We knew it was coming, but we just received official word that Pleo has launched in Australia.

The robotic dinosaur will set you back $449 from Harvey Norman or Domayne, or you can pick one up online from Nexttech. You can also pick up an additional battery pack for $49 if you want longer periods of playtime with your prehistoric pet.

Now, how long until we start being flooded with YouTube videos of wanton Pleo destruction by Australians? Not long enough...

If you're after a pet without the need to feed it or clean up its little presents, then we have some good news for you: Pleo, the robotic dinosaur that can take on dogs, RC monster trucks and Battlebots, is making its way down to Australia, according to tipster (extraordinaire) Adam.

They're due to land mid-September, will be distributed exclusively through Ingram Micro and it looks like they'll cost $449. That may sound a little steep, but the little fella has outlasted the Aibo*, and it's a dinosaur.

We'll post more news as it comes to hand. In the meantime, take a trip down Pleo memory lane here.

[Pleo on Giz - Thanks Adam!]

* - I know it didn't technically outlast Aibo.

Last night, David Letterman had some expensive toys at his disposal. He checked out the Pleo, then he got to test drive a crazy, US$1,000 remote control monster truck. Naturally, the docile, innocent Pleo wasn't going to fare well in such an environment. Oh, Letterman, you cruel bastard!

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Pleo, the robot dinosaur loved by everyone—except dogs and blogs—is celebrating its first birthday a little early by going on sale for US$235. Head over to Ugobe's store from now til July 11 and use semi-creepy coupon code PLEOWORLDISONE,... Read More »

At Maker Faire 2008, a group of carnage-loving individuals pitted the 2007 Holiday Toy Darling Pleo against the heavy duty battle bot, Vicious Verdict, in a no holds barred competition. Needless to say, the sniff-n-grunt capability of the Pleo was not match for the blade-equipped bot, which turned Pleo into fillet meat. But the funniest part of the video (below) might be the background shrieks little kids, who were forced to watch their Christmas present get shredded. Mean, perhaps, but undeniably funny. [DViCE via Tech Digest via Bot Junkie]

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We loved the Pleo when we reviewed it a little while back, and now the smallest dinosaur in town has just been updated for more fun times. The 1.0.2 update will allow Pleo to interact with its surroundings more convincingly, wake from rest if a noise is detected and support a new grouped singing function, which we can't help but think is our little Pleo growing up and giving out the old mating call—those dino hormones sure are going to be tough to control. [Pleoworld;Thanks, Elvis. P]

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First our little dinosaur friend Pleo had to endure a brutal beatdown at the hands of his cruel masters, and now he is forced to undergo a gruelling (and shockingly graphic) 23 minute dissection. Poor Pleo —just remember that this abuse hurts us more than it does you. [PleoDreams]

If you're one of the lucky ones who are getting a Pleo under the tree this year, you can enhance his "holiday" spirit with the holiday behaviour pack. All you need is a blank SD card and the ability to load that up with the new programming before you shove it into Pleo's gut and reprogram him. There's even a special response when you tap him on the butt, which probably isn't anything like the response we get when we pat our fellow Giz editors around that area. [Pleoworld]

Popular Mechanics knows how to get people pissed off. They just released their "Worst of the Year" list, and while much of it is the time of crap that I've never heard of that I'm sure is lousy. it has some stuff on it that quite a few people might actually, you know, like. Such as Apple TV, Zune 2 and Pleo. What were they thinking?

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Ugobe's Pleo is the latest "electronic pet" to hit the consumer market, and as such, has received plenty of attention from media and consumers. At $US350, Pleo is more expensive than a Furby but cheaper than an AIBO. After spending the last few days toying around with Pleo, as well watching it interact with real flesh-n-blood pets, my verdict is that Pleo is a neat piece of tech, but a bit too expensive and limited for mainstream popularity.

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