Kill the Rabbit (R1) | Engadget Podcast



The Rabbit R1 is finally here, and it’s yet another useless AI gadget. Sure, at $199 with no monthly fee, it’s a lot cheaper than the $699 Humane AI Pin. But the R1 is slow, hard to use, and doesn’t actually do much. The much-promised “Large Action Model” mostly powers things you can easily do on your phone. In this episode, Devindra and Engadget’s Sam Rutherford chat with CNET’s Lisa Eadicicco about the Rabbit R1 and whether AI devices are necessary at all. Just like cameras, the best AI device is the one you always have with you: your smartphone.

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This Post Has 12 Comments

  1. I love the Rabbit R1. I can't wait to see how this device develops and gets better with time! For those of you that don't understand the importance of placing an apk on a hardware device that is not owned by the Woke Tech Ologarchy, you are sadly missing the point. I wonder how many of these bad reviews are from woke individuals? I think I know the answer, do you?

  2. Everyone saying the rabbit R1 should have just been an app are really missing the point. You can run AI apps already on your phone. Creating a device that opens new markets is a smart move.

    Seems tech reviewers are just not aware of users needs beyond their bubbles and have never worked with disadvantaged people or in harsh environments. Guess that's why they never really bother to review tech for elderly or disabled.

    I work with elderly, disabled and illiterate people and the r1 design has life changing potential.

    Smartphones are a very poor choice for those folks, the ever more complex UI, delicate hardware and cost makes them a tech barrier.

    I can think of many industries where a R1 like design with its single button and scroll wheel is a far better focused hardware choice over a Swiss army knife design of smartphones.

    There are museums and other tourism areas that are looking at things like the r1 as a game changer.. it's cheap and vastly easier to use, able to be used by any age or education level. That's not true of a smartphone.. at all.

  3. @solidust573

    Oh noo. Please don't hurt the rabbit šŸ„ŗšŸ°šŸ˜¢

  4. @nickthaskater

    34:45 Bixby is actually good. It's useful because unlike other assistants it can actually get into deep system settings.

  5. What actually killed not just the product but imo the company is "Rabbit OSā€ being revelead to be nothing but AOSP, because of course the company who thought it was a good idea to release a standalone device that can only do 4 things doesnā€™t employ people smart enough to actually build a legitimate operating system. Not only is the R1 useless, Iā€™m convinced this companyā€™s being run by idiots.Ā 

    Iā€™m also convinced this ā€œLarge Action Modelā€ thing only lives in the CEOā€™s head right now, and what the R1 is doing with Uber, Spotify and DoorDash is 100% procedural, working alongside the LLMs it integrates with. Complete trash, not to mention ChatGPT + Google Lens completely blow this thing out of the water. And the battery life is godawful. Thereā€™s absolutely no reason to purchase this thing, like, ever.Ā 

    Honestly, all the issues theyā€™re facing with software and hardware wonā€™t be easy to get around. You canā€™t make significant improvements to ā€œRabbit OSā€ without upgrading the deviceā€™s hardware, and you canā€™t update the hardware without releasing a new device. At the same time, theyā€™re competing against Google who has AI features baked into their smartphones already, and Apple who will follow in Googleā€™s footsteps and will give Siri AI super-powers this year. By the time the R2 comes out either next year or in 2026, Google and Apple will be running laps around this company. RIP Rabbit.

  6. @andersonsystem2

    Yes nothing has matched the smartphone and you can just use apps like open Ai or Pi Ai on your smartphone. The Ai devices out now are so half backed šŸ˜‚ good video.

  7. @aliettienne2907

    I am quite flabbergasted that those companies are not taking their time to properly cook the idea (wait for a perfect engineered hardware design) before realising their products to the consumers. They are under-delivering on what they say the product can do. It's like everything is halfway done, you get what they are trying to do but the service quality is poor or it is riddle with defect. They need to wait until the product reach perfection or close enough for practical use. šŸ˜ŽšŸ’ÆšŸ’ŖšŸæšŸ‘šŸæ

  8. @thumbtak123

    Rabbit R1 runs Android and the AI / OS is an APK file.

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