Back in February, I expressed my anticipation for receiving my own Rabbit R1. In England, it finally arrived on June 24th, and I set it up on the 27th. Over the course of nearly two weeks, I've had the opportunity to familiarize myself with it and I would like to share my initial impressions. To begin with, I am quite fond of the sleek Swedish hardware design of the R1. It has a comfortable feel in the hand, easily fits into pockets, and is resistant to dirt. While my wife dislikes the bright orange color, I personally enjoy it. Its visibility is not an issue, even in a snowstorm, so I won't misplace it. (Image credit: Future) However, the software of the device requires significant improvements. Rabbit is consistently updating the software every Thursday, and it is certainly a necessity. Currently, the R1 connects to existing accounts through the 'Rabbit Hole' website. However, the options are limited to: With the exception of Suno, all of these options require paid accounts, and the setup process seems to involve a somewhat cumbersome VNC remote session to the service. Additionally, it is worth noting that Apple Music and Uber are not yet functional in England. The primary method to accomplish tasks with the R1 is to press the grey button and issue a command. It predominantly utilizes the free version of the Perplexity AI search engine for responses, though it can also retrieve information from Wolfram Alpha. The quality of the answers provided varies greatly, ranging from informative to amusingly inaccurate. For instance, if I ask about the weather, it stubbornly insists on providing information for Birmingham, Alabama. Occasionally, it even assumes I am in Birmingham, England.

Neither of these locations are particularly helpful, as I am actually in Trowbridge, Wiltshire. Moreover, it consistently reports the temperature in Fahrenheit, despite my requests for Celsius conversion. Although it promises to use Celsius in the future, it often forgets to do so. When I inquire about the location of the cheapest petrol within a ten-mile radius, it correctly recognizes my actual location but generates a nonexistent Asda petrol station and price. Rabbit's technical support has assured me that there is a GPS chip integrated into the device, but its functionality, especially outside of the USA, is not fully optimized. For amusement, a double-click of the grey button activates the camera, which can be switched between front and back views using the scroll wheel. It is possible to inquire about what the R1 "sees", including the identification of plants. Adding to the fun, a single click of the grey button takes a picture. All of the user's activities are logged in a journal within the Rabbit Hole. This is where the "magic" of the captured images is revealed. For example, I recently attended an outdoor production of Macbeth amidst a heavy downpour. I captured a photo and its magical version, which incorporates a rabbit: Image 1 of 2 (Image credit: Future) (Image credit: Future) To my surprise, despite having a phone sim in the R1, it does not support phone calls or SMS messages. Rabbit's technical support assures me that these capabilities exist but the timeline for their availability remains uncertain. At present, the R1 is primarily a gimmicky gadget, yet it possesses the potential to offer much more. The most crucial missing feature is Teach Mode, which would utilize the Large Action Model (LAM) to train the R1 to navigate smartphone apps. Technical support has promised its release sometime this year, but there is currently no indication of when that might be. If Rabbit can successfully implement Teach Mode, I believe the R1 will find enough business niches to become viable, although it will never overshadow the iPhone.