Apple published a research paper last year showing an R&D project for a robotic lamp with personality, and it’s enough to make you want one instantly. If the HomeView robot similarly animates and moves as if it had a soul, it could even justify the estimated $1,000 price tag.
The report claims that the device, codenamed J595, will ship late next year at the earliest, or perhaps in 2028. Most tellingly, the hardware has apparently been more or less complete for two yearsbut it is waiting for the software to catch up. Additionally, there has apparently been some debate about which features should be on the first-generation device and which should wait for the second-generation model. According to The Information, the autonomous AI features are ambitious and not ready yet, so the timing of the release is about balancing AI development with the first-generation feature set.
