TOKYO, May 12, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- SwitchBot, a leading provider of AI-enabled embodied home robotics systems, today announced the launch of KATA Friends, Noa and Niko, a new series of AI Pets designed to bring companionship, emotional connection, and intelligent interaction into everyday life.
Unlike traditional smart devices focused on utility, KATA Friends are designed as companions that live alongside users, learning, responding, and growing over time. By combining AI with expressive design and physical interaction, KATA Friends introduce a new category of home robotics centered on presence and connection.
A Companion That Feels Alive
KATA Friends are designed to feel less like machines and more like living companions. Each one comes with its own personality and evolves based on how users interact with it, ensuring that no two KATA Friends are ever the same.
With expressive eyes, natural movements, and 12 touch-sensitive zones across its body, KATA Friends react intuitively to hugs, gestures, and everyday interaction. They can move independently around the home, avoid obstacles, and return to their charging base on their own, reinforcing a sense of autonomy and lifelike behavior.
Understands You and Adapts to Your Life
Designed to integrate naturally into daily routines, KATA Friends respond to voice commands, gestures, and behavioral cues. Users can call them over, interact through simple gestures, or communicate using everyday language, creating an experience that feels intuitive and engaging.
Beyond direct interaction, KATA Friends observe and respond to user behavior. They can greet users in the morning, wait by the door when someone is about to arrive, or quietly offer companionship during moments of rest. Through voice emotion recognition, they can also sense changes in mood and respond accordingly, adding an emotional layer to everyday interaction.
A Personalized Companion That Grows Over Time
KATA Friends are designed to build long-term relationships with users. They can recognize different members of a household and respond uniquely to each individual, remembering preferences and interaction patterns over time.
As users spend more time with their KATA Friend, it develops its own behavior and attachment patterns, shaped entirely by how it is "raised." It can also document shared experiences by keeping a diary of daily interactions and capturing photos from its own perspective, allowing users to revisit moments through the eyes of their companion.
In addition, KATA Friends offer customization options, including interchangeable outfits and accessories, allowing users to personalize both appearance and personality.
Powered by AI for Real-Time Interaction
KATA Friends are equipped with cameras, sensors, and AI capabilities, enabling them to process interactions locally and respond in real time.
The on-device LLM allows KATA Friends to understand speech without relying on constant connectivity, while local visual data processing capabilities enable KATA Friends with gesture comprehension and facial recognition, ensuring responsive interaction and enhanced privacy. Meanwhile, with the Chat Mode, KATA Friends can conduct conversations with users for even more authentic and immersive interactions.
Expanding the Role of AI in Everyday Life
With KATA Friends, SwitchBot expands its vision of embodied AI beyond convenience and automation into companionship. By focusing on interaction, personalization, and emotional intelligence, KATA Friends introduce a new way for users to engage with AI, one that is more human-centered, intuitive, and meaningful.
Pricing and Availability
KATA Friends will be available through the official SwitchBot website, with an MSRP starting at USD 699.99 / GBP 599.99 / EUR 599.99 / CAD 999.99.
For more information, please visit SwitchBot's official website and follow SwitchBot on X, Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube.
Media Kit: SwitchBot KATA Friends
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SwitchBot Officially Launches KATA Friends, AI Pets That Truly Grow With You
New Bolt Mission, Bolt Pro, and Latch 5 Pro give homeowners a choice between precise, hands-free UWB entry and tap-to-unlock digital keys
LAS VEGAS and SAN JOSE, Calif., Sept. 26, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- ULTRALOQ, a best-selling smart lock brand under Xthings, a global leader in IoT solutions, today announced the launch and availability of its next-generation smart lock collection, built to redefine access and provide customers with a wide range of effortless entry experiences that best suit their lifestyle.
The collection includes ULTRALOQ Bolt Mission, unveiled as the industry's first ultra-wideband (UWB) enabled smart lock, featuring precise, hands-free approach-to-unlock functionality. Joining Bolt Mission are the ULTRALOQ Bolt Pro and ULTRALOQ Latch 5 Pro which are the first multi-model line of Aliro-Certified smart locks that empowers users to leverage their phone as their key through Apple Wallet or Samsung Wallet credentials.
The latest ULTRALOQ models arrive at a time when digital wallets and standardized access credentials are reshaping how consumers expect to access their homes and other everyday assets. For the new collection, ULTRALOQ leverages UWB to enable precise, intent-aware entry to the home and Aliro, the open mobile-access standard developed by the Connectivity Standards Alliance with support from leading mobile ecosystems including Apple, Google and Samsung. With Aliro, ULTRALOQ brings the familiar wallet-based experience consumers already use for payments and increasingly digital car keys to the front door.
