Sony Lets New Robo-Pet Out of the Kennel
T O K Y O, Oct. 12 -- Sony Corp. let its new robot pet,complete with waggling ears and attitude, out of the kennel today.
The souped-up successor to its original “Aibo” dog, unveiledat a Tokyo news conference, has an array of new features thatenable it to experience “intimate interaction with people,” Sonysaid.
Equipped with a camera in its nose to snap those specialmoments, it can also better express anger or joy and has a muchcheaper price tag — a sign that Sony is getting serious aboutthe pet robot business.
“From the first day you interact with Aibo it will becomeyour new companion,” a Sony promotional video said as several newAibos were shown cavorting, waggling their ears and avoidingobjects in their path.
The second-generation Aibo, called the ERS-210, will beavailable for order from November 16 at a price of 150,000 yen($1,400) in Japan, much cheaper than the first Aibo’s 250,000 yenprice tag.
It will sell for $1,500 in the United States and 1,500 euros($1,300) in Europe.
Despite the steep price, the first 3,000 Aibos sold out just20 minutes after going on sale over the Internet in June 1999.Sony has shipped around 45,000 of the cute, metallic caninesworldwide since the 1999 launch and said it was ready to handle60,000 orders a month for the new version.
Robot’s Best Friend?
Sony had no sales forecast for the new robot, but said itconsiders this version a serious profit-earner rather than anexperimental machine.
“The first-generation Aibos proved and made the market awareof the potential robots have of creating their own entertainmentindustry,” said Sony Chairman Nobuyuki Idei.
“For the second generation, we foresee the Aibo taking off asa serious business.”
In August, Sony set up a separate firm, Entertainment RobotCompany, to help develop the consumer market for Aibo-typemachines.
“We see ourselves as pioneering a new market in a fashionsimilar to what we did with the Walkman [personal stereo] in the1980s,” said Satoshi Amagai, president of the new company.
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