The new Rabbit R1 demo promises a world without apps – and much more if you talk to your tech
We’ve talked about the Rabbit R1 before here on Ny Breaking: an ambitious little pocket-friendly device that packs an AI-powered personal assistant that can do everything from curating a music playlist to booking a last-minute flight to Rome. Now shown is the little utility that demonstrates its note-taking capabilities.
The latest demo comes from Jesse Lyu on X, founder and CEO of Rabbit Inc., and shows how the R1 can be used for note-taking and transcription through some simple voice controls. The video (see tweet below) shows that note-taking can be started with a short voice command and ended with a single button press.
another week, another homebrew r1 demo. take notes with r1 with play/download/AI summary. It still requires some touch, but it’s both intuitive and functional. more to come. pic.twitter.com/3r5hCsYMe1March 11, 2024
It’s a relatively early tech demo – Lyu notes that it “still needs some tweaking” (sic) – but it’s a solid demonstration of Rabbit Inc.’s goals. when it comes to simplicity for the user. The R1 has very little physical interface, and doubles down on having as simple a software interface as possible: there’s no Android-style app grid on display here, just an AI that can connect to web apps to perform tasks.
Once you’ve recorded your notes, you can view a full transcript, view an AI-generated summary, or replay the audio recording (the latter requires access to a web portal). The Rabbit R1 is primarily powered by cloud computing, which means you’ll need a constant internet connection to get the full experience.
Advice: a useful gadget that may not withstand criticism
As someone who personally spent a lot of time interviewing people and frantically taking notes in my early days, I definitely see the value in a tool like the Rabbit R1. I’m also a proponent of purpose-built hardware, so despite my frequent reservations about AI, I really like the concept of the R1 as a ‘one-stop shop’ for your AI chatbot needs.
My biggest problem is that this latest tech demo doesn’t actually do anything I can’t do with my phone. I have a Google Pixel 8 and these days I use the Otter.ai app for interview transcripts and voice notes. It’s not a perfect tool, but it does the job as well as the R1 can right now.
As much as I love the Rabbit R1’s charming analogue design, it’s still going to cost $199 (£159 / about AU$300) – and I don’t see the point in spending that money if the phone for which I have already paid, I can do all the same tasks. An AI-powered pocket companion sounds like an excellent idea on paper, but when you look at the current widespread proliferation of AI tools like Windows Copilot and Google Gemini in our existing tech products, it feels a bit redundant.
The big players like Google and Microsoft have no plans to stop cramming AI features into our everyday hardware anytime soon, so dedicated AI gadgets like Rabbit Inc.’s little pocket helper are on the way. will have to work hard to prove themselves. The voice control interface that completely eliminates the need for apps is a good starting point, but again, that’s something my Pixel 8 could potentially do in the future. And yet, as our Editor-in-Chief Lance Ulanoff puts it, I might still love the R1 in the end…