Re:WowWee Toys has a cheaper version. (Score 1)

I totally agree, I have one and even signed up for the developer kit. It was an interesting architecture to say the least, they had a LifeOS platform that run a C-like scripting language under a VM called Pawn. The architects I believe stated that Pawn provided a very fast execution environment but made *programming* simple enough for hobbyist and even non-geek types.

My issues were mainly they didn't release anything after the Pleo itself. I mean they were some holiday behavioral editions but that's about it. I really wanted them to release a PDK so I could come up with my own behaviors to really make my Pleo my own. I think its a fantastic idea, albeit with most fantastic ideas, the barrier to entry is typically high.

One thing though, they should open source LifeOS and/or the PDK if they can't sell it. I think a community run RTOS focused on behavioral modeling and extending the model via a simple expressive language and user generated content is fantastic. I even suggested to them in a long survey I filled out as an owner of the first adopter that they should allow folks to exchange behaviors via the web and create a virtual Facebook for rotobotic toys and their owners.

Its a winner and way ahead of its time...but yet again the business model around it needed to be ironed out.