The Sunday Scene - 18
1x Tech marketing photo for their Neo Robot
First
1x Tech Neo Robot - Last week 1x Tech launched preorders for their first product, the Neo Robot. This new robot is designed to perform normal household chores, but it faces numerous challenges. Joanna Stern at the Wall Street Journal has a great video highlighting the tech and its shortcomings. It took a very long time for robot vacuums to shift from being a novelty to genuinely useful. Trying to take on way more tasks with this robot, I’m sure it will take years, if not decades, before a humanoid robot form factor takes hold. I saw a humanoid robot from a big tech company at IFA, and the first time you see a robot that looks like a human in real life, it’s a weird feeling.
Second
Google Gemini for Google Home - Google is starting to roll out their LLM-powered assistant in their smart home platform. You can get it immediately by subscribing to Google Home Premium. Unlike Amazon and Alexa+, Google Gemini is compatible with a wide range of Google Home speakers, including the Google Home mini. Google announced Gemini in Google Home earlier this year. One feature I bet Gemini will be great at is identifying activity from Google Nest cameras. “Did the raccoons get on my porch last night?”
Third
DJI ROMO launches - While you might see someone controlling a drone remotely, assuming it’s all the pilot would be missing the array of autonomous features in any modern DJI drone. While DJI’s new robot vacuum doesn’t look much different from competing models on paper, I think DJI hopes that their years of experience in camera sensors and robotics will make their vacuum smarter than the competition. Unfortunately, due to ongoing disputes with the US CPB,, DJI ROMO will not be available in the US anytime soon. Either way, seeing photos of the clear plastic color way gives you an idea of all the tech that goes into a modern robot vacuum.
The Schedule
This past week had a lot going on for me in a number of facets of my life. We still managed to have a live stream on Thursday night, and I published a video yesterday about the Thorbolt X1 smart lock from Sleekpoint.
This week we will not have a live stream as I have a conflict with both my Thursday night and Friday afternoon time slots. I plan to have other videos for you though.
I hope you have a great rest of your Sunday.
Best,
Eric
