Asus Chairman Jonney Shih surprised everyone at the keynote address at Computex, when he announced the notebook company has just made a robot. Amongst the unveiling of the new ZenBook and Zenfone the affable leader welcomed Zenbo, a robot that is expanding the Asus universe beyond its usual territory. Is this a side show a real thing?

Looking at the feature built in the Wall-e BB8 combination looking robot, Zenbo has built in sensors that allows it to move freely and independently, camera for vision and is able to converse in any chosen language. Connect it your home system and it can be used to control your smart home devices, including lights, TVs, air conditioners, and appliances. With built-in screen, you can view visitors at the door and then unlock it with your voice. Other features include acting as a remote-controlled home camera that can covers the entire home. As the robot is still at early stage, there are improvements to be made before you can consider this as an ultimate companion as the brochure claims it to be. Developers were invited to come with new application and functions for Zenbo with the open SDK. For now you can image the robot as a talking, responding smart phone that’s brought true meaning to mobile.

Priced US$599, this not the AI you think Hollywood imagined for now, bungles and kinks aside, all early inventions were not perfect. With open source and creative minds across the planet working collectively on the technology, its just a matter of time before robots conduct heart surgery.