Adorable home robot Kuri is being discontinued

Cute mechanical companion Kuri is no more. In a blog post published today, manufacturer Mayfield Robotics said that operations have been paused while it evaluates the company's future, and that pre-orders of the adorable home robot will not be filled (all pre-order deposits will be refunded). Mayfield Robotics, part of the Bosch Startup Platform, was established in 2015 with a bold vision to domesticate robots. Kuri was designed to be neither traditionally functional (like a vacuum cleaner), nor educational, but was intended to enter the home as a family member, reading to kids, playing with pets and taking photos of precious family moments. The first Kuri units were priced at $700 apiece -- relatively affordable for the tech involved but nonetheless expensive for a robot that didn't really do much.