give you a different way to interact with your apps and other services.
The Rabbit R1 is a gadget that looks like the love-child of a Game Boy console and a retro handheld TV from the ’90s. You can thank a collaboration with Teenage Engineering for the design here. This handheld is more pocket-sized than your average smartphone, sporting a cute little 2.88-inch touchscreen. And its goal is to let you use all your everyday apps with just your voice. It’s powered by a zippy 2.3GHz MediaTek processor, a solid 4GB of memory, and a hefty 128GB of storage. For battery life, Rabbit’s playing coy, but is promising it’ll last you through your day.
Instead of a generic large language model that AI chatbots are made from, Rabbit’s boiled up something they’re calling a Large Action Model. Rabbit OS is designed to be your go-to for everything from ordering pizza to booking cabs. The interface? It’s all about simplicity – think cards for different categories like music, travel, or messaging. In the keynote, Rabbit’s CEO showed off using the R1 to call an Uber from the office to home. That’s some pretty impressive stuff, especially from a sub 3-inch handheld.
Rabbit trained its AI by showing it how to use existing apps. This means the R1 should, in theory, be able to navigate any app out there. And for those who love to tinker, the R1 comes with a training mode. You can teach it new tasks via the web, like editing photos or organizing your calendar. Just upload a screen recording of what you need doing, and the software is designed to learn and adapt.
Fancy letting AI use your apps instead? Rabbit’s thrown open the doors for pre-orders directly from its website, with shipments expected to roll out in March. And how much will this next-gen handheld set you back? A surprisingly reasonable $199.
Connor Jewiss