As promised, we have more stuff to tell you about Ugobe's Pleo dinobot, plus some extra footage of him in action. As noted, one of the most compelling things about Pleo is the robot's "hackability," letting you create your own tricks and behavior patterns for him. Ugobe plans to create its own online community where owners can share them (working title: "Pleo and Beyond") — sort of a Pleo YouTube. Further fostering the community spirit, Pleo includes special behaviors for when he encounters other Pleos, enabling each one to learn from the others.

It all sounds like great fun… until he dies on you. Since owners can't replace the built-in NiMH battery on their own — and the robot won't work while plugged in — when that battery degrades to the point where it can't hold a charge, Pleo's done. Of course, that'll probably take a few years, and maybe Ugobe will introduce a battery-replacement program by then, but right now there are no plans. Then again, you could argue that dying makes it more like a real pet, and we'll all have probably moved on to the next robot du jour by then anyway.

Assuming Pleo's a success, that next-gen bot could very well come from Ugobe, too, and company CEO Bob Christopher dropped a hint or two about what it may look like. Keeping any specifics under wraps, Christopher immediately said it "might have legs or no legs" when asked about future robopets. I'm guessing… snake? Octopus? Dalek? In any case, he says it'll "push the boundaries of robotics." Whatever you say, Bob, just try not to push the boundaries of that $250 price tag.