This is great news if it's true.

I must confess I have the special edition AIBO ERS-7 M3 (last model made). I also have two kids aged 1 and 3.

AIBO is the reason I like Sony. It's not a perfect robot, but AIBO was so ahead of its time when it first came out it's hard not to recognize the huge chance Sony took developing and releasing a robot pet in the $2,000+ price range. They were the first to really give robot enthusiasts a taste of the future when nobody else was doing it.

I control my AIBO through Wi-Fi and can hear what he hears, see what he see's, and even type whatever I want which is then synthesized and played through AIBO.

We've used "him" when the kids wouldn't go to sleep by putting him in their room and streaming music to him. My daughter will ask AIBO "can you play the Mermaid song?" I hear her ask from the other room and within seconds AIBO is singing her favorite song. I control volume too, so it's easy to turn him down and remove him from the room once they're sleeping.

Anyway, point is: AIBO is pretty amazing. And making it a compatible accessory to the PS3 and PSP would be a great thing for PS3 owners like myself. I've had my AIBO for over 2 years and we still manage to find uses for him. A couple of our best pictures of our kids were taken by AIBO while he was playing with them at their level. Simply amazing device.

I hope this is true.

dna

I'm afraid of this little robot.

GizFanAlpha

uhhh, don't know what I did to my comment there. sorry.

marm0lade

You should be able to control the Aibo with your PSP over IP. Then you could like, tell it to do your laundry while you are at work. Now THAT would be cool.

And href="#c3249697">slingblade:

the Darth Vader dog reference is awesome.

marm0lade

HELL YEA!

It better be true.. It must be.. :P

D_Zarster

Or to make the joke actually work, "I'm gonna name him R.O.B."

Bender

Wait, si I get to control a robot with my game console? Sweet! I'm gonna name him B.O.B.

Bender

@fastharry: Maybe if the built a robotic Badger?

RUN AWAY!!!!

RUN AWAY!!!!

strider_mt2k

should have made it look like the TROJAN HORSE and stuffed it with decent PS3 games......would have really suprised everyone....

fastharry

I also think it Looks kinda sexy. Wait, does that count as beastiality or just tech lust?

"Robo Puppy preparing to lick." "Robo Puppy commencing licking." "error" "ROBO PUPPY MISTREATMENT ALERT"
(obligatory Futurama reference)

VishusBurn

I would swap one for my daft moggy right now if anyone was interested!?

nincompoop

I'd get one. Looks like fun, Robo reckon and such.

VishusBurn

@smokyburnout: hmm do i have to laugh?

Playstation

@ Pope John Peeps II:

clone high ftw

TonySmash

@djtooshay: I'm sure he / she will be thinking "wow, I'm going to steal that dog thing also".

captcaveman

BY YOUR COMMAND.

kyanges

@Scaramanga: Indeed.
This is a good thing for sure.

The Aibo was far ahead of it's time, so perhaps that time is now? :)

strider_mt2k

"...the AIBO PS will be able to awaken itself when sensing sound and motion and ping your email."

somehow i imagine that will be really useful...

*AIBO owner finished morning coffee, notices something odd*
"uh... where's my fridge? and my computer... my plasma screen..."
*cell phone rings*
"ooh! got an email. 'you've been robbed.' well, thanks, robo-scoooby! I HADN"T NOTICED THAT!
...hey. they didn't take my PS3..."

of course, if it photographs the thieves, that could help.

smokyburnout

@Scaramanga: Good point. I remember thinking from day one how expensive AIBOs were for what you actually got: a slow, twitchy little bastard that needed constant recharging. It would be interesting to see how far they've gotten with the development.

Could you imagine what would go through a thief's mind when he broke into some apartment in Brooklyn and had a robot dog following him around the place?!

djtooshay

The AIBO ERS-31L retailed for $599. Hopefully they can get this Aibo within that price range. The reason why the Aibos were expensive were that they had a surprising amount of processing power inside the robo-pooch way back when. The ERS-7 had a 576Mhz 64-bit MIPS processor with 64MB onboard inside its tiny body (this is almost half a decade ago). Now, that sort of power is common place in mobile devices, hopefully they can keep the price down.

Scaramanga

Mother FLIPPING COOL. This Aibo looks like Darth Vader's dog.

slingblade

now if it can make coffee and fold clothes I might be interested.

calaverasgrandes

sony better get their act together while they still have a company, i mean i could just go to my local dog pound and get the real thing for free not to mention it won't need to be recharge or anything

snitch29

I'm sure its real. I'm also sure its going to cost like $3,000.

Atelier

My God... Is the PS3 doing that bad they have to bring in their own R.O.B.? This is going to be a fun train wreck to watch.

Devo-Chu

Not your grandma's Aibo! That thing looks like it's a Cylon pet. I think I want one. But not if I have to buy a PS3 to enjoy it.

weatherman

i'm afraid of this bleak future, bring on ROBOT RULERS! ROBOT DICTATOR FTW!

oo0cyst0oo

@vizion: the future of what? plastic robot animals, that are harder to control, less rewarding, and more expensive?

oo0cyst0oo

@Bodypainter: throw on "why does his head look like a cat's?"

Paradise

That looks hot. Naysayers just aren't ready for the future.

vizion

hm... does that really make sense? and why do aibos dog-feet look like horse-feet?

Bodypainter

"Mr. Butlertron! You BROKE E-CYBO-POOCH!"

Pope John Peeps II

for the love of all this is holy, bring back the aibo and yes, integrate the crap out of it. i don't care if this isn't confirmed my pants are still tight in the hopes that there is a chance. [:

jerrt

*card* slot

Stang70Fastback

With all the cameras and sensors and motors and other electronics in this thing, I wonder if it was really worth the probably minuscule fraction of the price that they saved by not including that car slot...

Stang70Fastback

@jerrt:I hate to ask, but How tight are they?

GizFanAlpha

Just wait til the BlendTech guy gets his hands on one. "Mmmm, Aibo Smoke! Don't breath that"

Snorbalp