A recent report has revealed that Google held a private demonstration that showed off a tailored version of ChromeOS, its operating system (OS) for Chromebooks, running on an Android device. Of course, Android is the operating system for Google's smartphones and tablets, while ChromeOS was developed for its line of Chromebook laptops and Chromebox desktop computers.
Unnamed sources spoke with Android Authority and shared that Google hosted a demo of a specially built Chromium OS (an open source version of ChromeOS hosted and developed by Google), given the codename ‘ferrochrome,’ showing this off to other companies.
The custom build was run in a virtual machine (think of this as a digital emulation of a device) on a Pixel 8, and while this Android smartphone was used as the hardware, its screen wasn't. The OS was projected to an external display, made possible by a recent development for the Pixel 8 that enables it to connect to an external display.
A recent report has revealed that Google held a private demonstration that showed off a tailored version of ChromeOS, its operating system for es it possible to run a secure and private execution environment for highly sensitive code. The AVF was developed for other purposes, but this demonstration showed that it could also be used to run other operating systems.
(Image credit: Future / James ide)
What this means for Android users, for now
This demonstration is evidence that Google has the capability to run ChromeOS in Android, but there's no word, or remote hint, even, from Google that it has any plans to merge these two platforms. It also doesn't mean that the average Android device user will be able to swap over to ChromeOS, or that Google is planning to ship a version of its Pixel devices with ChromeOS either.
In short, don’t read much into this yet, but it’s significant that this can be done, and possibly telling that Google is toying with the idea in some way.
As time has gone on, Google has developed Android and ChromeOS to be more synergistic, notably giving ChromeOS the capability to run Android apps natively. In the past, you may recall Google even attempted to make a hybrid of Android and ChromeOS, with the codename Andromeda. However, work on that was shelved as the two operating systems were already seeing substantial success separately.
To put these claims to the test, Android Authority created its own ‘ferrochrome’ custom ChromeOS that it was able to run using a virtual machine on a Pixel 7 Pro, confirming that it's possible and providing a video of this feat.
For now, then, we can only wait and see if Google is going to explore this any further. But it’s already interesting to see Android Authority demonstrate this is possible, and that the tools to do this already exist if developers want to attempt it themselves. Virtualization is a popular method to run software originally built for another platform, and many modern phones have the hardware specs to facilitate it. It could also be a pathway for Google to improve the desktop mode for the upcoming Android 15, as apparently, the version seen in beta has some way to go.
Apple announced the M4 chip, a powerful new upgrade that will arrive in next-generation iPad (and, further down the line, the best Macbooks and Macs). You can check out our beat-by-beat coverage of the Apple event, but one element of the presentation has left some users confused: what exactly does TOPS mean?
TOPS is an acronym for 'trillion operations per second', and is essentially a hardware-specific measure of AI capabilities. More TOPS means faster on-chip AI performance, in this case the Neural Engine found on the Apple M4 chip.
The M4 chip is capable of 38 TOPS – that's 38,000,000,000,000 operations per second. If that sounds like a staggeringly massive number, well, it is! Modern neural processing units (NPUs) like Apple's Neural Engine are advancing at an incredibly rapid rate; for example, Apple's own A16 Bionic chip, which debuted in the iPhone 14 Pro less than two years ago, offered 17 TOPS.
Apple's new chip isn't even the most powerful AI chip about to hit the market – Qualcomm's upcoming Snapdragon X Elite purportedly offers 45 TOPS, and is expected to land in Windows laptops later this year.
How is TOPS calculated?
The processes by which we measure AI performance are still in relative infancy, but TOPS provides a useful and user-accessible metric for discerning how 'good' at handling AI tools a given processor is.
I'm about to get technical, so if you don't care about the mathematics, feel free to skip ahead to the next section! The current industry standard for calculating TOPS is TOPS = 2 × MAC unit count × Frequency / 1 trillion. 'MAC' stands for multiply-accumulate; a MAC operation is basically a pair of calculations (a multiplication and an addition) that are run by each MAC unit on the processor once every clock cycle, powering the formulas that make AI models function. Every NPU has a set number of MAC units determined by the NPU's microarchitecture.
'Frequency' here is defined by the clock speed of the processor in question – specifically, how many cycles it can process per second. It's a common metric also used in CPUs, GPUs, and other components, essentially denoting how 'fast' the component is.
