The Double Robotics Double telepresence robot made its debut at last year’s Macworld/iWorld, with a small generic booth, one robot, and a couple of company representatives. Things seem to have changed for the better for the firm: they have a much bigger booth with more of a brand presence, several robots on display, and a staff to meet and greet show visitors.
The company’s new product is a $299 Charging Dock. Without the dock, you have to bend over and plug in the adapter to charge Double’s battery.
The $2499 robot itself hasn’t changed. It requires an iPad (not included) to drive the device, and you use your iPhone, iPad, or Mac to remotely control it over Wi-Fi or your cell connection. A company representative told me that they are working on software enhancements that they hope to release in the near future.
A side note (of shameless self-promotion): I reviewed the Double Robotics Double iPad robot in October of last year, complete with a video of the device at work. That video was used in a segment on the Colbert Report last December. My “appearance” on the show probably used up the remaining time I had left in my 15 minutes of fame. You can watch the segment below.
Price When Reviewed: $2499
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Roman is a Macworld Senior Editor with over 30 years of experience covering the tech industry, focusing on the Mac and other products in the Apple ecosystem. He is also the host of the Macworld Podcast. His career started at MacUser, where he received Apple certification as a repair technician (when Apple did that kind of thing). He's also worked for MacAddict, MacLife, and TechTV.