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Guess what Samsung named its new spherical rolling robot?

Answer: Ballie.

robot_shutterstock_176194913
Shutterstock
Samsung has joined many other tech companies on the personal robot assistant bandwagon. At the annual Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this week, the company unveiled Ballie, a small spherical robot that sounds like it was named by a 3-year-old.

That name, however, is fitting when you see the device. About the size of a grapefruit, the little round robot is designed to connect to all of your smart home gadgets and then follow you around the house to help carry out tasks. If you have a smart TV, it can turn it on when you walk into the living room. Want to turn on your smart lights because the room is getting dark? Just send Ballie to take care of it. 

The device is equipped with a forward-facing camera that allows it to identify its human and actively follow them around. It can also quickly reverse course and/or make beeping noises to avoid being stepped on or mistaken for a regular ball. 

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