So, to calculate how many operations per second an NPU can handle, we simply multiply the MAC unit count by 2 for our number of operations, then multiply that by the frequency. This gives us an 'OPS' figure, which we then divide by a trillion to make it a bit more palatable (and kinder on your zero key when typing it out).
Simply put, more TOPS means better, faster AI performance.
Adobe’s Firefly generative AI tool can be hardware-accelerated by your device’s NPU. (Image credit: Adobe)
Why is TOPS important?
TOPS is, in the simplest possible terms, our current best way to judge the performance of a device for running local AI workloads. This applies both to the industry and the wider public; it's a straightforward number that lets professionals and consumers immediately compare the baseline AI performance of different devices.
TOPS is only applicable for on-device AI, meaning that cloud-based AI tools (like the internet's favorite AI bot, ChatGPT) don't typically benefit from better TOPS. However, local AI is becoming more and more prevalent, with popular professional software like the Adobe Creative Cloud suite starting to implement more AI-powered features that depend on the capabilities of your device.
It should be noted that TOPS is by no means a perfect metric. At the end of the day, it's a theoretical figure derived from hardware statistics and can differ greatly from real-world performance. Factors such as power availability, thermal systems, and overclocking can impact the actual speed at which an NPU can run AI workloads.
To that end, though, we're now starting to see AI benchmarks crop up, such as Procyon AI from UL Benchmarks (makers of the popular 3DMark and PCMark benchmarking programs). These can provide a much more realistic idea of how well a You can expect to see TechRadar running AI performance tests as part of our review benchmarking in the near future!
We were first introduced to the Rabbit R1 in January 2024, at CES 2024, but what exactly is it? The charming sidekick (designed by Teenage Engineering) is promising to take pocket gadgets to the next level – offering something like a smartphone, but with an intuitive, unified, AI-driven interface that means you (theoretically, at least) need to interact with individual apps and websites.
If you're curious about the Rabbit R1 and the ways in which it might change the course of personal computing – or at least show us how next-gen smartphone voice assistants might work – we've gathered together everything you need to know about it here. From what it costs and how it works, to the AI engine driving the R1 experience, all the details of this potentially revolutionary device are here.
The first batches of the Rabbit R1 are due to start shipping to users later in 2024, although it seems availability is going to be rather limited to begin with – so you might have to wait a while to get your very own Rabbit R1.
Rabbit R1: one-minute overview
The r1 (Image credit: Rabbit)
The Rabbit R1 is a lot like a phone in terms of its looks, and in some of its features: it has a camera and a SIM card slot, and it supports Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. What's different, and what makes the Rabbit R1 special, is the interface: instead of a grid of apps, you get an AI assistant that talks to your favorite apps and does everything for you.
For example, you could get the R1 to research a holiday destination and book flights to it, or queue up a playlist of your favorite music, or book you a cab. In theory, you can do anything you can already do on your phone, just by asking. That said, there remain a lot of questions over exactly how it works and protects your privacy in the way it describes.
We've seen next-gen personal assistants depicted in movies like Her, and the R1 is trying to make that a reality – leveraging the latest AI capabilities to replace the traditional smartphone interface with something a lot more intuitive and slick.
Introducing r1. Watch the keynote. Order now: https://t.co/R3sOtVWoJ5 #CES2024 pic.twitter.com/niUmjFvKvEJanuary 9, 2024
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Another way to think about the Rabbit R1 is as an evolution of the Amazon Echo, Google Nest, and Apple HomePod smart speakers. The voice-controlled digital assistants on these devices can do some rudimentary tasks – like check the weather or play music – but the R1 wants to go way beyond what they're capable of.
Rabbit says the R1 is “the future of human-machine interfaces”, and you can check out its pitch for the device in its very Apple-flavored CES 2024 keynote below.
Rabbit r1: release date and price
The first batch of 10,000 units of the Rabbit R1 were made available to preorder at the same time as the device was announced at CES, on January 9, 2024. Those units quickly sold out, as did a second batch of 10,000 units made available shortly after.
Rabbit says that the people who got their preorders in should start having their devices shipped to them in March and April 2024. At the time of writing, there's no indication yet when another batch of units will be made available to preorder, or when we might see the r1 go on sale more widely.
What we do know is that the price of the Rabbit R1 starts at $ 199, which works out at around £155 / AU$ 300. To begin with, the Rabbit R1 is available to order in the US, Canada, the UK, Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, South Korea, and Japan, from the Rabbit website.
