Since 2020, Samsung has been dangling a yellow ball in front of us. That sphere is a robot named Ballie that Samsung has teased and demoed for home use, including serving as a smart speaker. Today, Ballie is confirmed to be facing an eternity as vaporware. At CES 2020, Ars Technica reported that Ballie was “the furthest-along concept” that Samsung demonstrated. At the time, we saw Ballie use facial recognition to follow its owner. A marketing video also portrayed the robot controlling smart home devices, including activating a smart vacuum when someone made a mess. Ballie rolled back onto the trade show scene at CES 2024. This time, it had a new, more spherical and larger build rolling upon its three wheels. Ballie also sported a light ring, and Samsung showed a video of the robot being used as a projector. The South Korean firm claimed that Ballie would provide “two to three hours of continued projector use” before needing a charge. Samsung’s video also demonstrated Ballie connecting with a smartphone. Come CES 2025, Samsung was giving limited Ballie demos of the robot doing things like sending directions to a phone and making wine recommendations. At the show, Samsung said Ballie would be available for purchase sometime that year. In April, Samsung announced that it would sell the robot in the US and South Korea in the summer of 2025.
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