• Micropet-i: New robo-animals from Japan to melt your heart

    Thursday, June 18th, 2009

    Dr. Serkan Toto is an independent consultant and advisor focusing on Japan’s web, mobile and social gaming industries. Based in Tokyo, he works together with financial institutions and startups worldwide. Serkan has been the Japan contributor for TechCrunch.com since 2008. He is sept-lingual, holds an MBA and is a PhD in economics. → Learn More

    takaratomy_micropet_i

    These must be the cutest robots since the thumb-sized Robo-Qs: Takara Tomy (Tomy in the US) today announced the Micropet-i series [JP, PDF], which consists of nine different (very small and adorable) robotic animals. This is the same company responsible for said Robo-Qs.

    Takara Tomy released similar robots, Micropets without the “i”, worldwide as early as 2002, but the new versions are said to be better. The new robo-animals can move around autonomously and are equipped with sensors that help them in detecting obstacles. They weigh 32.5g each and are sized at 58×48×45mm.

    micropet_i_2

    Each Micropet has four modes: Chase (the robot chases other moving objects), Stroll (it runs around avoiding obstacles), Song (it “sings” one of two pre-installed songs) and Chorus (several Micropets sing together as a group).

    Japan will get the Micropet-i on July 4 (price: $18). Ask the Japan Trend ShopGeek Stuff 4 U or Rinkya to get one for you, too, in case you don’t want to wait for Takara Tomy to sell them outside Japan.

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