What's more, unlike rival AI devices such as the Humane AI Pin, there's no ongoing subscription fee that you have to pay out.
Rabbit r1: hardware
The r1 comes in a distinctive color (Image credit: Rabbit)
The Rabbit r1 is square, and bright orange, and comes with a 2.88-inch color touchscreen on the front. It's quite a compact device, almost small enough to fit in the palm of a hand, and it weighs in at 115 grams (about 4 oz). There's only one design, for now – you can't pick this up in multiple colors.
We know there's a far-field mic embedded in the R1, as well as built-in speakers. There's an integrated 360-degree camera here too, which is apparently called the Rabbit Eye. You can interact with elements by touching the screen, and there's an analog scroll wheel at the side of the device as well, if you need it.
The r1 camera (Image credit: Rabbit)
On the right of the Rabbit R1 is a push-to-talk button, which you make use of whenever you want to talk to the AI assistant on the device. There's no need for any “hey Google” or “hey Siri” wake command, and it also means the assistant doesn't have to be constantly listening out for your voice. Double-tapping the button activates the on-board camera.
Under the hood we've got a 2.3GHz MediaTek Helio processor, and Rabbit says the device offers “all day” battery life. That battery can be charged with a USB-C charge cable and power adapter, but it's worth bearing in mind that these aren't included in the box, so you'll have to use ones you've already got.
Rabbit R1: software
With its bright orange casing, the Rabbit r1 looks kind of cute, but it's the software that really makes it stand out. If you've used something like ChatGPT or Google Bard already, then this is something similar: Rabbit OS is fronted by an AI chatbot, capable of both answering questions and performing tasks.
In the CES keynote demo, Rabbit founder and CEO Jesse Lyu showed the R1 answering philosophical questions, checking stock prices, looking up information about movies, playing music on Spotify, booking an Uber, ordering a pizza, and planning a vacation (complete with flights and hotel reservations).
The r1 runs Rabbit OS (Image credit: Rabbit)
To get some of this working, you need to connect the Rabbit OS with your various apps and services, which can be done through a web portal. From the demo we've seen, it looks as though Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube Music, Expedia, Uber, eBay, and Amazon will be some of the services you can connect to.
Rabbit is keen to emphasize that it doesn't store any of your login details or track you in any way – it simply connects you to the apps you need – though the specifics of how it does this via the cloud are still unclear.
Rabbit's privacy page gives us a few more details, stating that “when you interact with rabbit OS, you will be assigned a dedicated and isolated environment on our cloud for your own LAM [large action model]. When our rabbits perform tasks for you, they will use your own accounts that you have securely granted us control over through our rabbit hole web portal”.
It also adds that “we do not store your passwords for these services. Rabbits will ask for permission and clarification during the execution of any tasks, especially those involving sensitive actions such as payments.” Exactly how Rabbit provides each user with a “dedicated and isolated environment” in its cloud isn't yet clear, but we should find out more once it lands with its first early adopters.
We've also been told the R1 can handle communication, real-time translation, and analyze images taken with the camera – show the R1 what's in your fridge, for example, and it could up with a dish you can cook.
The Rabbit R1 promises speedy responses too, quicker than you'd get with other generative AI bots. You can converse with the R1 as you would with Siri or Google Assistant, or you can bring up an on-screen keyboard by shaking the device. It calls its on-board AI a Large Action Model or LAM, similar to a Large Language Model or LLM (familiar from bots like ChatGPT), but with a lot more agency.
The r1 wants to take over multiple phone tasks (Image credit: Rabbit)
On top of all this, Rabbit says you can teach the R1 new skills. So, if you showed it how to go online and order your groceries for you, the next time it would be able to do that all by itself. In the CES demo, we saw the Rabbit R1 learning how to create AI images through Midjourney, and then replicating the process on its own.
Interestingly, Rabbit says it doesn't want the R1 to replace your phone – it wants to work alongside it. The R1 can't, for example, browse YouTube, check social media or let you organize your email (at least not yet), so it would seem that the humble smartphone will be sticking around for a while yet.
While some of the specifics about how the Rabbit R1 works and interacts with your favorite apps and services remain unclear, it's undoubtedly one of the most exciting pieces of AI hardware so far – as shown by the rapid sell-out of its early stock. We'll bring you more first impressions as soon as we've got our hands on one of 2024's early tech stars.
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