PLEO robo-dino

PLEO the robo-dino was designed to emulate the appearance and behavior of a week-old baby Camarasaurus. It was designed by Caleb Chung, the co-creator of the Furby, and manufactured by Ugobe. This is the closest thing to the real thing (as of the moment) its skin is smooth, seamless and stretchy, its movements are not rigid; its actions are seemingly spontaneous and unprogrammed. Inside, however, the 3.3-pound Pleo is very robotic indeed. It’s stuffed with 38 sensors to detect light, motion, touch and sound. They feed information about Pleo’s environment to one of eight processors that can handle a collective 60 million calculations per second. A complex computer program determines what the dino does next—howl over the edge of a table, sneeze, crane its neck around 180 degrees to see who’s scratching its back, or any of thousands of other possibilities. As Pleo’s manufacturer, Ugobe in Emeryville, California, develops more sophisticated personality coding, you’ll be able to upgrade the robot through its SD-card slot or from the Web through its USB port.

Indeed it's promising but can it really replace your cat/dog pet?

iRobot Roomba Model 4220

The loyal and faithful iRobot Roomba Discovery SE - Model 4220 will clean your house without ever asking for anything but a plug and maybe a little backup if it runs into the cat. Roomba senses and finds dirt. Once dirtier areas are detected, Roomba automatically increases the intensity and focus of its cleaning.

It’s generally not Woot’s policy to link to outside sites, just like it’s not the iRobot Roomba Discovery SE - Model 4220’s policy to leave any dirt behind. It has two Virtual Walls that can be programmed to keep your Roomba out of off-limit areas. Roomba has the built-in intelligence to automatically return to its self-charging home base when its battery is low or it has completed a cleaning cycle. This means your Roomba will always be charged and ready for its next cleaning mission. Not bad for a household appliance ayt?