A Wider Net

Nabaztag - a wildly buzz-worthy robot that speaks, listens, blinks, and wiggles - can wake you up, tell you the weather and the traffic reports, read you the news you care about and email that you don’t, and even help you send secret messages to your rabbit-toting significant others. It’s worth a few minutes to play around on their site - you won’t believe me otherwise. It’s a communication bot and a toy, but unlike most other robotic devices that read you your mail and tell your kids stories - this one has moods, speaks it’s own mind, and listens to you.
I haven’t figured out if this creepy-yet-awesome rabbit is a sinister plot or a wildly inventive communication gadget. There’s something orwellian-creepy about a fleet of talking rabbits placed at our bedsides that receive their programming via the internet. I can imagine TV Tech-u-dramas called “Max Headroom Raving Rabbids” or “Star Trek Series 15: The Trouble With Nabaztags”

No matter how you slice it, these cute rab-bots are full of smart technology, and they do bring to mind one interesting marketing hook: Can you gift these to your customers in such a way that the critters will have to broadcast your news updates every morning while their owner is having coffee?

This is Engadget’s fault. But if you send it to a key customer and they love it, then it’s my fault.