Hasbro’s latest invention is a 2.4 foot two-wheeled dancing A.M.P. (automated music personality) that has an Mp3 player cradle on its back, stereo speakers, and enough programmed intelligence to follow and play with its owner. The Ampbot also has a 5 inch midrange speaker in its chest and a pair of small tweeters in its shoulders, which comes to a total of 12 watts. As a selling point, Osamu Takeuchi of Sega Toys notes that “The owner can also enjoy being chased around the house by the robot.” Pop in 6 D batteries and 3 AAA batteries to enjoy 10 hours of music play and stalking. The Ampbot is available in November for $500 in Japan. Read more by clicking here!

Remember the Sony Rolly? That funny little music companion that rolls around while playing your favorite tunes? Now, set to launch in Japan on April 19th, Sony’s Rolly is available in different colors.  In addition to the $400 price tag for the Rolly, you can buy customizable colored wings for $15 a pop to make your Rolly stand out from… all the *other* Rollys.  A US launch is anticipated soon. To buy one in the meantime, check Ebay.

If the iDog, I-CY Penguin, or even the iFish didn’t tickle your fancy, perhaps the Ispin will. Sega Toys just recently announced their Ispin dancing robot, which can either be used as a speaker or a dancing toy that responds to sounds by rolling about and flipping its ears up and down. The Ispin by Sega will retail for ¥5,250 (51 USD). For more information, click here (translated page)!

The Kota Triceratops is a robotic playmate much like the Pleo robotic dinosaur. Debuting at the annual Toy Fair in New York, Kota measures at over 40 inches tall, has movement sensors in eleven key areas on his body, and can react to touch by moving his head, tail, mouth, or horns. Although Kota requires six D batteries to keep him up and running, Kota is a fairly large robot–big enough even for young children to ride upon (as the happy child below illustrates). Simply press a button, and your child can ride Kota to adventurous music. The Kota will retail for approximately $300 in the fall of 2008. For more information, click here.

It looks like nothing will get in the way of Sony AIBO’s dominance. Returning with a new paint job and a couple of new features, the AIBO looks to shock and amaze users world wide. Firstly, the Sony AIBO can interface wirelessly with a PSP or PS3. Using a brand new head-cam, the AIBO can stream video to these devices. Secondly, you can now remotely control the robo-dog with your handheld; you can even set it to “guard” your house (scary, right?). Stuff Magazine (the article above) estimates that there is a 53% chance the Sony AIBO PS will become a reality. In truth, Sony would get a lot of business from the hardcore AIBO fans if the AIBO PS were ever produced. We’ll just have to wait and see.

Adorable!! It makes me want a Pleo even more! Although, it will be a bit scary when the Sheep Pleo opens up its mouth to reveal carnivorous teeth…

Husqvarans’ Automower is a robotic lawn mover that makes it so you’ll never have to exert energy in the upkeep of your urban greenery ever again. At least the Automower is powered by electricity, so it’s environmentally friendly. Unfortunately, at a price of £1,000, I doubt many people will be able to afford it. For more information, check out automower.com.

I’m a big fan of the Pleo. I think it’s designed well and that it will sell well (especially around holidays such as Christmas). If I had more money, I’d probably even buy myself one. So it saddens me greatly to hear that Ugobe is experiencing even more delays. This time, the delays are due to battery life. Apparently, the battery life was rather low because of overheating, which prevents the battery from fully charging. The overheating, in turn, was caused by the location of the battery inside the Pleo. Now, manufacturers are redesigning the Pleo so that it has an external battery. This redesign will cause the Pleo to be delayed until anywhere from Thanksgiving to Christmas, and the number of Pleos produced will also be cut in half. Looks like the Pleo will be that hard to find gift of the Holiday season.

Optimistically, the CEO Bob Christopher states that “[We] wanted to get it right the first time,” he said. “You can’t relaunch a product. You only get one chance…The good news is Pleo is going to be a great product and with this battery change it will be better.”