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Honors Robot Phone hand-on: Its wild, and its weird

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Honor brought its Robot Phone concept to Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, giving us a first close look at the device.

Honor calls the Robot Phone a "new species" of smartphone that combines "embodied AI interaction with robot-grade motion and cinematic imaging capabilities." No, that doesn't make the concept any clearer.

Having seen it in person, I can tell you that it is, indeed, still a smartphone. It has a robotic arm that springs out of the back, carrying a 200-megapixel camera with it. Once it's out, the arm functions as a gimbal, allowing the camera eye to move around freely in all three dimensions.

This could be useful for certain types of tasks in photography and videography, but Honor seems to be equally as interested in using the camera/eye to give the phone personality. Yeah, it can nod at you, or perform other gestures that really do turn the entire thing into a robot of sorts.

Honor Robot Phone

The gimbal arm required the world's smallest micro motor.
Credit: Stan Schroeder/Mashable

Some actual use cases, besides it looking pretty darn cool, include video calls in which the camera eye follows you around as you move, baby monitoring, and yes, dancing to the music.

Some of the units I've seen up close were asleep, with the robotic eye gently nodding, as if it were breathing. One was tracking the crowd and answering questions, responding either with a nod or a shake.

On stage, during a demonstration of Honor's first-ever humanoid robot, the Robot Phone had a simple interaction with its human-sized counterpart, in accordance with Honor's vision of connecting its gadget ecosystem via AI.

We weren't allowed to touch the device, but it did seem pretty close to a finished product. Honor says it created the world's smallest micro motor for that robotic arm, and I can attest that it seemed quite lively, though we weren't shown how long it takes for it to unfold.

There's no word on when the Robot Phone will be available as an actual product you can buy. For now, it's an interesting take on a smartphone, though we'd really need to spend more time with it to see how useful the robotic part really is.

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Honors humanoid robot shows off impressive dancing skills at MWC

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At this year's MWC in Barcelona, Honor showcased its first-ever AI-powered humanoid robot. And how do you know a robot is any good these days? Of course, by its ability do dance!

This being Honor's first robot, and having seen numerous botched robot launches recently, I wasn't sure what to expect. Honor's robot managed to surprise by being quite a dancer, performing a live act next to actual human dancers on stage in Barcelona.

After a short chat with Honor's Robot phone, which didn't feel weird at all, the robot walked out just as elegantly as it walked in. Pretty impressive for Honor's first try.

Of course, we don't know if the robot was acting autonomously or whether it was remotely controlled by a human. We also don't know any of its specs, or when it might turn into a real product.

The thing about robots, though, that it's pretty hard to fake them; one little mistake and it could stumble off stage. Honor's did a great job today; we'll see how it develops over time.

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SNL Cold Open tackles US-Iran strikes

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At this point, anything President Donald Trump does feels like it’s already been workshopped in the Saturday Night Live writers’ room. The line between satire and reality is practically gone at this point.

This week, with global tensions spiking, the Cold Open returned to familiar territory: James Austin Johnson behind a podium, doing his uncanny Trump, explaining why the United States launched attacks on Iran.

“What is war good for?" Johnson’s Trump begins. "Distracting from the Epstein files."

Subtle, it is not.

The broadcast aired just hours after the United States, in coordination with Israel, launched strikes on Iranian military targets. This then prompted retaliatory attacks, and what Vox describes as the start to a "far-reaching and open-ended war."

Colin Jost’s Pete Hegseth then entered the Cold Open to blaring patriotic rock, brimming with Fox News bravado. "Don’t let my confident demeanor fool you,” Jost’s Hegseth declared. “I’m scared and don’t know what I’m doing."

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Connor Storrie settles a disagreement in SNL skit

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Saturday Night Live host Connor Storrie and cast member Mikey Day get off to a deeply improper start in this delightfully dramatic, Victorian-era, Bridgerton-coded sketch.

The offense starts with Storrie casually implying — in front of Day’s beau and a gathering of tightly wound aristocrats — that Day is, in fact, quite bad at croquet. Naturally, this grave insult can only be resolved the way gentlemen of the era intended: by slapping each other senseless with gloves.

What begins as a dainty challenge quickly devolves into an increasingly unhinged exchange of theatrical glove-smacks, escalating in both volume and pettiness. But the real fun arrives in the form of Kenan Thompson, who makes it abundantly clear that while Regency-era nobles may tolerate a light face tap, he absolutely does not.

After several people catch an unexpected right hook for their troubles, the dispute ends with honor restored and Storrie "beshatting" himself and conceding defeat.

A very good time all around — and bonus points to the makeup department for those aggressively committed sideburns. Good lord.

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