The Rabbit R1 is probably running Android and is powered by an Android app • Hacker News Board

Re: The Rabbit R1 is probably running Android and is powered by an Android app

#291

Post by dilyevsky » Thu, May 02, 2024, 4:03 PM UTC

kataklasm wrote: post #270

dilyevsky wrote: post #217

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> We need Skunk Works team quality You mean the kind where plane literally leaks fuel mid flight? I think they're already there

Maybe you should read about that again, because you obviously don't know what you're talking about ;-) The A-12/SR-71 was leaking fuel while it was sitting on the apron/ramp, because due to the insane heating that occurs at Mach 3 you have to compensate the heat contraction of your tanks and everything else. So while they do leak on the ground, as soon as they start getting anywhere close to operating speed and the s…

1. That makes it even worse/more dangerous 2. Still leaks fuel midflight during large portions of the flight 3. Its not like it’s some ingenious design tradeoff - wasn’t supposed to do that (which is my point)

Re: The Rabbit R1 is probably running Android and is powered by an Android app

#292

Post by araes » Thu, May 02, 2024, 4:35 PM UTC

makeitdouble wrote: post #263

TaylorAlexander wrote: post #245

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes it’s a very hierarchical way of thinking. I’d much rather imagine a world with more collaboration between peers than every person having a servant, but it seems those that run tech companies prefer the latter.

Totally agree. I also think that there might be a fundamental divide with people in our line of work (programming), as by definition we've decided to learn how machines talk and think, to address them in their language and understand what they're telling us. Someone choosing this career path expecting to throw around vague orders and have them resolved exactly as they expected has probably already quit the first week…

And I thought the conclusion was going to be nearly the exact opposite result.

That our constant exposure to machines, and machine patterns has ingrained an expected compliance and obedience of order following, and not needing to argue with the computer about the "worth" of the calculations or whether they "need" to be done.

You ask a machine to calculate, it calculates. Doesn't mean it calculates correctly, yet it "usually" doesn't talk balk (not until LLMs at least).

Re: The Rabbit R1 is probably running Android and is powered by an Android app

#293

Post by surajrmal » Thu, May 02, 2024, 4:50 PM UTC

MichaelZuo wrote: post #164

marcinzm wrote: post #161

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You do realize Google and Apple control 100% of the phone market, right? They don't need Rabbit's interaction data. They have their own. Their beta users probably provide more data than Rabbit's whole user base will.

Huawei alone has >5%, and definitely at least a fifth of that install base is on harmonyos 4 which runs on a unique microkernel. So there's no way this is true. Google and Apple probably don't even control 95% circa Q1 2024.

Isn't harmony os 4 still running their kernel side by side with Linux and ostensibly still using android? If harmony os next takes off that will be interesting.

Re: The Rabbit R1 is probably running Android and is powered by an Android app

#294

Post by devmunchies » Thu, May 02, 2024, 6:21 PM UTC

talldayo wrote: post #213

devmunchies wrote: post #173

Earlier quoted context omitted.

building a hardware company and shipping thousands of devices doesn't seem like a get-rich-quick grift to me. There are a lot of things rabbit can do that you couldn't do on an app since they own the hardware. Just shipped it too soon. The product is definitely not super appealing to me yet in the current state.

> There are a lot of things rabbit can do that you couldn't do on an app since they own the hardware. Just shipped it too soon. I vehemently disagree with both of these statements. For one, as far as I can tell every single hardware feature on the Rabbit (sans rotary encoder) has been present on every phone I've owned since 2011. Forward and rear-facing camera - check, nice bright touchscreen - check, speaker and mic…

I agree with you on hardware but I'm not talking about hardware. I'm talking about UX. There is a huge difference between being iOS and being an app on iOS as far as access to the user of the device. There is no way to innovate on novel notification mechanisms, for example.

Re: The Rabbit R1 is probably running Android and is powered by an Android app

#295

Post by int_19h » Thu, May 02, 2024, 7:04 PM UTC

fnordpiglet wrote: post #257

starky wrote: post #194

I saw this news and my reaction was, "Of course it is, doing anything else would be stupid." But that on its own doesn't mean it could just be a phone app if the hardware adds something useful to the way the user interacts with it. For example, old Sony mirrorless cameras just ran Android under the hood but the specific hardware is what made those products, not the OS. As a hardware person, both the Rabbit R1 and the…

To be frank, it’s sort of hard to see many devices that could be more useful than the modern “phone,” which btw the phone part is almost superfluous at present. Now the an always connected general purpose compute device with a nearly complete environmental sensor array, extraordinarily high resolution screen, integrated multilens camera array, capable of doing AR with LIDAR, etc etc. It’s difficult to imagine a more…

There was a sci-fi story written in 1960s which described pretty much what smartphones ended up being:

> The remote-access computer transponder called the "joymaker" is your most valuable single possession in your new life. If you can imagine a combination of telephone, credit card, alarm clock, pocket bar, reference library, and full-time secretary, you will have sketched some of the functions provided by your joymaker.

(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Age_of_the_Pussyfoot)

Interestingly, the author came up with the idea after he got acquainted with the details of time-sharing mainframes common of his time. Consequently, the devices themselves are actually mostly hollow, just processing input and output, and all actual smarts are done on central servers elsewhere - which becomes a major plot point eventually.

