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Sony To Release New Pet Robot By Year's End

tewl writes: "Saw this [article on CNN] : Sony Corp. said on Thursday it will begin selling a new pet robot by the end of the year as a mechanical pal for its popular 'Aibo' robot dog. 'It will be a friend of Aibo's, but we can't say anything more about it,' a Sony spokeswoman said. Further details, including the robot's launch date, will be announced on October 12." Name the robot here! Sony won't care, but if you're right, you can tell all your friends months from now that you just knew it.

39 of 149 comments (clear)

  1. Where's the Doctor Who references? by merchant_x · · Score: 2

    What kind of geeks are you? I haven't read one post refering to Doctor Who's robotic dog K-9. The first dog should have been named K-9 and had a sonic screwdriver for a tale.

  2. Anyone see a dynasty building here? by John+Jorsett · · Score: 2

    I smell a 21st century Barbie-like Aibo dynasty beginning. How long before we have protest groups saying real dogs are becoming constipated cuz the impossibly-neat Aibo never takes a dump?

  3. Warning!! by James+Foster · · Score: 2

    If AIBO was anything to go by, these are very low quality and may stop working at any time. After I gave my AIBO a bath, it never was the same...

  4. Catbo? and Aibo? by isaac_akira · · Score: 2

    ...and then the two of them can run around in the woods, having screaming arguments over who "DREW FIRST BLOOD!!!!!!".

  5. Sony naming algorithm by dolanh · · Score: 2

    Well, it seems that the product name either be a competely forgettable alphanumeric designation (STR-1011) or, more likely, something with four letters.

    I can guess three of them -- "a", "i", and "o"

    :)

  6. Re:yes... by AugstWest · · Score: 2

    Can we cluster them? Does it run X and Apache? Is there MAME out for it yet?

    Either way, it kicks the sorry ass of Microsoft's robotic dog.

  7. RAM by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2

    All I can say is that you'll probably be able to put a memory stick up its butt.

  8. alwright! by jafac · · Score: 4

    guest-fodder on Battlebots!

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    These are my friends, See how they glisten. See this one shine, how he smiles in the light.
  9. Re:What the heck??? by xhypertensionx · · Score: 2

    Don't diss the dog, man. If it sells well, pretty soon we'll have robotic chicks... think about how much money you'll save by not having to wine and dine them to get some... not to mention the time you'll save by not having to cuddle. Flip a switch, do your thing, turn it off, then make yourself a sandwich =)

    Now that's technology!

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  10. What the heck??? by westfalen · · Score: 4

    This product is the epitomy of the ostentatiousness of today's society. Think about it, this AIBO can't do anything and it sells for $2500? For $2500, you can get a very much more useful computer or donate the money to a worthwhile cause. Sure, AIBO is a technological marvel but pratically, it is a piece of rubbish. Are people too lazy to get a real pet and show some responsibility?

    1. Re:What the heck??? by hamburger+lady · · Score: 2
      Flip a switch, do your thing, turn it off, then make yourself a sandwich =)

      you've got a robotic broad and you're going to make yourself a sandwich??

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      Is this the MPAA? Is this the RIAA? Is this the DMCA? I thought it was the USA!
  11. Sony legged robot prototype at cost for soccer by sanemind · · Score: 2

    No, this is not a joke ;) Sony is giving away, at cost sony legged robot research prototypes for, of all things, a international robot soccer competition to spur research into artificial intelligence and robotics.

    Have some under-utilized grad students in a computer science department? Get them to work on preparing research software, [and get some local sponsership in the neighborhood of (I'm guessing roughly) [15,000 - 25,000] dollars, and you may get to have some real fun to justify all those boring years spent in stuffy classrooms studying how to convert certain classes of NDA's into DFA's !!!

    read about it here


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    man sig

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    the pen is mightier then the sword. the sword is mightier then the court. the court is mightier then the pen.
  12. Comment removed by account_deleted · · Score: 2

    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  13. The supermarket dog by Tull · · Score: 2

    Maybe Sony could fit it with a Cue-Cat, and sell it commercially as a stock managment dog.

