Sharp's Robotic Mobile Phone Called RoBoHon Launches in Japan

Sharp has launched a robot that is also a smartphone in Japan. The robotic phone is called RoBoHon. It is a robot with a smartphone for a body and tiny legs and arms. The phone itself is powered by Android.

Japan Today reports that the walking smartphone went on sale in Japan last week. Sharp is currently producing 5,000 RoBoHon units per month. The phone costs around $1,850 U.S. There are also monthly charges like with a regular smartphone.

Sharp says the robotic phone was developed in collaboration with Tomotaka Takahashi, Project Associate Professor at the University of Tokyo's Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology and CEO of robot development company Robo Garage Co. It is billed as the first mobile robotic phone. Sharp says users will be able to download apps to give RoBoHon more features.

Sharp even launched a special RoBoHon Cafe where people can try out the robot and try robot-inspired dishes and beverages. The little robot can walk, dance and answer calls. The robot phone is 19.5 cm (7.7 inches) tall. It weighs 390 grams.

RoboHon can hold small objects with its little hands. The hands resemble LEGO minifigure hands. The robot can also be used as a projector and broadcast video. It can recognize people by their face and remember their names. Sharp may be on to something with a phone that is also a robot as we transition to our robotics future. A robot smartphone will need to be compact enough to carry around and RoBoHon is pretty small. It probably isn't fast enough to simply run after you. Take a look: