• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia
TechSharp

Your Next Phone Could Be a Dancing Robot With Arms and Legs

By
Hilary Brueck
Hilary Brueck
Down Arrow Button Icon
By
Hilary Brueck
Hilary Brueck
Down Arrow Button Icon
April 14, 2016, 9:12 AM ET
RoBoHoN

If you’ve been wondering when someone is going to release a dancing phone with arms, legs, and a projector on its head…wonder no more.

Sharp started taking preorders for its new RoBoHoN phone on Thursday in Japan. The company says the new bipedal phones will be shipping to consumers May 26.

But the little smartphone companion bots are not coming cheap. The 8-inch-tall phone, which weighs in a little under a pound and runs on Android 5.0, will cost about $1,800 in Japan.

Osaka-based Sharp’s been struggling in the display business lately, operating at a loss of around $1.5 billion for the year. The company was recently acquired by Taiwan’s Foxconn after suffering two bank bailouts since 2012.

Foxconn chief Terry Gou says he loves the “innovative engineering culture” at Sharp, The Wall Street Journal notes. And while the company’s expensive bot probably won’t be a blockbuster or a game changer in the smartphone market, it’s certainly an innovative take on the future of robots.

Get Data Sheet, Fortune’s technology newsletter.

A word of warning: It might look a little strange when you hold a robot up to your face to answer a call. But perhaps that’s the tradeoff for a little robot companion that can stand on the table and announce your daily schedule to you while you’re having breakfast, or sit next to you at the office and read your text messages out loud—is that awkward? You be the judge:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2Z5YIZ24yI

About the Author
By Hilary Brueck
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon

Latest in Tech

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025

Most Popular

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • Future 50
  • World’s Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
Sections
  • Finance
  • Leadership
  • Success
  • Tech
  • Asia
  • Europe
  • Environment
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Health
  • Retail
  • Lifestyle
  • Politics
  • Newsletters
  • Magazine
  • Features
  • Commentary
  • Mpw
  • CEO Initiative
  • Conferences
  • Personal Finance
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
About Us
  • About Us
  • Editorial Calendar
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Diversity And Inclusion
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map

© 2025 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.


Latest in Tech

InnovationTesla
An MIT roboticist who cofounded bankrupt Roomba maker iRobot says Elon Musk’s vision of humanoid robot assistants is ‘pure fantasy thinking’
By Marco Quiroz-GutierrezDecember 16, 2025
21 minutes ago
PoliticsiRobot
Roomba bites the dust: iRobot files for bankruptcy, but don’t worry—your robot vacuum should still work
By Molly Liebergall and Morning BrewDecember 16, 2025
2 hours ago
Justina
Future of Workskills
Can’t get a job? Blame AI? Train in ‘power skills,’ IBM exec says: ‘You can’t hire a college student now to just come in and create a spreadsheet’
By Nick LichtenbergDecember 16, 2025
2 hours ago
NewslettersTerm Sheet
Valerie Health raises $30 million Series A to scale “AI front offices” for physicians
By Allie GarfinkleDecember 16, 2025
3 hours ago
InvestingStock
Global selloff in stocks signals AI bubble may be ending in the healthiest way possible
By Jim EdwardsDecember 16, 2025
3 hours ago
A Ford F-150 Lightning on sale at a Chicago dealership on December 15, 2025. (Photo: Scott Olson/Getty Images)
NewslettersFortune Tech
Ford takes a $19.5 billion hit as EV demand drops
By Andrew NuscaDecember 16, 2025
4 hours ago

Most Popular

placeholder alt text
Success
'I had to take 60 meetings': Jeff Bezos says 'the hardest thing I've ever done' was raising the first million dollars of seed capital for Amazon
By Dave SmithDecember 15, 2025
21 hours ago
placeholder alt text
Success
Meetings are not work, says Southwest Airlines CEO—and he’s taking action, by blocking his calendar every afternoon from Wednesday to Friday 
By Preston ForeDecember 15, 2025
23 hours ago
placeholder alt text
Success
Sorry, six-figure earners: Elon Musk says that money will 'disappear' in the future as AI makes work (and salaries) irrelevant
By Orianna Rosa RoyleDecember 15, 2025
1 day ago
placeholder alt text
Personal Finance
Current price of silver as of Monday, December 15, 2025
By Joseph HostetlerDecember 15, 2025
1 day ago
placeholder alt text
AI
Deloitte's CTO on a stunning AI transformation stat: Companies are spending 93% on tech and only 7% on people
By Nick LichtenbergDecember 15, 2025
1 day ago
placeholder alt text
North America
Ford writes down $19.5 billion as it pivots electric Lighting line of vehicles
By Sasha RogelbergDecember 15, 2025
17 hours ago