Pleo ready for US pre-order: $349 for your eventual destruction

[Thanks, Vladimiro]
Read -- Press Release [warning: PDF]
Read -- Pleoworld [warning: moaning robots, crank down the volume]

A look back on popular stories from today in a specific year.

Now that we've thrown 'em off the trail, use the form below to get in touch with the people at Engadget. Please fill in all of the required fields because they're required.
How ironic that they're made from the very things that they are made to emulate.
Now if you bury a bunch of these, will they eventually break down into some new substance that can be exploited by future toy makers?
That's what I want to know.
ahahaha, that's so kick-ass
The moaning got me! I want one!
I dunno... This makes me hesitant to pay more than $20:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mgiB90lJNSY
Steve,
Ugobe responded to that video a while back. See: http://pleobot.com/2006/08/ugobe-talks-back-its-real-we-promise/
For their DEMO2006 presentation they had the prototype model do a predefined set of movements. Both videos were made for this presentation.
I'm pretty sure they hired a pornographic movie star to do that things voice.
Anyone else going to camp out for this? We could sit together.
It seems like forever since I saw its appearance on video the first time.
haha great title
At least Ugobe is up front about the price increases. They say,
"Pleo's final price is $349. Higher than anticipated, we know! The change allows us to build in higher quality components and features such as a replaceable battery to ensure that you have a great owner experience"
I'm still debating on whether or not to sink $350 in yet.
http://pleobot.com
A caveat to international folk that try to buy a Pleo through the U.S. On the Pleo World web site it says the warranty is only valid for the United States:
http://www.pleoworld.com/support/faq?section=reg
This may be due to power issues due to the recharger but I can't say for sure.
Robert
Cool, I can camp out with my Pleo for the iPhone 2 launch in 2008!
I pre-ordered one. Betting I can sell it on Ebay for at least double when the holiday shopping season kicks up and they cant be found anywhere, i.e. Tickle Me Elmo.
Comes out in October...at Walmart and Target? Craze will be dead by day after Thanksgiving.
Tickle Me Elmo was sold at those stores too. They couldnt keep them in stock.
I heard this little dino has a lot of sensors. What does he do when you touch his nether regions?
Nether touf his private region!
I just pre-ordered two "First Hatch" Pleos. As far as I'm concerned there is very little downside to the pre-order and a whole lot of upside. My credit card won't actually be charged until they are ready for shipment, and at that time I'll also be given the opportunity to cancel my order. Either my kids will get some nice Christmas presents, my PayPal account will get some eBay love, or I'll walk away with nary a financial bruise.
I was a little excited and thinking about ponying up the cash but I read on their site that it takes 4 hours to charge for one hour of continuous use.
Seems really low, I personally would want a couple of hours to use to have it walk abound the house or something...i dunno.
thanks for the tip. Yeah, just read the FAQ... that's terrible battery life, but I s'pose it's to be expected.
I gotta say, after watching the videos and reading about this thing, I'm not overly impressed and I wouldn't spend $350 on it. It's cute, it moves... well, kinda naturally.. I guess. It makes noises. It supposedly develops a personality. Well, I look forward to finding out just how much personality such a limited robot can express. I don't think you'll be able to find your own pleo if you put it in a group of them. Seems like hype to me.
Looking for more information about Pleo?
Head over to Pleo HQ...
http://pleohq.com/
It brings together Pleo content from a variety of sources such as links from del.icio.us, a custom feed of news and blog posts, images from flickr, videos from you tube, auctions from ebay, and also has some other basic info like technical specs, an FAQ with open commenting, and so on.