Douban launches personal assistant product 'xiaodou' with standalone app

DouBan, a subsidiary of Baidu, is set to launch its personal assistant product, named 'XiaoDou,' with a standalone app version. According to a report by DuJia, the product's name was finalized during the summer of 2026 and is currently in internal testing. The final version may undergo changes before its official release. Earlier in 2025, DouBan's mobile assistant technical preview debuted on the Nubia M153 engineering model, developed in collaboration with ZTE. In September 2026, the consumer version of the mobile assistant was launched on the Nubia NaviX Ultra. The new product represents an expansion of DouBan's personal assistant capabilities from the mobile platform to a standalone application. The project, initially codenamed 'Spell,' was led by the DouBan mobile assistant team. This marks a significant step in the company's strategy to develop independent applications based on its accumulated personal assistant technology.