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Omate is giving Alexa a face by way of the Yumi
It's about time we put a face to the name of Alexa. Amazon's popular personal assistant, whose compatibility with a wide range of services and smart home products has made her one popular artificial (intelligence) lady. She is heard by plenty of folks around the world, but has yet to really be seen (because let's be honest, the Amazon Echo hardly counts as a believable body for her). But now, smartwatch brand Omate has introduced a rather adorable robot that just might be the physical manifestation of Alexa we've been waiting for. Meet the new Alexa-enabled robot Yumi, effectively a wheeled Android tablet that you can control with your voice.
Amazon Alexa is now a small home robot thanks to Omate
As Amazon's Alexa voice assistant becomes smarter each day, it's also showing up in more form factors, with the latest being a small home robot courtesy of, well, a smartwatch brand. Omate's Yumi is, in many ways, a mini version of the ASUS Zenbo: Its head features a 5-inch 720p touchscreen, it runs on wheels, it's powered by Android and it even shares a similar appearance in white. Much like Omate's Rise 3G smartwatch, the Yumi supports Alexa out of the box, so it's effectively an Echo Dot with wheels plus a cute face -- look closer and you'll see the same smile in Amazon's logo. When you do get bored of that look, just pick another face. With a starting price of $349, the 11.7-inch tall Yumi is bound to miss out on some of the bells and whistles found on the $599 Zenbo. For one, Yumi lacks object avoidance and drop avoidance sensors, so you'll have to be careful when it's placed on the table or countertop.