    "Sorry, we haven't got any of those in stock today, our stock dog is in court"

  14. There will be two slightly different models. by crovira · · Score: 4

    The first, "Slobbo," will drool, laze all over the couch, (see first activity and reflect on what your couch will look like in a month,)drink out of the toilet, eat your food out of your plate, drink your beer, fart, occasionally eat grass, blow chunks and then eat it, lick its balls, pop a stiffy at the person you hope might have become an S.O. (before they met "slobbo.")

    The second, "The Howling", will greet all and sundry with deafening, siren like howls before jumping all over them while growling, baring its teeth and peeing on their chest.

    Yes... There's a boys best friend is his mom and a man's best friend is his dog. Heart attack or cancer?

    --
    MSBPodcast.com The opinions expressed here are my own. If you don't like 'em... Think up your own stuff.
    1. Re:There will be two slightly different models. by cybercuzco · · Score: 2
      The first, "Slobbo," will drool, laze all over the couch,[snip]

      Lets not forget Slobo, who will take over a small country in the balkans, terrorize its neighbors and eventually get kicked out when the humans realize that hes really just an evil robot with mice inside trying to take over the world.

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  15. Re:It's name... by troc · · Score: 2
    Not necessarily Tim, only some call him Tim.


    Troc, the pedant.

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    Troc's dubious podcast and blog: http://www.trocnet.net
  16. Re:You are biased in this issue by AFCArchvile · · Score: 2

    so your point is moot. Just look at your e-mail address: @ura-tokyo.co.jp. As far as we can tell, you might be Norio Ohaga in disguise!

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    "Ancillary does not mean you get to rule the world." --U.S. Circuit Judge Harry Edwards, speaking to the FCC's lawyer
  17. New name: Tai Bo by Smack · · Score: 2

    Just a perfect match...

  18. Re:hell yeah by SMN · · Score: 3
    I've seen some pretty wacked out trolls here on slashdot, from the ancient times through the age of the Hot Grits and the petrification of Natalie Portman, but this one takes the cake. A First Post posted as a reply. . . now I've seen everything. That's so original that I'd moderate is up, were it not for the fact that I'd be killed in metamod.

    I pity the troll who ate enough lead paint chips to actually press the submit button on that.

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    -- Imagine how much more advanced our technology would be if we had eight fingers per hand.
  19. expensive tho by jafac · · Score: 2

    for that kind of money, I'd rather get a pet like Real Doll
    (www.realdoll.com)

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    These are my friends, See how they glisten. See this one shine, how he smiles in the light.
  20. I realize this misses the point, but... by alumshubby · · Score: 2

    ...the phrase 'pet robot' just hits me all wrong.I like my pets to be living, behaving things, even if I have to clean up messes, feed and tend constantly, or discourage undesirable behaviors. The complexities of the emotional relationship between pet and "owner" are probably best expressed by a poster I saw in veterinarian's waiting area: "Family members come in all species." Toy robots, yes; any self-respecting geek would concede those are very cool, but pets connotes something a little more biologically and emotionally based. I haven't known too many adults, even hard-core geeks, who've connected strongly with what are, frankly, nonliving playthings. (Apropos of nothing, we're the only species to have pets; remember Koko the ASL-signing gorilla who had a pet kitten he "named" All Ball?)

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    "How many light bulbs does it take to change a person?" --BMcC-->
  21. Re:Cat? by Hard_Code · · Score: 2

    Lessee, could it perhaps be a *cat* pal? I can just hear the synthetic audio hijinx now:

    <h.i.s.s.>
    <r.o.w.r.>
    <m.e.o.w.>
    <b.a.r.k.>

    (BTW, why the hell is Plain Old Text, still interpreted as html? Angle brackets should show up as angle brackets!)

    --

    It's 10 PM. Do you know if you're un-American?
  22. well obviously... by Cre8oR · · Score: 2

    Sony will paint it red and call it Taibo. It's cute, it's cudly, and a total body workout! Insert our proprietary memory stick up it's ace and listen to any one of these mono quality beat tracks at an annoyingly loud volume!

  23. Re:I can just see it... by discore · · Score: 2

    There's always widespread EMP.

  24. A2 by jherro · · Score: 3

    My guess is that the next generation Aibos will be made of a transforming liquid metal and will hunt down and kill the current Aibo owners. The only AIBO owners that survive will be the ones who have reprogramed thier Aibos to protect them from the evil A2s. Hasn't that been done already?

