The Rabbit R1 Could've Just Been a Mobile App (androidauthority.com) 36
The Rabbit R1 is one of the first standalone AI companion devices to hit the market, offering the ability to translate languages, identify objects in your environment, and order DoorDash, among other things. It's been in the news last week for its all around poor reviews that cite poor battery life, painfully slow responses, and missing features (sound familiar?). Now, it's been confirmed that the Rabbit R1 is powered by an Android app that can run on existing Android phones. Android Authority reports: What ended up souring a lot of people's opinions on the product was the revelation -- in an Android Authority original report -- that the R1 is basically an Android app in a box. Many consumers who believed that the product would be better suited as a mobile app felt validated after our report, but there was one stickler in it that we needed to address: how we got the R1 launcher up and running on an Android phone. See, in our preliminary report, we mentioned that the Rabbit R1's launcher app is intended to be preinstalled in the firmware and be granted several privileged, system-level permissions. While that statement is still true, we should've clarified that the R1 launcher doesn't actually need those permissions. In fact, none of the system-level permissions that the R1 launcher requests are at all necessary for the app to perform its core functionality.
To prove this, we got the Rabbit R1 launcher up and running again on a stock, unrooted Android device (a Xiaomi 13T Pro), thanks to help from a team of reverse engineers including ChromMob, EmilyLShepherd, marceld505, thel3l, and uwukko. We were able to go through the entire setup process as if our device was an actual Rabbit R1. Afterwards, we were able to talk to ChatGPT, use the Vision function to identify objects, play music from Spotify, and even record voice notes. As demonstrated in our hands-on video at the top of this article, all of the existing core functionality that the Rabbit R1 offers would work as an Android or even iOS app. The only functions that wouldn't work are unrelated to the product's core functionality and are things your phone can already do, such as powering off or rebooting the device, toggling Bluetooth, connecting to a cellular or Wi-Fi network, or setting a screen lock.
During our research, Android Authority was also able to obtain a copy of the Rabbit R1's firmware. Our analysis reveals that Rabbit did not make significant modifications to the BSP (Board Support Package) provided by MediaTek. The R1, in fact, still ships with all the standard apps included in AOSP, as well as the many apps provided by MediaTek. This is despite the fact that none of these apps are needed nor ever shown to the user, obviously. Rabbit only made a few changes to the AOSP build that MediaTek provided them, such as adding the aforementioned R1 launcher app, adding a fork of the open-source "AnySoftKeyboard" app with a custom theme, adding an OTA updater app, and adding a custom boot animation. [...] Yes, it's true that all the R1 launcher does is act as a local client to the cloud services offered by Rabbit, which is what truly handles the core functionality. It's also true that there's nothing wrong or unusual with companies using AOSP for their own hardware. But the fact of the matter is that Rabbit does little to justify its use of custom hardware except by making the R1 have an eye-catching design.
To prove this, we got the Rabbit R1 launcher up and running again on a stock, unrooted Android device (a Xiaomi 13T Pro), thanks to help from a team of reverse engineers including ChromMob, EmilyLShepherd, marceld505, thel3l, and uwukko. We were able to go through the entire setup process as if our device was an actual Rabbit R1. Afterwards, we were able to talk to ChatGPT, use the Vision function to identify objects, play music from Spotify, and even record voice notes. As demonstrated in our hands-on video at the top of this article, all of the existing core functionality that the Rabbit R1 offers would work as an Android or even iOS app. The only functions that wouldn't work are unrelated to the product's core functionality and are things your phone can already do, such as powering off or rebooting the device, toggling Bluetooth, connecting to a cellular or Wi-Fi network, or setting a screen lock.
