INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
I&ll be the first to admit that
The adoption fees, the shots, the food, the medical care
But at the end of the day, it worth it for the judgement-free, uninhibited love of a furry companion
If you&re looking to save a buck a two, a robotic dog is probably not the way to go
Not this robotic dog, at least
For all of its many charms, the rebooted Sony Aibo ain''t cheap
At an event today in New York City, the electronics giant offered a bit more insight into the long-awaited robotic pet, including its $2,899
For all of the new Aibo charms (and there are many), any suggestion that the product might be anything but a niche device can now be laid
While Sony North America President and COO Mike Fasulo tells me that the company has its sights on playing a key role in the home robotics
moving forward, Aibo is not the mainstream device we&ve been promised for decades.
Rather, the robotic dog is a kind of sign post of what
we&re capable in this current moment
It an opportunity for Sony to showcase the state of the industry of consumer robotics in 2018 — what happens when current artificial
intelligence is used to build the foundation of a consumer product
The result, it turns out, is fairly adorable
I was at the company CES press conference, when the new Aibo was unveiled for the first time, and there was a collective gasp
It takes a lot to melt the hearts of a roomful of jaded tech journalists, and Aibo succeeded at that in spades
It shows our capability of innovation,& Fasulo tells TechCrunch
&There 4,000 parts in this product
Its eyes are made of OLEd, which makes it adorable, but also makes it a great device for photo capturing
The core technology inside is built around our image sensors
It got 22 axes of movement and more flexibility than I&ve seen in a robot
It showing Sony innovation and commit to the future and probably a bit of branding along the way.
Conventional wisdom has it that the
first generation of the product was ahead of its time
Consumer AI, cloud technology and any number of other aspects that have since come to fruition simple weren''t in place at the time
But have the advancements the industry has made in the intervening 19 years been enough to create a truly compelling robotic pet
Sony is
certainly hedging its bets with the new Aibo
At $2,899, the product is too expensive to appeal to all but the most enthusiastic early adopters
That said, the product sold surprisingly well in Japan, at around 20,000 units — more than Sony bargained for, apparently
The goal for the United States market is &in the thousands,& according to Fasulo.
But while Aibo isn''t destined to be a mainstream
product and future generations likely won''t see a major price cut, the company committed to the line for a few years at least, this time
The robot will be available in the United States as the &First Litter Edition,& which ships with a three-year AI Cloud Plan, meaning the
dog should be kicking for that long at least
Those looking for an insanely expensive holiday gift can purchase Aibo starting in September
It will also be on display at the Sony Square store in New York, through late October
