Samsung squashes hopes that it will release its Ballie home robot

Since its initial reveal in 2020, Samsung has kept the public's interest piqued with its innovative home robot, Ballie. This unique spherical device was designed to function as a smart assistant and enhance home automation, but recent updates have dashed hopes of its commercial release. At CES 2020, Ballie was showcased as one of Samsung's most advanced concepts, featuring abilities like facial recognition to track its owner and manage smart home devices. The excitement grew as a promotional video illustrated its potential to activate household gadgets, such as a smart vacuum, in response to messes. Fast forward to CES 2024, where Ballie made a reappearance with an updated design, showcasing a larger, more spherical shape and a light ring. During the event, Samsung highlighted its new functionality as a projector, claiming it could operate for two to three hours on a single charge. By CES 2025, Samsung provided limited demonstrations of Ballie's capabilities, including sending directions to smartphones and offering wine suggestions, and announced plans for its availability later that year. However, despite these advancements and a previously scheduled launch in the summer of 2025, Samsung has now confirmed that Ballie will not be released to the public, marking it as a missed opportunity in the realm of smart home technology.