2016 may not be the year robots invade our homes but next year, expect see the likes of ASUS Zenbo doing many things for the family including offer entertainment. In a recent press event in Taiwan, ASUS announced that Zenbo will be up for pre-order beginning January 1. What a nice way to start the new year especially if you’ve been wanting to get a hold of the cute robot since it was unveiled back in May.
The smart little companion, or should we say robots, surprised the audience by rendering a special holiday song number. Ten Zenbos sang Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas is You” in chorus. The main Zenbo singer has the voice of child so there was no any robot voice singing.
After the robot choir’s performance, ASUS Chairman Jonney Shih showed off once again the many features of the $599 Zenbo. He shared his company’s vision to enable robotic computing in every home in the near future. Zenbo is more of a hi-tech companion you can talk to you, ask anything, and show you stuff on the Internet.
We’re now living in the future where robots can replace humans. Well, we’re still far from that age when robots look like humans (we’ll get there someday) but Zenbo is a good start. Actually, it already has a rival in Omate’s Yumi robot. That one speaks the Alexa language and looks a lot like Zenbo.
ASUS Chairman Shih also shared that they have already teamed up with several partners and developers to work on apps and add new capabilities for the Zenbo. They are aiming to enrich and expand the whole Zenbo experience. In the coming months, we expect to hear more Zenbo apps related to e-commerce, transportation, cleaning, entertainment, and education. The possibilities are endless and we’re excited to know this is only the beginning for such smart robots. We have a feeling other big OEMs will follow suit.
For one, ASUS and the National Police Agency of Taiwan already worked on an app that allows a household to contact the police in case of an emergency. There was a live demo during the event with Chairman Shih and the National Police Agency’s Director General Kuo‑En Chen.
Achin Bhowmik, Vice President of the New Technology Group and General Manager of the Perceptual Computing Group for Intel, also joined the event and expressed his excitement over the project. He said: “For nearly thirty years, Intel and ASUS have been collaborating to bring some of the most leading innovations in PCs and devices to market. We are excited to continue that collaboration on Zenbo, and we look forward to continue working with ASUS on enabling intelligent and interactive devices with Intel RealSense technology.”
Watch the ASUS Zenbo Holidays Song Performance below:
ASUS Zenbo will cost 19,900 TWD for the 32GB version and 24,900 TWD (around $778) for the 128GB model. Each Zenbo robot will come with a special battery dock for charging.
SOURCE: ASUS
