Rover will soon have some strange company at the dog run.
Sony will start selling Aibo, its ultrasmart $2,899 robot dog, in the US next month, the company said Thursday.
It’s the sixth generation of Sony’s popular artificial intelligence robot dog — and the first to go on sale in the States in more than a decade.
Since then, the flip-phone has given way to the iPhone and Americans — thanks to the Amazon Echo and Google Home — have accepted smart tech in the home.
Sony hopes Aibo — introduced in Japan in 1999 and discontinued in 2006 — will help reestablish its reputation as a leading tech company.
Much smarter than its prior versions, the new Aibo could give household dogs and cats a run for their owners’ affections.
Aibo is slightly bigger than an adult Chihuahua, and is made out of glossy plastic and matte panels with touch sensors that let you pet it on top of its nose, under its chin and on its back. Its OLED eyes display a variety of emotions, and can be changed to your favorite color.
The Aibo “First Litter Edition” package will land you a pint-sized robotic pet capable of recognizing up to 100 faces, Sony promises.
It can learn tricks, and it develops a personality as you spend time with it — but will never wake you up in the middle of the night.
The package will also land you a bone and a ball for the dog to play with, as well as a three-year AI Cloud Plan.
“This is truly a one-of-a-kind product designed to connect with its owners on an emotional level,” Sony Electronics North America President and Chief Operating Officer Mike Fasulo said.
But tech analysts think the pricey AI dog will have a tough time finding a home in the US.
“[Aibo] isn’t going to get enormous amounts of sales,” TECHnalysis analyst Bob O’Donnell told The Post. “It’s more about what it says about what Sony is capable of doing and the directions they’re headed in. “
Indeed, O’Donnell said that with Aibo, Sony is positioning itself to attempt to reclaim its position at the top of the tech world — the same way it was in the heyday of the Walkman and Discman.
“It’s a reflection of wanting to be seen as a technology innovator,” O’Donnell said. “For a long time, it was Apple and Sony, way back in the day, as the key technology innovation companies.”
“They’re a very Japanese company in the sense that they do a lot of stuff just for the Japanese market that they don’t bring out anywhere else because they’re not sure they’d be accepted outside Japan,” he added.
US pre-orders begin in September — with the merchandise expected to arrive in time for the holiday season.
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