[jylam]

It was surprisingly (or not) hard to find what this "Rabbit R1" device was (despite the `I assume by now that most people have heard of the Rabbit R1.`), so here is a paste from Wired:

"The promise was simple. Speak into the device and it'll complete tasks for you thanks to Rabbit's “large action models”—call an Uber, reserve dinner plans via OpenTable, play a song through Spotify, or order some food on DoorDash. Just speak and it will handle it, just like if you handed your smartphone to a personal assistant and asked them to do something for you."

I don't understand why an app on the phone wouldn't do that, but maybe I'm not hype enough.

[mewse-hn]

You really have to watch the Steve Jobs-esque announcement video to understand what they were promising with this device, and understand how utterly it failed to deliver on those promises.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=22wlLy7hKP4

[nerdponx]

Are you sure it wasn't always meant to just be a preorder + data harvesting scam?

[margalabargala]

One thing brought up by the article is that for all their other sketchiness, they do provide a constant stream of software updates for existing devices. That makes it unlikely it was a pre-order scam.

[mlsu]

Oh wow, that's wild.

It's like a cuckoo that has evolved to mimic Steve Jobs, just enough to feed on VC and beta product dollars. I'm sure it'll take off out of the nest, fat and happy, once its brood parasitism is complete.

[codetrotter]

On iOS the “problem” for a third-party app is that there is no mechanic by which it could always listen to your mic, and trigger actions based on keywords.

Only Siri would be able to do that on iOS.

Therefore, no third party can “become the platform” on iOS for voice assistants.

But who knows. Maybe EU will force Apple to open up for that at some point, like they forced Apple to open up for third party App Stores on iOS in EU.

[Kwpolska]

If the product was truly revolutionary, users wouldn't mind opening an app to talk to it.

[throwaway3306a]

The whole point of the product is not having to open apps...

[rpcope1]

Oh good, now everyone can spy on me, not just Apple.

[aetch]

iOS apps can record audio in the background with the provided API already so this isn’t actually a hold up

[danudey]

You can continue to record audio in the background, but you can't use the API to just listen all the time, like "hey siri" does, and then open the app and act on it.

[prmoustache]

Honestly I don't understand how they got customers in the first place, the idea is so bad for a start that it really shows people are knowlingly buying stuff with the sole purpose of producing e-waste.

I don't understand the pleasure they get from this.

[throwaway3306a]

What's so bad about the idea? I like the idea, this is not well executed but I am looking forward Apple making something like it - maybe by just improving the WatchOS.

[prmoustache]

That is the thing, it is only really interesting if it is software incorporated into an existing wearable or a smartphone.

[throwaway3306a]

It's interesting if it replaces a wearable or smartphone, too.

[prmoustache]

Well from the very start you knew it wouldn't.

[incompatible]

Yeah, I tried a web search and after a lot of stuff about the South Sydney Rabbitohs, I found this review of Rabbit R1:

https://www.theverge.com/2024/5/2/24147159/rabbit-r1-review-...

They don't seem impressed.