Chatterbots are available in dog/cat, fairy godfather, and devil/angel models, and when connected to your computer via USB, are supposed to entertain you with "its unpredictable stream of jokes, dialog, and comments about your virtual life," according to the company. On top of that, it says random things while you're typing. Lame! Not to mention, the integrated speaker is located on the bottom of the Chatterbot, which makes it very difficult to hear what it's saying in the first place. (Which turned out to be a good thing, considering it's so annoying.)

I tested the dog/cat model, which features a dog sitting on top of a cat in what appears to be a sandbox (or kitty litter). First, I installed the software program, which takes forever. Next, I connected the Chatterbot to my computer and powered it on. And I waited. I waited for something to excite me. To wake me up. Nothing.

The included app is a small box that runs on your desktop, offering six commands: Factoid, Random, Body Function, Punish, Praise, and Sleep. Click on Factoid, and listen to the dog give you some random fact about the moon or shrimp. Can't I just go to Wikipedia for that? With Random, it says something, well, random. Body Function is probably the only entertaining button. Press it, and you'll hear the dog burp and fart. Nice. Punish was a weird button to figure out. I guess if the dog is bad, you click on that button, and the dog will complain that it's being punished. So high-tech, right? Praise is just the opposite. And with Sleep, you can put the dog to sleep. Not dead, just sleep.

The software app also has an integrated search box. Type in weather, and it starts mouthing off about the weather. However, it didn't respond to most words I typed in, like computer or sex. Below that is where you can adjust the volume levels of the Chatterbot, which is definitely needed so as not to annoy your co-workers.

Another weird feature of the Chatterbot is that there's a plug-in for iTunes. I clicked on this feature, opened my iTunes, and the Chatterbot started playing ABBA. It didn't sound pretty, of course.

In terms of animation, the dog's mouth will move in sync with its speech, and its eyes light up in blue; the black cat's eyes light up in an eerie green color, but it doesn't have a moveable mouth. Hey, how come the dog gets all the fun?

Needless to say, don't waste your money on this blabbering buddy, unless you want to drive yourself insane at the office.

Just because you have a Webcam doesn't mean you have to settle for grainy images at low resolutions. The Hercules Dualpix Chat and Show Webcam, the newest addition to Hercules' lineup of Webcams, proves that there's life after low-quality devices and that it doesn't have to cost a fortune. Say goodbye to your grainy MySpace and blog profile photos, and say hello to a USB camera with a 1.3 megapixel lens capable of taking interpolated photos of up to 1280 x 1024 pixel resolutions in single-shot, self-timed, and burst photo modes. The DualPix Chat and Show is one of the first Webcams to behave and include features that most people would associate with point-and-shoot digital cameras.

The list of features on the DualPix Chat and Show are impressive. The device is relatively tiny, but packs in a camera capable of taking up to 640x480 resolution images without interpolation, and up to 5 megapixel images using the built-in interpolation mode. The image quality is excellent for a webcam, but when it comes to high-quality, high-resolution shots, don't expect the DualPix to replace your digital camera anytime soon.

When shooting in the native resolutions, the image quality is pretty good, and definitely good enough for blogs, IM, e-mail, or the Web. When using the interpolation mode and shooting even in the 2-3 megapixel range, the images look a little washed out and grainy, especially when you zoom in on them. This is likely because they're resampled and scaled up immediately after the image is taken. But if you like to take images at high resolution and then shrink the image to match your need, the DualPix works like a charm.

The Dualpix can take single snapshots at a time on demand, can be configured to use a self-timer, or can be set in burst mode to take several photos in rapid succession. The camera is set to take a photo after three seconds if you use the self-timer, or 10 photos at a rate of 3 photos per second in burst mode by default. Both of those settings however, along with where the photos are saved, the image format the photos are taken in, and even the sound played when the photo is taken, are all completely customizable.

