A robotic dog is an idea that has been circulating around long enough, and Sony’s Aibo is one of the prime examples of technology which ultimately failed simply because it is not really a necessity, not to mention the extremely prohibitive price tag that ventured near the $2,000 mark back in its day. Well, superstar singer Will.i.am thinks that the market has changed after all these years, and should be ready to welcome a new smart robotic dog this coming holiday season. Will.i.am does not intend his idea to end up as some sort of fancy cyberpet that plays back tunes on your iPhone, but rather, he is looking at the possibility of an intelligent pet robot.
In fact, to call it a “four-legged Siri” might not be out of whack, as it is hoped to be able to perform album download purchases, pull the weather forecast whenever yo ask for it, or perhaps even keep track of sports results of your favorite team. Just how the heck did Will.i.am decide to try something like this out? Well, he so happened to be browsing the aisles at Harrods, where he then purchased a MiFi hotspot an crammed it into a belly of a stuffed animal while placing his iPhone into the “creation’s” mouth, calling it a prototype of what a future SmartDog would look and work like. What do you think – will it be the new Furby?