Yeah, this kind of looks like it’s going to go all Skinemax but luckily they just pamper this Pleo at a day spa reminding us that anthropomorphizing little robots is dangerous yet wonderful. Pleo World member maggie44n took her Pleo to the Changes Salon where he got a fossil rock massage.

This is the saddest thing I’ve ever seen. Since getting a Pleo a few months ago, we’ve basically given the bugger a name and gotten to know its personality. To watch this Combot tear Pleo up at Maker Faire is like watching a wolf eat a mouse — it’s no contest
Basically Ugobe donated Pleo for this contest and they put it in with Vicious Verdict, a combat robot used for Battlebot contests. Once VV winds up a little, all hell breaks loose. Very, very sad… and kudos to Ugobe for making a device that humans can love.

Oh Pleo, you’re the best almost-real dinosaur friend a guy and/or gal could ever have.

Just in time for St. Valentine’s Day comes a new behavior download for your Pleo pet. He coos, he flirts, he slices and dices!

From the PleoWorld.com website,

Has Pleo been bitten by the love bug?

He sulks when left alone, but pet him … he wiggles, coos, and sighs happily. Cuddle Pleo and his heart beats with joy as he purrs and nuzzles. Pet him just so; he’ll profess his love and blow kisses. Whistling when he sees something he likes, this baby dino is quite a flirt!

Creepy? You decide. Mothers, lock up your daughters; Pleo’s hungry for love and it’s feeding time.

Pleo Downloads [PleoWorld.com] via Robert from RobotsRule.com

The uber dorks have ported an AIBO tool over to the Pleo so you can make it do wretched things to satisfy your weird taste. Poor Ferbie.

Robots Rule

Yeah, I know it’s an annoying GIF, right?

I never got into the whole Aibo/Pleo/Robosapien thing but TC headquarters just sent me a Pleo to talk about for the Crunchies and I turned it on for my 2-year-old son. He was immediately entranced. To my jaded eyes, Pleo looks like another attempt at creating a “life form” that can convince you to love it and care for it. Furby was like that — it held an odd sway over a number of people I know, even some who were old enough to know better — but I’m convinced Pleo and his ilk are different. Whereas my generation (I was born in 1975 and the guys make fun of me for feeling old but I do feel old, but that could just be sleep deprivation) interacted with electronics using the Sterlingian command line, my son’s generation will take direct intuitive and physical contact with electronics for granted. Stick a web server back end to Pleo and watch it walk around and puke when it crashes and you’d get the general gist. Rub the tummy to reboot MySQL, pat the head to clean out temp files, and then tweak the tail to access another server. This is obviously an over-exaggerated simplification, but things like the iPhone and Surface are changing our relationship to technology on a daily basis.

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Pleo, everyone’s favorite animatronic dinosaur, has been completely disassembled by iFixIt, leading to a rending of clothes and gnashing of teeth up and down the “cuteness corridor” that runs from San Jose to Cleveland. IFixIt, the guys who taught us all how to open our MacBooks and get at the juicy innards, decided to cut down Pleo as a lark. It makes me cry just to look at the poor fellow stripped bare and bleeding, his spine still pulsing fluid, his eyes glazing over and finally closing as a last rattling breath spews a mist of bile and blood onto the table. Some people don’t deserve to be free.

iFixIt Pleo

Ugobe, into your hands I commend my spirit. It is finished.

This big nasty men at DVICE posted a video of them abusing and eventually killing their Pleo dinosaur. The video is horrible. They choke the wee guy, then hang him by his tail, and even slap him around. Just you wait. When it comes time for “the Big Change,” these boys will be the first against the wall. Note: We at CrunchGear welcome our robotic lizardoid rulers and encourage them to use our orifices to incubate their cybernetic young.

Pleo is here! But how much punishment can a robot dinosaur take? [DVICE]

Pleo is a new $350 ‘life form’ dinosaur robot created by Ugobe. Unlike all the robot dinosaurs I know (e.g. the WowWee Roboraptor), the Pleo is not remote-controlled. It’s ’self-aware’. It ‘evolves’. It’s also not very badass. This thing, in a very mass-appealing kind of way, is a puppy. Read More

Awwww! So cute! Too bad when it grows up it will chew off our faces.

via RobotsRule

Pleo is a little robotic dinosaur by UGOBE that responds to touch, light, and sound. Well, the folks at UGOBE decided to wrap it in fur and see if it still responded to stimuli. Apparently it did and now they have a weird furry dinosaur to play with. What won’t those kids think of!

Interview with on the upcoming Pleo SDK [Robotsrule]

Everyone’s favorite animatronic dinosaur is now one step closer to invading our shores. Pleo’s manufacturer UGOBE is taking pre-orders for the dinosaur and the price isn’t cheap. After earlier reports that Pleo would cost somewhere between $250 and $300, UGOBE has pulled a Nintendo and decided to charge $350 for the lil’ guy. Talk about highway robbery.

Don’t get too excited though. Yes, UGOBE and partners are taking pre-orders, but Pleo isn’t shipping until October. In the mean time, you could always hit eBay for a used Sony AIBO. I had one for a while and although it was a surreal experience, that dog kicked more ass than any furry animal ever did. Hopefully Pleo will compare on some levels.

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