It even got the social aspects of it - i.e. it being a standard device that people carry around them everywhere, it's used for most day-to-day communication etc. Just about the only thing about it that feels off from a modern perspective is their size - they are large enough to require carrying them on the belt (like 90s cellphones) rather than in the pocket.

Now, one thing that is still missing compared to the model is the "pocket bar" part (which in the novel also includes recreational drugs). Now that would actually justify a new device like Rabbit. ~

Re: The Rabbit R1 is probably running Android and is powered by an Android app

#296

Post by fennecbutt » Thu, May 02, 2024, 7:13 PM UTC

starky wrote: post #194

I saw this news and my reaction was, "Of course it is, doing anything else would be stupid." But that on its own doesn't mean it could just be a phone app if the hardware adds something useful to the way the user interacts with it. For example, old Sony mirrorless cameras just ran Android under the hood but the specific hardware is what made those products, not the OS. As a hardware person, both the Rabbit R1 and the…

Because we need advances in material sciences, optics etc to build anything new.

Devices will stay the same until we invent new technologies.

We've certainly progressed semiconductors a lot, but it's still just the same old process for the most part. I think it's areas other than semiconductors that will drive innovation, new optics/displays (foldable, holographic, wide fov ar on a contact), solid state batteries, etc.

Would sure be nice to have properly 3d semiconductors tho. As many transistors as there are across x and y, there should be across z too.

Re: The Rabbit R1 is probably running Android and is powered by an Android app

#297

Post by fennecbutt » Thu, May 02, 2024, 7:14 PM UTC

nkozyra wrote: post #208

starky wrote: post #194

I saw this news and my reaction was, "Of course it is, doing anything else would be stupid." But that on its own doesn't mean it could just be a phone app if the hardware adds something useful to the way the user interacts with it. For example, old Sony mirrorless cameras just ran Android under the hood but the specific hardware is what made those products, not the OS. As a hardware person, both the Rabbit R1 and the…

> It feels like we need to wait for the underlying technology to advance before we can get to the next set of interesting products. Probably. I think we've hit a plateau with user interfaces for most connected gear. Sticking a physical scroll button on what is essentially a phone buys me nothing but annoyance. Phones just kind of do what we want and have an acceptable enough interface that the alternatives get in our…

Because the implementation of the laser display sucks (imo) bc we need better technologies for it. So more waiting.

Same thing for ultra wide fov ar glasses, I'd kill for those.

Re: The Rabbit R1 is probably running Android and is powered by an Android app

#298

Post by fennecbutt » Thu, May 02, 2024, 7:17 PM UTC

fragmede wrote: post #233

brk wrote: post #216

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Even considering it does not appear to work well in bright settings, and can't map the laser beam to uneven surfaces? Conceptually, the idea could be interesting, but the implementation shown appears that it would not work well in most real life settings.

Like the first gen Apple watch, or a convertible car. it doesn't work in a lot of scenarios, but for the ones where it does, it absolutely shines. A generation or three later, it'd be better, for sure, but early adopters have to give up some things to be that early. I just don't know why they had to force it to be independent of your smartphone this early in its lifecycle. It's an accessory, like a smartwatch, and su…

What brand new/emerging technologies did the 1st gen Apple watch use?

Apple mostly waits until a technology is proven, if they try something new they usually bury it.

See the failure of "AirPower". Or something like "vision pro" mostly all been done before apart from the weird ass screen that shows people's eyes for some reason that everyone hates and will definitely not appear in v2.

Apple is a terrible example of innovation for the most part.

Re: The Rabbit R1 is probably running Android and is powered by an Android app

#299

Post by personjerry » Thu, May 02, 2024, 8:05 PM UTC

starky wrote: post #194

I saw this news and my reaction was, "Of course it is, doing anything else would be stupid." But that on its own doesn't mean it could just be a phone app if the hardware adds something useful to the way the user interacts with it. For example, old Sony mirrorless cameras just ran Android under the hood but the specific hardware is what made those products, not the OS. As a hardware person, both the Rabbit R1 and the…

> It feels like we need to wait for the underlying technology to advance before we can get to the next set of interesting products.

I think it shows a lack of creativity to say this, because existing technologies can definitely be used in novel ways to create value. Perhaps we just love to imagine new technologies as engineers.

But for example, the iPhone was nothing "new" in terms of hard tech but it definitely changed the world.

Re: The Rabbit R1 is probably running Android and is powered by an Android app

#300

Post by fnordpiglet » Thu, May 02, 2024, 9:12 PM UTC

skydhash wrote: post #285

fnordpiglet wrote: post #257

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To be frank, it’s sort of hard to see many devices that could be more useful than the modern “phone,” which btw the phone part is almost superfluous at present. Now the an always connected general purpose compute device with a nearly complete environmental sensor array, extraordinarily high resolution screen, integrated multilens camera array, capable of doing AR with LIDAR, etc etc. It’s difficult to imagine a more…

It’s the Leatherman vs a toolbox. The advantages of phones is their convenience. If you seldom use any of the extra parts, then it does a great job. More often and you’d better go with a proper device. And that includes the camera.

I would note that people use their camera constantly on the phone. I would posit people only use a dedicated camera in very specific situations where a superior lens or sensor is required, such as nature photography or some special event. I’ll wager $20 almost every photo taken by humanity YTD was on a “phone.”