Pepper the humanoid robot gets Android capability

Developers now able to create apps using Android tools for SoftBank's metal friend in a bid to boost software line-up and sales.

Pepper during a demonstration in Tokyo to show its compatibility with Google's Android software. Reuters/Toru Hanai TPX

SoftBank Group is opening its Pepper robot to Android apps in what is a win for Google and a blow to Masayoshi Son's dream of having a platform of his own.

Developers will now be able to build Pepper apps using Android tools, SoftBank announced in Tokyo on Thursday. While this could significantly increase the robot’s software line-up and help with sales, it also cedes a measure of control to Google, which owns the operating system and will now have the power to approve apps and take a cut of the revenues.

The billionaire Mr Son, who has long professed his admiration for the late Steve Jobs, took a page from Apple’s playbook by positioning the US$1,800 robot as an application platform. To that end, SoftBank has taken a loss on each of the about 10,000 units it sold since the launch almost a year ago. Attracting a critical mass of developers and users has proven difficult and Pepper now risks becoming just another smart device.

“Every operator wants to control the ecosystem, they don’t want to pay royalties and want to keep the data,” said Neil Shah, the research director for devices and ecosystems at Counterpoint Technology Market Research in Mumbai. “But even Windows is struggling to attract developers to its mobile platform. So joining Android is a no-brainer for SoftBank.”

Android software will power the tablet attached to Pepper’s chest, running alongside SoftBank’s proprietary Naoqi operating system which controls the robot’s hardware. The Tokyo company said Android will help Pepper broaden its reach and eventually help generate revenue. It declined to comment on profit sharing and business arrangements with Google.

Mr Son has said Pepper was inspired by his childhood experience watching the Japanese animation Astro Boy. Featuring more than 20 motors and highly articulated arms, the 1.2 metre humanoid is capable of human-like body language. Its shoulders heave when in standby mode, imitating sleep. But it is not designed for menial tasks.

The SoftBank founder has bet the robot’s friendly physical appearance would spur adoption and attract app developers. That runs counter to the trend of disembodied assistants that reside in a user’s smartphone, such as Apple’s Siri and Google Now. Amazon’s Echo voice-activated home assistant is a cylinder about the size of a coffee mug.

“There was a lot of internal discussion on this topic and we decided on a challenge of creating a humanoid robot,” said Fumihide Tomizawa, the chief executive of SoftBank Robotics, said today in Tokyo. “Robots come in all shapes and sizes and that’s something we continue to debate.”

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