  25. Re:Bibo? by slickwillie · · Score: 2

    kuro5hin? (pronounced koo-row-five-hin).

  26. Re:It's name... by Cannonball · · Score: 2

    TIMMAY! TIMMAY! (and the lords of the underworld)

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    So there I was. Naked. In a refrigerator. With a potroast on my knees. Smokin a cigar. That's when it got REALLY weird.
  27. New Name For The Robot... by GeekLife.com · · Score: 2

    What's the perfect name for the robot following the Aibo?

    The Bibo, of course!
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    1. Re:New Name For The Robot... by psocccer · · Score: 2
      What's the perfect name for the robot following the Aibo?

      The Bibo, of course!

      Then of course they'll make the Cibo. Followed by the Cibo++ when they decide it needs to be able to take out the garbage and have inheritence. Of course it will be very slow at taking out the garbage and will eventually be rivaled by the Jibo, which will be touted as 'Bite' compatible with every home in the world.

      And of course, the Cibo and Cibo++ will stick around for like 20 years. And people will be afraid to switch to other electronic pets because of the long history of the Cibo/Cibo++. For example, pets like the electronic Python (c'mon guys, this is a tough metaphor...) will be able to take out the garbage better than the Cibo++ and look much cleaner.... Now I'm getting pretty far out there. ;-) But they say history repeats itself....

  28. Oh boy... by SaxMaster · · Score: 2

    Just what we need, a Sony companion to the AIBO. What's this one gonna be? the RIAABO? It'll have SDMI compliant sounds and only one person will be able to pet it or else you'll be in violation of the EULA, punishable by death (it's all in the DMCA, read the fine print!)

    --
    "Dancing is the vertical expression of a horizontal desire" --Robert Frost
  29. Re:New name? by Bearpaw · · Score: 2

    Kibo

  30. Re:Name the robot here! by jafac · · Score: 2

    love-puppy sounds so much better!

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    These are my friends, See how they glisten. See this one shine, how he smiles in the light.
  31. Hm. by daviddennis · · Score: 2

    I think Sony owns a record label, so you could say they are the RIAA.

    D

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  32. I can just see it... by kabir · · Score: 4

    Ten years from now we'll be seeing headlines about the rampaging packs of robotic dogs which have finally turned on their human opressors after years of planning via freakish, Furby-esq communication.

    *sigh*

    Has no-one seen Electric Dreams? This sort of thing just ends badly!
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    Behold the Power of Cheese!
  33. Assuming they don't run into patent trouble... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2
    The AIBO is in contention for the distinction of being the first digital pet with Bandai's Tamagotchi. Supposedly, a Bandai executive conceived of their toy drinking sake in a roadhouse bar somewhere in Osaka in 1987.

    In 1993, after a lengthy court trial, a Japanese judge declared the Sony patent invalid and named Bandai the inventor of the first digital pet. It should also be noted that it was the first digital pet to use dynamic RAM. Lots of good information on the Tamagotchi and many more links can be found here and also here.

    If one closely examines this period of history, they find that it is a time that is just chock full with all kinds of convergences between mathematics, physical science, engineering and materials technologies that make the digital pet almost inevitable. After all, this is a device that had been conceived of, at least in part, as early as the Victorian age and the birth of the industrial revolution. Really, it was just a matter of time before somebody produced a working model, and as so often happens many people took different paths to the same end.

    1. Re:Assuming they don't run into patent trouble... by Goonie · · Score: 2
      If anybody is having trouble understanding why this post has been modded up, have a look at this post on a previous Slashdot story.

      Very clever, Mr AC!

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      Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from a rigged demo
      --Andy Finkel (J. Klass?)
  34. How about... by bonzoesc · · Score: 2
    Maybe they could call it some music-related name, to try and see if the RIAA will sue them. Visualize a robot pet called "Intergalactic," "Iron Man," "Mr. Roboto," or some other song reference.

    In all likelihood, it will probably be a Japanese word that means something, like Aibo was. But here's a question for you: Was Aibo sold in Japan as "Companion"? (not sure about translation)

    Tell me what makes you so afraid
    Of all those people you say you hate

  35. I'm still waiting for "Metalli-cat" by OriginalGangsterTrol · · Score: 2

    It will be your favorite metal band, and also serve as an mp3 player!