Sony's Xperia Agent robot is a cute, friendly smart-home butler

BERLIN -- Sony has reintroduced the Xperia Agent at tech showcase IFA 2016, adding some new tricks, including the ability to connect to a smart coffee machine to make you a caffeinated cup.

Also, the last time we saw Sony's adorable little personal home-assistant robot, Xperia Agent, it didn't have a screen on its body. Now it does.

The Xperia Agent is still at concept stage, but it's getting more and more smart-home features as it edges towards the production line.

Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

Sony showed off how it could now connect to a Nestlé smart coffee machine and serve up a caffeine fix at your command.

It's really no more special than pushing a button on a smartphone app and having a connected machine start dripping out coffee, but it's undeniably more fun to see a small robot do so, while dancing along on your counter and blasting out notifications, such as the time and weather.

The new display on its belly, along with a built-in camera, also makes two-way video calling possible.

Sony envisions the Xperia Agent as a living robotic AI in your family, doling out relevant information, so you can stop looking at your phone so much.

Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

Interestingly enough, Sony didn't show off the Agent with any of its magical projection capabilities, as was shown at Mobile World Congress.

Since it's still a concept product, Sony reps couldn't tell me what hardware features would make it into the final version (if it ever even makes it out of the concept phase).

Here's a refresh on the Xperia Agent features from earlier this year: