CES: WowWee Expands Robot Family

The company that brought the world a robotic version of Elvis's head and the ever-popular Robosapien is unveiling an extensive lineup of new in-home bots at CES 2008, opening in Las Vegas next week.

(Here's a slide show of WowWee's new offerings, and I'll be shooting video of the 2008 WowWee robots in action on the show floor at CES.)

WowWee seems to be covering all the bases with its new announcements, from remote home surveillance to aerial-combat robots to its first products made specifically for girls. The new entries in WowWee's robotic arsenal are slated for release at various points throughout the year.

The biggest WowWee announcement looks to be Rovio, a $300, Wi-Fi-enabled home-surveillance robot equipped with a video camera. Users operate Rovio remotely through a browser on broadband-connected Windows XP and Vista systems and smartphones, and the three-wheeled robot streams video and audio footage back to them. Rovio is also equipped with some self-sufficient technology; it stores information about where certain objects are in the home to avoid colliding with them, and it automatically retreats to its docking station to recharge. The robot is scheduled to ship in the fall.

The other high-end addition to WowWee's lineup is Mr. Personality, a robot designed to replace your human friends. This three-wheeled omnidirectional robot has an animated LCD screen for a face, and it interacts with the user by telling jokes and playing games. Its built-in sensors allow it to avoid bumping into things on its own. According to WowWee's press release, the Windows XP- and Vista-compatible robot can be updated with new personality traits as time goes on via a USB cable and a Web connection. Mr. Personality is slated to become available this summer priced at $250.

A next-gen version of WowWee's popular Robosapien is also due to hit shelves this summer. Tri-Bot, a three-wheeled, joke-telling robot with animated eyebrows, has a Wii-like motion-sensitive remote. Tri-Bot is listed at $100 ... which may or may not be overpriced, depending on the quality of its jokes.

Tri-Bot will get some female companionship, apparently. FemiSapien, a female robot that looks a bit like Samus from Metroid, will cost $100 and is scheduled to hit stores in late summer. FemiSapien's repertoire includes detecting music and dancing to it, touch- and sound-activated actions, and the capability to control other WowWee robots.

FemiSapien isn't the only robot in WowWee's 2008 lineup targeted at females. Two additions to WowWee's FlyTech line, the FlyTech FairyFly and FlyTech Butterfly, are designed for young girls. The simple, remote-controlled flying toys are billed as quickly rechargeable and durable enough to withstand several crash landings, but are designed only for use indoors.

Headlining WowWee's new flying-robot lineup is the FlyTech BladeStar, a helicopter-blade-like toy that can be controlled manually by remote or set to autopilot. Its sensor-equipped navigation system purportedly keeps it from crashing into things on its own. But here's the kicker: it comes with a "Dogfight" accessory that lets you pit two BladeStars against one another in aerial combat. Alas, it's designed only for indoor use as well. According to WowWee's press release, the BladeStar is scheduled to be available in February for $50, exclusively at Target stores.

With more than 20 new products announced at CES, that's not all in WowWee's new bag of tricks for 2008. Here's a slide show of WowWee's new offerings, and I'll be shooting video of the 2008 WowWee robots in action on the show floor at CES. Here's our ongoing CES coverage. Be sure to bookmark this page and check back to see the photos and footage as soon as they're live.

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