MWC 2016 -- LG’s Rolling Bot is the super cute, albeit a little clumsy companion device, which the manufacturer announced with the LG G5 on Sunday. At LG’s booth at Mobile World Congress, patrons can attempt to race two Rolling Bots around a mini race track. But LG hopes consumers will find some interesting uses for the bots at home.
The spherical robot has some impressive specifications, including 512MB of RAM a 16GB microSD card, an 8-megapixel camera, which records 1080p video and a 5,000mAh battery. The Rolling Bot also includes a speaker, microphone, laser and camera and is controlled with an LG G5 handset.
Many of the use cases LG has mustered up for the Rolling Bot are surrounded around pets. “There’s a mode called pet mode and it dances around and shoots a laser and messes around with your cat and dog,” LG representative Raul Lopez told iDigitalTimes.
“It connects over Wi-Fi to your home network so while you’re at work you can go see how your cat’s doing,” Lopez added.
If users’ pets are independent, they can potentially use the Rolling Bot to remotely control certain electronics in their home. The IR blaster built in to the Rolling Bot would let users turn on their TVs on or off or change the channel remotely (Lopez once again suggested tormenting pets with some daytime television). Or users could turn on their air condition before turning home. The Rolling Bot is also pretty fun to play with in a basic driving function, as the two halves rotate.
Connectivity on the Rolling Bot includes USB Type-C. The robot will also automatically return to its charging station between uses for a power up.
LG expects to release the Rolling Bot within five or six months, as it is currently still testing the device’s software. By then, the LG G5, will already be on the market, as it is scheduled to release in April.
Currently, there are no pricing details for the LG Rolling Bot.
