When WowWee sent us its latest desktop companion, Chatterbots, I expected a lot from the robot manufacturer. Unfortunately, after just one minute, this $50 USB toy left me completely and tragically bored out of my mind.

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.)

People have been speculating for a long time about how robots would finally enter into mainstream lives. Roomba aside, the answer might just be as toys. Now Disney Consumer Products has added some credence to that theory with a new line of robotic toys, created in partnership with Pixar Animation Studios, Thinkway Toys and WowWee. They'll debut at the upcoming Bay Area Maker Faire, interestingly enough! (Is DIY now short for Disney?) Details after the jump.

I had the slightly stressful pleasure of attending the 3rd annual New York Comic-Con at the Jacob Javits Convention Center, in midtown Manhattan. For three days, I attended panels, interviewed creators, and dodged streams of Storm Troopers in what was hands-down the show's biggest year yet.

With an estimated 64,000 attendees in three days, the numbers were about half that of the annual turnout for the legendary San Diego Comic-Con from which NYCC was spun. But this still was a rather staggering showing, given the show's humble and fairly recent beginnings.

I collected some of my favorite photos from NYCC at PCMag.com, including some of the tech offerings at the event. For more pictures and coverage, check out my companion post at The Daily Cross Hatch.

Among myriad other talents, Gearlog's Brian Heater is an interviewer extraordinaire. But Nerve's Modern Materialist blog ("Almost everything you want") has turned the tables on Brian and interviewed him right back, about his favorite gadget. What would you guess it is? Some kind of intimidating robot? A hovercraft? Conceptual kicks? Well, if you guessed any of those things, you're wrong. But to find out Brian's favorite gadget, you'll have to read the interview.

And fair warning, other posts on the blog may not be safe for work...

If you're a tech lover like me--and since you're reading a gadget guide by geeks, for geeks, you probably are--then it's a safe bet that you've been carrying around a hoopty too. I've carried the same USB thumbdrive on my keychain for about two years now. The cap doesn't fit, the plastic is worn down, and the design? It's basically a stick. But still, it's functional, and 2GB seemed large (well large enough, anyway), so I didn't give two thoughts about upgrading it.

Until I saw the new hotness from Transcend, anyway.

The Transcend JetFlash V90c packs 4GB of flash goodness into a tiny metal body barely bigger than the first joint of your thumb. The memory modules themselves are hidden within the body of the drive, and fold out easily enough. But it's the distinctive swirly pattern that really caught my eye--and that of the judges behind the Red Dot Design Awards, who just awarded Transcend for making such a neat device.

Still not sold? Transcend sells these things online for just $27 bucks. Isn't it time you upgraded too?

Man, I wish I'd had one of these when I was a teenager (I'm sure my parents do too). The Vox amPlug saves the ears of innocent bystanders by plugging into your electric guitar's output and acting as a mini battery-powered amp for your headphones. $40 buys your loved ones a little peace and quiet.

The tiny little device has three dials for adjusting the volume, tone, and gain, and an input jack so you can rock along with your iPod tunes. I tried the Classic Rock version (there are also Metal and AC-30 versions), and the sound was surprisingly decent—plenty good for practicing. It also worked fine when I plugged it into my bass guitar (just be careful you don't blow out your headphones).

Best uses for this thing: Beginning guitar players can buy one instead of a full guitar amp, and roommates, spouses, or frazzeled parents can give one to that special shredder in their life. It's the gift that says "Shut up (but keep practicing)."

From the aptly named iwantoneofthose.com, purveyors of all things awesome, comes this delightful R/C ducky, a delightful ducky that will zip and bob and swim his way right into your heart. He's got propellers on his ducky derrière, for duck's sake.

Find him for about 26 bucks (ducks?) at I Want One of Those. And I do!

Shameless plug: aduckaday.blogspot.com

Last week, my Ugobe Pleo Robot Dinosaur underwent minor brain surgery, receiving a .0.2 upgrade to his LifeOS--the software that essentially functions as his brain. I'll admit, I was apprehensive about the procedure. Altering a computer's OS can result in side effects, and in Pleo's case, there are no external controls. If this firmware update failed, I could have ended up with a lifeless, rubber-skinned chew toy.

I followed the Website instructions to the letter, downloading the ZIP file from www.pleoworld.com/support and expanded the file in a folder on my desktop PC. Then I found a standard density SD Card (Pleo seems unable to read high-capacity ones). It didn't have to be blank, but I had to load the unzipped filed in the parent directory so Pleo could find them. Making sure Pleo was off, I inserted the card, turned him on and heard a few distinct beeps. After a minute or so, Pleo returned to life. As instructed, I quickly shut him off, removed the card and then turned him on again.

It's sad, but true. The newest version of the USB Humping Dog humps no longer. Instead, it has been reduced to exercising. Yes folks, this USB-powered pup feels the need to burn more calories by doing sit-ups instead.

The USB Exercise Dog can be pre-ordered now on Wowzzers.com for $14.99, with an expected shipment date of May 2008. Unfortunately, this refreshed canine still can't be used to store data. That's ruf.

