Honor says its ‘Robotic telephone’ with shifting digicam can dance to music

Honor first teased its “Robot phone” with a movable camera arm earlier this year. Ahead of the Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona, the Chinese company provided more details about the device, including how the robot can respond to different situations without commands. The company said that it is planning to launch this device in the second half of this year.

Honor said that the robot also has a “personality” and can respond to you with “head shakes” and can also dance to the beat of music. The company noted that users can talk to the assistant on the phone through text and voice. Honor showed a video of a person asking for apparel suggestions, and the robot nodding or shaking to suggest an outfit.

The phone has a 200-megapixel camera on a moving robot three-axis gimbal with stabilization tech. The company said that the camera can smoothly rotate around and capture smooth videos and photos. It also has a Super Steady mode for video capture. The company said the phone can get cinematic shots through its Spinshot feature that makes the robot camera rotate by 90 or 180 degrees.

The robotic camera also allows for more fluid video calls that can track you through AI-powered object tracking. The tech is like Apple’s Center Stage on steroids if it works.

The company said that it developed its own micro motor to control the robotic camera’s movements. It noted that it used some techniques used in foldable phones to make the camera more sturdy and fit the four-degree-of-freedom gimbal system into the body of a phone. Honor said that it is using the same materials for the robotic arm as the Honor Magic V6’s hinge, with 2800 MPa tensile strength.

Honor also released the Honor Magic V6 foldable with a 6,600 mAh battery, the Honor MagicPad 4 tablet, and the Honor MagicBook 14 laptop at its event.