During our research, Android Authority was also able to obtain a copy of the Rabbit R1's firmware. Our analysis reveals that Rabbit did not make significant modifications to the BSP (Board Support Package) provided by MediaTek. The R1, in fact, still ships with all the standard apps included in AOSP, as well as the many apps provided by MediaTek. This is despite the fact that none of these apps are needed nor ever shown to the user, obviously. Rabbit only made a few changes to the AOSP build that MediaTek provided them, such as adding the aforementioned R1 launcher app, adding a fork of the open-source "AnySoftKeyboard" app with a custom theme, adding an OTA updater app, and adding a custom boot animation. [...] Yes, it's true that all the R1 launcher does is act as a local client to the cloud services offered by Rabbit, which is what truly handles the core functionality. It's also true that there's nothing wrong or unusual with companies using AOSP for their own hardware. But the fact of the matter is that Rabbit does little to justify its use of custom hardware except by making the R1 have an eye-catching design.
Marketing (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
It was the first wearable AI pin, sort of like a star trek communicator. And it was terrible.
But every time someone writes a 500 word article about those two facts, it gets a million clicks and tons of ad revenue, so they're gonna continue to do it until people stop clicking on the headline.
Re:Marketing (Score:4, Informative)
Re: (Score:2)
I swear this is all marketing because I have never heard of this until everyone was lambasting it. Any publicity is good publicity?
No so sure the user community popping your “proprietary” hood and calling you out on your hardware bullshit is going to count as the kind of publicity that’s easily dismissed under that catchy “any publicity” excuse-phrase, but I’ll hold my assumptions for now.
Never know how gullible the fashion tech junkie horde is these da, oh wait. Yes we do.
Re: (Score:1)
Any publicity is good publicity?
Not always, but as you've so astutely pointed out: When you're trying to sell a product, any publicity is better than no publicity. I had to look it up too.
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My guess is they made it specifically into a device so it could get that publicity. Oh, and look. It worked.
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Maybe, but it seems more like an attempt at vendor lock-in to me.
Re: (Score:2)
Oh, and look. It worked.
Did it? They are getting publicity, but are they getting sales?
Including a crappy one-app phone with every app vastly increases their costs, especially NRE.
Google says they've sold 50,000 units.
That would be a successful app but is nowhere near the breakeven point for a hardware device
Re: (Score:2)
nowhere near the breakeven point for a hardware device
Let's hope it stays that way, dies a fiery death and serves as a warning for wannabe-copycats to avoid ideas like this like the plague.
Re: (Score:3)
Indeed. A separate phone for each app is profoundly stupid.
I hope they fail as an example to others.
Re: (Score:2)
I already fail to understand why you need a different app for different webpages. Why do you need an app for Facebook, for Youtube, for whatever else where there's a webpage you can access with a browser?
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I already fail to understand why you need a different app for different webpages.
1. Some apps work offline, but that doesn't work if they are webpages. I use my compass app when I am far from any cell tower.
2. Many apps use on-device databases, credentials, or other local storage.
3. Many apps use the camera, microphone, tilt sensor, or neural engine.
4. Users feel secure seeing a dedicated icon on their screen and less secure about searching for a website and then remembering their login and password.
Re: (Score:2)
1. Some apps work offline, but that doesn't work if they are webpages. I use my compass app when I am far from any cell tower.
https://developer.ibm.com/tuto... [ibm.com]
2. Many apps use on-device databases, credentials, or other local storage.
https://developer.mozilla.org/... [mozilla.org]
Space is limited, to be fair, but if more storage were commonly needed that could no doubt be arranged.
3. Many apps use the camera, microphone, tilt sensor, or neural engine.
The browser supports 3/4 of those devices.
4. Users feel secure seeing a dedicated icon on their screen and less secure about searching for a website and then remembering their login and password.
The browser manages logins and passwords.
No shit (Score:2)
We knew it was just an app that a smart phone could do. Except it's hard to wear a smart phone on your shirt. I suppose a bluetooth headset can do it.
Re: (Score:3)
Nothing new (Score:3)
> all the R1 launcher does is act as a local client to the cloud services offered by Rabbit, which is what truly handles the core functionality
So it's another little telemetry / spy app and little more than an open connection to the vendor's servers. Great. I'd hardly even call that an 'app'.
