I reckon Sony have got it right this time (expensive though,hopefully cheaper in future) with a humanoid robot not a doggy style one,i beleive the pet style robots only capture a more limited market.This style of machine works and looks like some good research and development has been acheived.

Nice Work,Have studied it all further now,Impressive.

It looks like a creativeness of robot makers is not going any further than making the very expensive singing and dancing CPUs, placed in a differently shaped cases. Would be an MP3 player, put into a mechanical clockwork-rabbit, to do the same? It would be nice to hear that the progress in home applied robotics goes somewhat further than that and that it brings some more practical things to us: home security, child watching/minding, universal replacement for all the dozens of fire, smoke etc. sensors, for the locks in the doors, different timers, light/heat regulators etc. So far $200  eRumba†is more the robot than this $2500 toy. Unless companies stop advertising their new hardware and will put more in software algorithms instead, designing human-like behaviour rather than making human-like cases for their new CPUs †` nothing justifies spending more than two grand to listen to a song from a music box. While the robot, which posses more practical skills may well attract people even with a cost way above 10K. Finally, our houses, and cars cost much more:)

You said it one Bear,the overall security of robotics,sensors and alarms and the items everryone needs from the robotics world for home security,the robotic soldiers are evolving but this is outside the uk/usa etc so people do not realise the importance,home security is the robotic work of now unless you are fighting the people abroad,cheers,Mark.