If BB-8 had a best friend, it would be LG’s rowdy new Rolling Bot

By Andy Boxall Published November 19, 2017

If BB-8 is the robot-of-choice at the moment, then the Rolling Bot may just be about to steal some of its thunder. Think of the amazingly popular Star Wars: The Force Awakens droid, remove his head, and you’ve got Rolling Bot, LG’s new cute and friendly house ‘bot that’s part of its exciting accessory range introduced with the G5 smartphone.

The Rolling Bot you see in the photos and videos here is one of a kind, but the intention is to have him on sale later this year, and we can’t wait to have him wandering around the floor of our homes. Rolling Bot connects to a Wi-Fi network and is controlled by the G5 through a dedicated app, and video is streamed directly to it from the camera on Rolling Bot’s body.

Recommended Videos

Cleverly, Rolling Bot’s center stays motionless while the spherical sides zip him around. Direction and motion is controlled with on-screen buttons inside the app, which overlay the video feed. The idea is Rolling Bot can be used as a free-roaming security droid that can be tapped into remotely, but that’s all a bit boring. What we want is Pet Mode.

Rolling Bot is literally on your cat’s level. So what better tool to equip him with than a laser pointer, and not one that will be used for giving dull presentations. No, after activating Pet Mode the laser pointer gets swung around the room while Rolling Bot, um, rolls around, thus driving your cat insane. It’s a stroke of utter brilliance — an otherwise completely useless feature that makes us want Rolling Bot in our lives more than anything else.

Sadly, we’re not sure when this will happen. LG’s going to launch a selection of accessories with the G5 phone in April, but Rolling Bot may not be one of them, particularly if there aren’t many in existence at the moment. There’s also a question mark over the eventual price. We’ll keep you updated with Rolling Bot developments, but for now just enjoy the video of him rolling around one more time.

Former Senior Mobile Writer

Andy has written about mobile technology for almost a decade. From 2G to 5G and smartphone to smartwatch, Andy knows tech.

Topics

Phones

Pixel 11’s seven-year spare-parts promise could be perfect to ride out RAMageddon

Pixel 11 continues Google’s seven-year spare-parts support as phone prices climb

Electronics, Mobile Phone, Phone

The Pixel 11 series has plenty of new hardware and software features to talk about, but one detail that stood out to me has actually been around for a few generations.

Google is continuing its seven-year spare-parts commitment with the Pixel 11 series, a policy it first introduced with the Pixel 8 back in 2023. It means batteries, displays, and other replacement components should remain available long after the usual upgrade cycle has come and gone.

Phones

Google’s hyped-up RGB HiLight on the Pixel 11 Pro had me excited for nothing

Google’s cleverest new hardware might also be its biggest missed opportunity.

Electronics, Mobile Phone, Phone

I have been following rumors about Google’s new HiLight feature long before the company even announced its name. A few weeks ago, reports spoke about the feature as Google’s AI interface, something that glows when users speak to Gemini.

Now that the company has wrapped the Pixel 11 launch event, everything’s out in the open, and one of the only two things it does is light up when you speak to Gemini. So, after all the speculations and build-up, Google’s big reveal is… basically the same thing we thought it was, and I have some strong thoughts about that.

Phones

Galaxy phones may finally get a basic privacy feature Samsung missed

One UI 9.5 could let you lock an app without jumping through hoops

Computer, Electronics, Tablet Computer

Samsung gives Galaxy owners an impressive amount of control over their phones. Features like Good Lock let users customize just about every aspect of their smartphones. But somehow, the company forgot to put a simple alaxy owners an almost ridiculous amount of control over their phones. Somehow, simply adding a fingerprint lock for apps.

With the One UI 9.5 update, this might finally change. Tipster Fahad Ali Javed has uncovered a native App Lock feature inside an unreleased One UI 9.5 build running on a Galaxy S26. So you would be able to secure individual apps directly from the app drawer without moving them somewhere else first. This could be one of One UI 9.5's simplest and most useful additions.