No, it could not (Score:3)
Because as an app, it offers nothing and that would have been obvious. Hence it had to be a physical device in order to scam people into thinking it was more than what it actually is. As an app, nobody would have cared. But look at all the press exposure it got and still get because it is a physical device.
Re: (Score:2)
It did get press cover? Am I reading the wrong (or was that right?) news outlets?
It got a couple of Slashdot posts (Score:2)
I only knew about it from Slashdot. I don't think I read TFA as it didn't look very interesting. Most of the comments were asking what the point of it is. But it must have got coverage somewhere for Slashdot to link to the stories in the first place.
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Apart from slashdot, it got coverage from Ars Technica, CNET, Gizmodo, Mashable, Tech Crunch, Tom's Guide, The Verge, Wired; places that its potential customers consult.
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MKBHD described it as one of the worst products he has ever tested, and I'm not saying he killed Fisker with his negative review of their car, but...
Making it a physical device may have made things worse, because the hardware is terrible. Poor battery life, big "minimum viable product" feel.
Already Covered (Score:3)
In a previous post on AI wearables, I already spelled out why this isn't just being sold as an app. Link [slashdot.org]
Re: (Score:2)
I'm aware of that. It was detailed in TFA. I'm actually tickled pink that the part I got wrong wasn't the scam but the very idea that any of these companies would in any way invest in actual hardware development. I am both chastened and amused by that fact. I should have known better. It's just 100% scam instead of 99% scam.
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Digital Fiefdoms (Score:2)
It's less about avoiding Apple and Google's digital fiefdoms and more about creating their own digital fiefdom to monetize. That's the only reason why these startups got venture capitalist money; the chance for success isn't high but if it succeeds then the payoff is huge.
Funny! (Score:2)
I am shocked, shocked that there is gambling.... (Score:2)
AI is not hardware, it is software. Any well designed piece of software can be turned into an app fairly easily. The only question is, does the manufacturer want it to?
Apps are cheaper and easier to convince people to buy. But you are at the mercy of the hardware for lots of things.
The Rabbit and it's ilk all want access to a camera that they can ensure is pointing in the right direction. So they made hardware.
Too bad the camera usually does not actually point where the wearer wants it to.
Elizabeth Holmes should have done AI (Score:3)
Would have been hilarious.
It's not an app for business reasons. (Score:2)
The Rabbit R1 is $200. No one is going to spend $200 on an app in this curiosity-stage of AI.
I haven't see a BOM for the device, but product-wise it's easier to get people to pay $200 for $50 in hardware and an app.
Re: (Score:2)
The Rabbit R1 sounds an awful lot like they built a cheap mobile phone locked down to a single app and tried to sell it as a magic box.
If it sounds scammy, it's probably a scam.
What? (Score:2)
Seriously, what?
Ok, could someone please explain to me whether I'm just living under a rock and am the only one who never heard about this new hip and trendy product, or whether this is just a very weak attempt to astroturf for yet another AI crap nobody gives a fuck about to pretend it's relevant.
Re: (Score:2)
Because of how they work a lot of AI models, especially neural networks, can run much faster on analog platforms. I think Rabbit was trying to pull themselves out of their own hat and trick people into believing they were an actual pocket sized neural network accelerator.
Pointless technology (Score:2)
I saw a review for the Rabbit R1 on YouTube and there doesn't seem to be anything novel or revolutionary about it. I mean it's a fun little project for some kid just out of university, and I don't want to diminish the technical challenge. Someone should hire them, or definitely fund their next venture, because they probably learned a ton. But this wasn't a good idea for a standalone device. It doesn't solve a problem that anyone has.
Now, there are some opportunities for stand-alone devices, but you have
We were warned (Score:2)
I *warned* you, but did you listen to me? Oh, no, you *knew*, didn't you? Oh, it's just a harmless little *bunny*, isn't it?