The Weekly Authority: ????Pixel 8’s wireless charging could disappoint

⚡ Welcome to The Weekly Authority, the Android Authority newsletter that breaks down the top Android and tech news from the week. The 247th edition here with some news about the Pixel 8’s wireless charging, the launch of the Motorola Razr and Razr Plus, a confirmed launch location for the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 and Z Fold 5, the Meta Quest 3 launch, and more…

???? This week, I finally made it to see Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 and it was every bit as good as I’d hoped. I might even go so far as to say it was my favorite of the trilogy?!

Ever wanted a robot butler to do your household chores? Let’s face it, since seeing The Jetsons as kids, we’ve all dreamed of it — or maybe I’m showing my age here.

The good news is, the dream might be closer than you think, as London startup Prosper Robotics, founded by Shariq Hashme, a former OpenAI employee, is working on a “robot butler.”

• Though the household robot isn’t ready yet, the company hopes to start alpha testing with the first models in around eight months, with the robot on the market in around two years time.
• Hashme says it can do all the mundane household tasks we hate, from laundry to folding clothes, loading and emptying the dishwasher, cleaning floors and surfaces, and even preparing simple meals, like salad.
• The robot runs on wheels, with two arms it can raise and lower to do jobs. Its “hands” can straighten bedding, fold clothes, or put away dishes.
• It will come with a tool kit of up to 100 tools like a specialized mop or suction cups to help it perform tricky tasks (like removing Tupperware lids).
• Because the robot can hold knives, there are some safety concerns, but the company sees the home helpers as being operated remotely initially, while their owners are out at work.
• Hygiene was also a concern, but the robot will wear different sets of “gloves,” preventing any cross-contamination, and it can put these in the dishwasher for cleaning between tasks.
• It’s not as high-tech as it sounds quite yet, though. We’re still some way away from full automation as there’s not much data available out there to train a household robot on. These robots learn from doing the same tasks over and over, so right now, some more complex tasks (like making a salad) will need to rely on human operators.
• The company will charge a subscription fee to cover the robot’s insurance and maintenance, and to pay humans to teleoperate the robot using a VR interface. If you’re thinking this could be a privacy issue, Hashme says the interface blurs out text and human faces, but ultimately still allows a human operator to see inside your home.

The real challenge here is creating a household robot at a realistic price. Prosper’s butler will cost somewhere between $5-10k plus the subscription costs. So while it’s out of reach for many of us, we can expect to see it in the homes of those who can afford it in the next couple of years!