[via Everything USB]

St. Louis-based researchers conducted a study on loneliness at three U.S. nursing homes. One group was given a flesh-and-blood dog named Sparky to play with, another received a Sony Aibo dog robot, and the third got no dog at all.

Where the researchers reasonably expected that Sparky would have been far and away the most popular of the three scenarios among the homes' residents, the dog actually finished neck and neck with the AIBO when it came to alleviating loneliness.

"The most surprising thing is they worked almost equally well in terms of alleviating loneliness and causing residents to form attachments," Dr. William Banks, who worked on the study, told Reuters. He added, ""Loneliness is common in nursing homes. Robots may be very useful for people who cannot for whatever reason have access to a living dog."

"The most surprising thing is they worked almost equally well in terms of alleviating loneliness and causing residents to form attachments," said Dr. William Banks, who worked on the study, told Reuters. Adding, "Loneliness is common in nursing homes. Robots may be very useful for people who cannot for whatever reason have access to a living dog."

After all, robots don't mind as much when you don't feed them. Unlike real dogs, however, they do get discontinued, as is the case with the AIBO. In the meantime, might I recommend a nice Rolly?

Apparently, you're never too young to master musical fakery skills. Disney Interactive Studios has announced an upcoming game called Ultimate Band, which will be available at the holidays for the Nintendo Wii and DS platforms. And while the target rating is E10+, this game is aimed at whole families rather than just the Hannah Montana set.

The song lineup hasn't been announced yet, but Disney promises a mix of rock, alternative, popular, emo, and indie groups will make the cut. I'll assume the songs will be family-friendly, of course; and unless Ms. Montana suddenly joins the bad-girl club, chances are we might see some of her music there.

Both of the games will be multiplayer and let you play guitar, bass, and drums or even take the role of "front man." But unlike Rock Band or Guitar Hero, neither the Wii or DS version of Ultimate Band will require any specialized peripherals. Instead, the game will be controlled with the basic Wii Remote and Nunchuk or the DS stylus. Interestingly, the DS version will include the option to create original songs via a built-in recording studio. Rock on, Disney!

Post by Peter Suciu

Dolls are creepy. Seriously, I spent a good chunk of the past week attended/writing about Toy Fair, so I feel like I can definitively make that statement. There's just something about that cold, lifeless stare that's inherently upsetting. Seriously, why do you think they've been the subject of so many horror films? With that in mind, it's perhaps not the biggest shocker in the world to hear that one has been making death threats.

What is shocking, however, is the fact that said doll is actually a lovable Muppet. Honestly, I'd always figured that I could count on the cast of Sesame Street not to murder me in my sleep. If you happen to have picked up a new latest Elmo Doll, however, you may have effectively signed a lovable, cuddly death warrant.

According to a Florida mother, Elmo is making death threats to her two-year-old son, James. The doll, which can be programmed to say a child's name, is playing for keeps, uttering the words "Kill James," after a recent battery change.

A local NBC affiliate picked up the story, complete with footage of the blood thirsty doll.

Human technology has a way of wreaking havoc on nature. Take, for example, the recent mass disappearance of honey bees that researchers have been chalking up to cell phone interference.

However, sometimes nature can't help but fight back.

A Manhasset, NY paper ran a story the other day, written by a local fifth grader, recounting a harrowing tale in which a hawk snatched his Wowwee Dragonfly out of the air. Overlooking, for a moment, the fact that the paper is printing stories by ten-year-olds, WowWee has stated that they're looking into the plausibility of such claims, adding that 45 people have reported similar attacks in the past two months.

Plus, check out the totally sweet shot that the fifth grade gonzo journalist snagged at left, the robotic insect resting in the hawk's talons.

Technology: 80,000,000, nature: 45.

An MP3 player for babies might sound like a bad idea, but the SweetPea3 is pretty cool. It doesn't include headphones or a headphones jack, so baby won't burst his/her eardrums. It's also durable and easy for tiny hands to grasp. Only adults and perhaps a shrewd 3-year old can adjust the volume using a special button combination. You can create up to three playlists, and easily add new songs via USB (cable included!). All you have to do is drag and drop, no need for special software or any of that. It runs on one AA battery (also included) and can also run on AC power. The device has an auto-off feature that kicks in when it's running on batteries. The SweetPea3 comes in pink and blue, has 256MB amount of storage (expect a larger capacity model in the future) and sells for $89.95 at sweetpea3.com.

This weekend marked my first-ever trip to Toy Fair. I've been to Comic Cons, tech shows, and book fairs, but nothing quite prepared me for the unique, relatively self-contained world of the toy industry.

I popped by the show twice--once on the first day (Sunday) and once on the last (today). There was a marked difference in the energy of the two days, from the buzziness of Sunday to the exhaustion of this morning. That's standard fair when it comes to these sorts of shows. Talking about the same products for 10 hour days is exhausting, no matter how much you believe in your company.

Still, when people at the toy show are up, they're up. There's nothing quite like walking among a convention hall full of grownups playing with toys. I documented some of the more interesting sights I had the chance to take in. Check them out, after the jump.

Also, for a more complete gallery and show rundown, check out PC Mag.