Sharp’s New Robot Is Actually a Smartphone

Or is that the other way around?

Last week at Japan’s CEATEC show, Sharp Electronics showed off RoBoHoN, a phone that looks more like a toy you’d have gotten as a kid and then promptly forgotten about. As a smartphone, it handles calls, emails and photos—all the usual fare. But beyond the painfully “precious” exterior lies a built-in projector, plus it responds based on voice and facial recognition, giving it movie, chat and personal assistant capabilities. As a robot, it can sit up, walk and (of course) dance.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQtIlxe_ZkY

Our sources at Sharp told us they’re building up RoBoHoN’s application platform for a Japan launch in “the first half of 2016,” with no price set yet or plans to bring him to the States. Which is too bad, because we were really digging the idea of whipping this 8-incher out of our oversized pockets and talking into his crotch while triumphantly strutting down the street.

Photos by Sharp Electronics