All three lock models are Matter Certified and compatible with leading smart home platforms, including Apple Home, Google Home and more, allowing users to incorporate the lock into their broader smart home experience. Bolt Pro and Latch 5 Pro also integrate with Samsung SmartThings, enabling more home-wide automations triggered by lock activity, such as turning on lights or adjusting the thermostat when the door unlocks. Household members can have their own Digital Key in Samsung Wallet, providing individual access to the same lock while SmartThings helps manage access and automations across the household.
The collection will be available online in October through The Home Depot, where customers can shop the new ULTRALOQ lineup. The new collection delivers intelligent, effortless and trusted entry across accessible price points, empowering users to choose the access features that best suit their lifestyle and needs.
ULTRALOQ Bolt Mission: The Smart Lock That Knows When You Are Coming Home
Bolt Mission (MSRP: $299.99) delivers a precise, intent-aware hands-free entry experience by combining Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) discovery, UWB ranging, radar-based presence sensing and local decision logic. The result is hands-free entry that responds to true arrival, not strictly proximity. Rather than unlocking simply if a phone is nearby, Bolt Mission analyzes precise distance and direction of approach, allowing it to distinguish an authorized user approaching from outside from normal movement inside the home.
Designed to deliver a premium hands-free experience, users can keep their phone in their pocket or bag while the Xthings Home app runs securely in the background. With Bolt Mission, there's no app to open upon approach, no PIN to enter and no separate hub required for hands-free entry.
To support dependable intent detection (approach vs. departure) and efficient battery life, Bolt Mission features built-in radar to keep the lock alert when it matters most and conserve power when it does not. Intent detection logic is processed locally between the authorized phone and the lock, delivering fast approach-and-unlock entry.
ULTRALOQ Bolt Pro: Premium Front-Door Deadbolt with Wallet-Based Access
Bolt Pro (MSRP: $269.99) is the collection's premium digital-key deadbolt, bringing Aliro-Certified tap-to-unlock access together with fingerprint, PIN, app and physical-key entry. Aliro-Certified, Bolt Pro lets users unlock their door with a simple tap of their compatible device, without ever having to open an app. Digital keys are stored in a compatible mobile wallet, giving users a familiar tap experience similar to the contactless interactions they already use every day.
Designed to support a wide range of access methods, Bolt Pro pairs digital wallet access with fingerprint, PIN, app control and physical key backup. While digital wallet access may be ideal for everyday users, fingerprint provides fast personalized entry options and PIN codes can be issued to children, guests, cleaners or other service providers in need of access.
ULTRALOQ Latch 5 Pro: Wallet-Based Access for More Doors
Latch 5 Pro (MSRP: $249.99) brings the same tap-to-unlock digital wallet experience to doors that use a lever rather than a deadbolt, including side entrances, home offices, garage-entry doors, rentals and shared spaces. Residents or employees can use a compatible digital wallet or fingerprint for access, while visitors and other temporary users can receive PINs. Aliro and Matter Certified, Latch 5 Pro delivers the same digital key experience and smart home platform compatibility as Bolt Pro.
Executive Quotes
"The front door is moving away from keys and apps toward digital credentials and intent-aware access," said Raj Sundar, Senior Director of Product Management for ULTRALOQ. "Our goal with this collection is to make that transition seamless and practical for customers, whether someone wants their door to detect their arrival and unlock hands-free or wants to quickly tap the phone or watch they carry every day to authorize entry."
Available Online via The Home Depot
The new collection of ULTRALOQ smart locks will be available for purchase online through The Home Depot beginning in October. Customers can explore each model in the collection, compare access options, and learn more about the distinct features each lock delivers to select the ULTRALOQ model that is right for them.
The ULTRALOQ collection is available now online through ULTRALOQ as well as Amazon and will be available online via The Home Depot in October.
For additional information about ULTRALOQ, please visit www.ultraloq.com.
About ULTRALOQ
ULTRALOQ, a best-selling smart lock brand under Xthings, is dedicated to developing innovative and secure smart access solutions. With a focus on blending cutting-edge technology with convenience, ULTRALOQ's products are designed to provide a secure and keyless entry experience for both homes and businesses, making smart security more accessible than ever.
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ULTRALOQ Launches Next-Generation Smart Lock Collection: Refining Home Entry with Natural, Intelligent and Trusted Access Solutions
