Ever wondered what would happen if you were to pit the Wowwee Roboquad against an excitable, yapping puppy? Wonder no longer, friends, as the answer to this age-old question has been captured on video -- replete with NES sound effects and 8-bit scorecard. Watch the battle for ultimate supremacy after the break... our money is on the dog.

[Via Digg]

Although you may expect all of WowWee's creations to start to bleed together at some point, reviewers over at PC Mag would be quick to deny such a claim, as it deemed the Roboquad a creature "unlike any toy or robot it had seen before." In a few hours of at-home testing (you know, with rambunctious children), it managed to get everyone involved and keep them from bouncing off the walls, and while controlling the critter wasn't always simple, it's "Autonomy" mode proved most exciting anyway. Overall, the Roboquad fits best into families where unusual and unique are commonplace occurrences, and if you think your offspring (or yourself, it's okay) could spend hours on end tinkering with a robot akin to a "drunken crab," WowWee's latest just might be worth your $99.

If you're looking to add yet another anthropomorphic automaton to your growing robotic zoo, hit the Read link for your chance to pre-order Wowwee's spider-esque Roboquad. Shipping as soon as they roll off the assembly line (estimated arrival: June or July), the 'quads feature an advanced sensor array not previously seen on other models from the company, along with adjustable "aggression" settings and a wireless remote. Eighty pounds ($158) is the price of entry here, assuming that RED5 is willing to ship units to the States.

[Via TechDigest]

And now, back to Wowgadget's comprehensive coverage of all things WowWee. The tricky Robosapien folks chose not to display some of their hottest bots at CES Unveiled -- probably because they won't be released in the US for the forseeable future -- but we managed to sweet talk them into hooking us up with some images and a few deets about this unannounced swag. First up is Robopanda, a Teddy Ruxpin-like doll for tots four-and-up that sports "many advanced sensors" along with a head-mounted IR sensor and stereo sound. Besides the usual back-and-forth we enjoy with WowWee's products, 'panda also reads bedtime stories (we hear that it's fond of Bearinstein Bears), interacts with a MiniMe version of itself, and of course, delivers mad bear hugs to love-starved tykes. Also on the docket is Roboboa (we like "Roboa" better, but whatevs), a companion snakebot that performs the varied functions of "smart desk light, wake-up alarm, room guard, disco marquee, roving tank, safety light and playful cannon." Hey, we've always wanted a toy like that! Snakey will be available somewhere in the world, sometime this year for $119, while the roboteddy is expected to retail for $229. Check out the gallery for pics of both of these fine new additions to the robotic zoo, along with a few images of the RS Media, Dragonfly, and that Roboquad spiderbot we saw yesterday...

WowWee's latest robotic creations, the RoboQuad, the RS Media and... a singing likeness of Elvis Presley... took the spotlight earlier today at CES Unveiled. Yeah, the singing Elvis sounds creepy, but check out the video to see just how creepy.

It wouldn't be a rockin' CES without some new robotoys from Wowwee -- last year saw the introduction of three new bots -- and sure enough, the company is poised to announce one of its most sophisticated models to date this time around. Called the Roboquad -- and formerly known as, ahem, SpiderSapien -- this four-legged critter is said to possess unprecedented mobility and locational awareness: although official specs and deets (and unfortunately, pics) are still under wraps, word on the street says that Roboquad is endowed with three speeds of movement and a sensitive infrared detector that can identify the size of objects and even spacial details such as the edge of a doorway. Because it can also react to sound and detect movement up to 13 feet away, the quadruped will supposedly be able to act as a somewhat ghetto security system as well. If these rumored features do in fact turn out to be legit, it will be further proof -- along with the innovative Dragonfly -- that Wowwee is looking to have its products branch out beyond your standard animatronic dolls. Still, by the time the $119 Roboquad hits stores this fall, Ugobe will already have its pimped-out Pleo on shelves, so Wowwee is gonna need to "wow" us with even more functionality if it wants to stay ahead of the game.

[Via Roboquad, thanks Robert O.]