Rabbit R1 is the latest AI hand-held that wants to kill the iPhone

AppleInsider

The Humane Ai Pin has some competition in trying to replace the iPhone, with Rabbit's R1 a $200 handheld that wants to use AI to change the way users interact with apps.

Rabbit R1

Introduced at CES 2024, Rabbit's first hardware release is the R1, a compact square that wants to be the intermediary between the user and their smartphone, be it an iPhone or another device. The idea is that, instead of users fumbling through apps to get something done, the Rabbit R1 and Rabbit OS will do it for them instead.

Using a "Large Action Model," analogous to the Large Language Model used by Siri, ChatGPT and similar systems, Rabbit will take commands from the user and perform the instructions within apps on their behalf. For example, asking for a ride to a supermarket could trigger Rabbit to use Uber for you.

The Large Action Model, trained by observing how users use apps, should in theory be able to navigate most app types from the start, but it will also have a training mode for teaching highly specific tasks.

Introducing r1. Watch the keynote.

Order now: https://t.co/R3sOtVWoJ5 #CES2024 pic.twitter.com/niUmjFvKvE

— rabbit inc. (@rabbit_hmi)

January 9, 2024

The R1 itself is a fairly simple piece of kit, consisting of a 2.88-inch touchscreen in a rounded square that was designed with Teenage Engineering. Powered by a 2.3GHz MediaTek processor with 4GB of memory and 128GB of storage, the unit has "all day" battery life as well as a rotatable camera "eye."

Unusually for its design, there is a chunky scroll wheel, as well as a side button designed for push-to-talk. At the top are a pair of far-field microphones for capturing user's tasks, and though there's space for a SIM card, it doesn't seem to be usable as a smartphone in its own right at the moment.

By its concept, Rabbit is seemingly going down the same route as Humane's Ai Pin, but more to control apps a user may already use instead of using an AI to perform the task itself. At $199, it's also significantly cheaper than Humane's option, and without requiring a subscription either.

Though both Humane and Rabbit may have trouble convincing many to move away from the smartphone interface, the reasonable pricing of Rabbit could give it an edge upon release.

The Rabbit R1 is available for preorder, with shipments expected to start from March.



Read on AppleInsider

scdundas

Saying it wants to kill the iPhone is both sensationalist and misleading clickbait. When the entire description is to do task on your phone, it literally does nothing without a phone already. 

mark fearing

if you want the AI to read everything, track you 24-7, learn your habits, know everyone in your life, read all your posts and then it will help you in some nebulous way...I think that's the real danger. we still have some control, especially on the iPhone with safeguarding personal material, but the AI will promise all the things it can do as long as you give it complete access to everything.in return for what exactly?

mark fearing

reading again, it's doing nothing you can't set up already. weird...

saf

mark fearing said:

reading again, it's doing nothing you can't set up already. weird...

It sure is purty though.  Those teenage engineers are really good at what they do.

dewme

It's more like the Rabbit wants to kill Siri, not the iPhone.

I think Monty Python can claim prior art on that.

Rick601

Some good ideas and advancements with R1.  Remember Steve Jobs was about this age when he introduced the Apple Computer.  Apple needs to get off its rear end and start innovating again.  SIRI has done virtually nothing in the last 5 years.  The Vision Pro has a very limited market in its current configuration, though everyone says it's only the beginning.(we will see)  As a long time Apple shareholder, its lack of innovation is very concerning.  How's that Apple Titan car project that has consumed billions in R&D?  Maybe Tim Cook can invite the Rabbit CEO in for a conversation....

Michae1

The  standout physical feature of this device is that big honkin’ scroll wheel…which he never uses one time during the demo.  Instead he uses the touchscreen to scroll.

AppleZulu

I couldn’t make myself watch the whole keynote. First impression was that this guy is trying really hard to be Steve Jobs doing an Apple keynote presentation. Second impression is that the device is doing things that existing smartphones already do. I’m sure I’ve missed something there, but what I did see seemed to be generative AI following the instructions “Make a keynote presentation by me for Rabbit R1 in the style of Steve Jobs doing an Apple iPhone keynote,” with the result being typical generative AI: highly derivative, but not as good as the original. 

Edit: I’ll add a couple of other impressions. It looks like Rabbit is like the first couple of versions of iPhone in that you have to use your Mac to set up what apps the Rabbit can access. In similar fashion, Rabbit hops back down memory lane to when you couldn’t invoke Siri with a Hey Siri voice command, but must press a button instead. The presenter touts the quick time for the device to respond, then shows the device responding quickly with a “searching for…” followed by a pause for a few beats before providing actual results. Also, at least for the first few demonstrations before I lost interest, the Rabbit wasn’t doing anything Siri or other current voice assistants do. 

AppleZulu

Rick601 said:

Some good ideas and advancements with R1.  Remember Steve Jobs was about this age when he introduced the Apple Computer.  Apple needs to get off its rear end and start innovating again.  SIRI has done virtually nothing in the last 5 years.  The Vision Pro has a very limited market in its current configuration, though everyone says it's only the beginning.(we will see)  As a long time Apple shareholder, its lack of innovation is very concerning.  How's that Apple Titan car project that has consumed billions in R&D?  Maybe Tim Cook can invite the Rabbit CEO in for a conversation....

Maybe you could share what those innovations were, because I couldn’t get past the imitation. Not sure why Tim Cook would invite the Rabbit CEO for a conversation other than to encourage him to do his own thing, rather than copy Apple’s schtick. 

pulseimages

I kept waiting for him to use that scroll wheel but it never came. The physical design of the product looks like typical cutesy tech you’d see from Asia before it was Americanized. Looks more like something I would see in the Toy Department than at the Apple Store. 

MacPro

I suspect LAM is also coming from Apple as they introduce iPhone based edge computing LLMs next year via Siri 2.  My question, is will Apple be able to add this new Siri via iOS for the latests iPhones, or only in new models yet to arrive?

bloggerblog

I am sure this came up in their feasibility study but would've loved to listen in on it. What would stop Apple or Google from implementing all these features and more into their current devices? This might be a project secretly funded by big tech to study the market.

bloggerblog

Rick601 said:

Some good ideas and advancements with R1.  Remember Steve Jobs was about this age when he introduced the Apple Computer.  Apple needs to get off its rear end and start innovating again.  SIRI has done virtually nothing in the last 5 years.  The Vision Pro has a very limited market in its current configuration, though everyone says it's only the beginning.(we will see)  As a long time Apple shareholder, its lack of innovation is very concerning.  How's that Apple Titan car project that has consumed billions in R&D?  Maybe Tim Cook can invite the Rabbit CEO in for a conversation....

That's a common argument, reminiscent of the times Apple demonstrated success from a complacent market. Now that the market had learned their lesson, it has become harder for Apple to be the top disruptor.
Having said that, when we say "innovate again" we really mean the expectation from Apple to disrupt the market once again. The questions then becomes, is the technology for that disruption ready, and most importantly is the market ready for a round of disruption. Apple will wait for a hungry market which can only be understood from the their marketing team gathers otherwise, you're gonna end up with a failed product that was "ahead of its time."

Respite

I do like Teenage Engineering's hardware design, but it's wasted here: this is an app, not a hardware product.