If you're interested in Internet stardom via YouTube, the DualPix Chat and Show can also take video. The camera has a built-in microphone, but the recorder can accept audio from other sources, like the included mini-headset with microphone included in the package. The included headset is analog-only and somewhat flimsy, but if you have a lot of background noise in your home office, it might be worth using if you plan to shoot video. The DualPix will only shoot video in the native resolutions without interpolation, so video resolutions start at 160x120 and go up to 640x480.

The Webcam Station Evolution software will even encode your video in a number of different video formats when the shooting is over, including uncompressed AVI, DIVX, Windows Media 9, MJPEG, and more. If you're interested in sending your video to a PSP or iPod after the shooting is over, the software will automatically connect to your PSP or launch iTunes to connect with your iPod, convert the video to the appropriate format, and then synchronize your device.

Once you've taken your photos or video, the Webcam Station Evolution software saves them to a folder on your computer, but also allows you to e-mail them, blog them or sync them with your mobile device with a single click. If you click to e-mail an image or video, the software will confirm your default e-mail client and then launch a new message window with the files already attached. If you click to blog the item, you're taken to your list of blogs to select which blog you'd like to post the photo or video to. The software supports a variety of blogs, from Livejournal to Blogger to Live Spaces, and a pretty large selection of social networks, from MySpace to Bebo. Unfortunately, Facebook isn't supported among social networks, and oddly enough Wordpress is excluded from the supported blogs. Honestly, if Xanga, YouTube, and Dailymotion are supported directly through the app, there's no reason Facebook, Ning, and Wordpress should be excluded. Luckily, you can select "other" at the bottom of the list and supply host and login information for your particular service, although your mileage may vary with how well the custom entries work.

The first thing I noticed when unboxing the DualPix Chat and Show was how sleek it was. The camera is well designed and attractive, and actually feels sturdy. Even so, the camera is easy to position, and can be pointed in any direction without worrying that the assembly isn't sturdy enough to keep it looking in the same direction for long. The clip on the bottom of the camera opens easily and has rubber pads on the inside so you can easily attach it to an LCD or notebook display and it won't fall off of it. Keep the clip closed if you want to sit the camera on your desk and leave it flat.

Plug in the DualPix Chat and Show to an available USB port, and the OS takes care of the rest. You likely won't need special drivers in order to use the DualPix, but you'll still need to install the Webcam Station Evolution software to get the most out of your Dualpix. The camera is generally flash accessible once its plugged in, so services like Seenly that access your camera over the Web or via video conference will have no problem working with your Dualpix. Additionally, the DualPix works well with other messaging and chat applications that make use of a Webcam, like AOL Instant Messenger, Skype, and Disgby.

The DualPix Chat and Show camera is an impressive device, it's the Webcam Station Evolution software that leaves a little to be desired. The software appeared to be missing some of the features extolled by the manufacturer, and some of the tools are frustratingly designed even though I could tell the goal was to make them intuitive and easy to use. Unfortunately, easy-to-use sometimes means "no granular control," so at times it felt that usability was sacrificed for ease. Similarly, it was irritating that the Webcam Station window itself was one set size, and couldn't be expanded or moved to reflect the size of the image being taken. Your glimpse into what your captured photo would look like was only a fraction of the actual size of the image. It would be helpful to be able to expand the capture window a bit to make sure you're getting the detail you want before you take the snapshot or start recording your video. The included software is Windows XP and Vista only, which shouldn't bother Mac users, most of whom have an iSight included with their Mac, but Linux users might find that a bit disappointing.

When using other applications to connect to the camera, I was actually surprised at how much higher the image quality could be if only the display image were a bit larger. I tried taking a few shots at Seenly, and found a larger image made for crisper, more detailed images. Inside the included software, taking images is like taking digital photos on a camera with a tiny view screen--you just hope that when you get home and download the pictures they look better when blown up.

Even so, the DualPix Chat and Show Webcam is a strong device with one of the most high-quality cameras I've seen in a Webcam. The software may be lacking somewhat, but the device overall is a winner, and at just under $50 retail, its price point is highly competitive with other webcams on the market that offer far fewer features for the same or higher prices.