Aibo transforms from poodle to bulldog – Tech News – CNET.com

By Reuters

November 7, 2001, 12:00 p.m. PT

NEW YORK–Only time will tell if he’s truly bad to the bone. But the newest incarnation of Aibo, unveiled on Wednesday by Japan-based consumer electronics giant Sony, is designed with more virtual male hormone running through its circuitry than the playful robotic pups that sold out when they first went on the market in 1999.

“We like to call him ‘Mr. 220’ with attitude,” said Stuart Wallock, director of marketing and business planning for Entertainment Robot America, a unit of Sony Electronics. “He’s maybe a little more macho” than the previous Aibo robots, including the roly-poly Latte and Macaron robots launched in early September.

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